Writing Workshop – Believe in the Magic Traci Diary

An Oasis in the City

If you ask anyone who truly knows me, they would tell you that I could be a tour guide for our area.

My aunt came to visit a month ago. One morning, we spent time going to go get donuts and then I took her to various places. My mom was ready to come over to my house for us to continue working on organizing my kitchen. She was sort of panicked because we were only suppose to be gone for an hour or so. Yep, we took longer than an hour because I ended up taking her to a couple more places than expected. I wanted to show her some of the places I enjoy taking photos.

Then last week my friend, Molly came to visit. She came in 2016 and enjoyed it so much that she flew down once again. I took her to different places this year. Well, that is except for one place. We went to Carillon Park in 2016 but it was a rushed visit. She talked about the park so my mom got us tickets to see Orville Wright’s home and tickets for Carillon Park. Molly got to see more of the park this year.

Since I enjoy taking people to various places in my hometown or areas close to my hometown, I needed to really think what area of my town I wanted to showcase in this blog post.

Before we begin, where is it that I live or what city do I live close to? I live near Dayton, Ohio which is an hourish north of Cincinnati, an hourish west of Columbus, and an hourish east of the Indiana border. An hourish north of me is Wapakoneta, Ohio where Neal Armstrong is from. There is a lot to see and do in this big hourish circle. Don’t you love how I use the word hourish?

Dayton is known for having the most patents and inventions. Here is a list of some of the inventions that have come from this small city:

pop tabs for pop cans
freon for air conditioners
self starter for cars
airplane
self scanning machines
Etc. . .

We have the biggest free museum on Aviation in our city. People from all over come to see the National Museum of the Air Force or Air Force Museum. However, I’m not going to showcase the museum today. (Air Force One is on display in building 4 of the museum.)

Today I’m going to showcase two places which are located diagonally across from each other in downtown Dayton. Downtown Dayton used to be known for it’s shopping back in the day but that is no longer a thing. So a group of people have worked together to revitalize the downtown area. Riverscape Metro Park and Fifth Third Field are two places that have been built so that people will come to the downtown area. Today I’m going to share why Riverscape is a great place to visit.

One of the cool thing is the RiverScape River Run. It makes the Great Miami River in downtown Dayton more accessible to those who enjoy water activities.

There is also cool statues throughout the park. Here is an example of one of those statues:

I believe this is represent the devastating flood we had in 1913.

There is also a walking path along the Great Miami River so if you want to exercise this is the place to go.

There is also a splash pad for the kids to beat the summer heat.

There are also swings to sit on so you can watch people riding their bikes or walking. You could also watch the wild life. (I once saw a deer crossing the road into the park.) Or read or check your phone while sitting on these swings.

Or you could read a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar, a famous African American poet who was a resident of Dayton. Did you know he was friends with the Wright Brothers and is buried close to them?

You can also watch the fountain show.

I forgot to take a photo of their pavilion where you can sit on a hot day or ice skate under in the winter.

You can get food there during certain hours. So if you worked in downtown Dayton, it would be a great place to get your lunch.

Across the street is my favorite sculpture. It’s Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright and their 1905 Wright B. Flyer. (Wilbur’s flying)

Diagonally across from the park is Fifth Third Field where the minor league baseball team plays. (Dayton Dragons) As Molly told me, she had more fun at that game than the minor league team she has in Rochester New York. It’s not just a game, it’s an experience.

I have done another blog post about Riverscape, click here for that post. Those photos were taken during the spring.

I hope you enjoyed my oasis in the city.

Have a magical day,
Traci

Eat My Bubbles

When Hubby and I went on the Disney Cruise in 2015, we bought a Nikon Coolpix camera. The battery on that camera has a short life so we were unable to get a lot of photos while on the trip. We still have the camera though. We pull it out when we want to have fun in the pool.

Monday was one of those days. Hubby charged up the camera. The Wee One, Imaginative One, my niece, and my nephew played in the pool. I did get into the pool for a little while. Most of the time I was in the pool, I was taking photos.

I got out when they decided to have a rousing game of Marco Polo. I did not want to become a victim of their playing.

So without further ado, enjoy the photos of us playing around.

Note: I’m not going to include the photos of my niece or nephew since they are not my children.

Oh, the teens decided they needed to wear random buckets on their heads. Silly teens. (They were still able to breath otherwise I would have made them take them off their head.)

This was the last time I wore a bathing suit.

Have a magical day!
Traci

Molly and My EPIC Adventure #4 Plans

This summer, I’m not taking a vacation. Last summer, I took 1 vacation, 1 EPIC adventure, and 1 road trip.

This summer I’m going to have an EPIC adventure. Plans have been put into place. Both Molly and I are excited for the 4.5 days she will be here because they are jam packed.

She arrives on the 24th at 2ish in the afternoon. Day 1 is only going to be driving around to where I grew up, work, and where my sister is buried. Mom is going to be going along on this drive because she can give more detail about the history of some of the places.

We’ll eat dinner at my place that night and either swim or get into the hot tub.

On Monday morning, we are going to get up early and hit the road. She had never been to Kentucky before so we are traveling down to Louisville.

While in Louisville, we are going to the Ali Center, the Louisville Slugger Museum, the Kentucky Derby Museum, and taking a boat cruise in the evening.

(Tuesday) Since she had never been to Indiana either, we are traveling back to Ohio via Indiana. We found a roadside attraction in Versailles, Indiana that we are going to try to find called Paulhedge. I have only been to the part of Indiana that is along I-70 and Indianapolis and northern Indiana. I’ve never been to south east Indiana.

We are going to go to Jungle Jim‘s on our way back and depending on how tired we feel we may also head over to Lebanon to see the Golden Lamb. The rest of the evening will be spent relaxing.

On Wednesday, we are going to eat breakfast at one of my favorite brunch spots. Then we are heading to Carillon Park and Hawthorn Hill. Afterwards we are going to hit up a donut shop, a coffee shop, a quick service restaurant featuring gourmet hot dogs, and a store that specializes in chocolate.

After going home for a rest, we are going to a baseball game in downtown Dayton.

On Thursday of that trip, we are heading north east to see the Ohio Caverns and maybe a castle.

On our way home, we are going to eat ice cream at Young’s Dairy and once again explore Yellow Springs.

She is leaving Friday morning. (Insert sad face)

After I drop her off at the airport, the Imaginative One and I are heading down to King’s Island for a day of fun.

All this fun during the week is the reason we call it EPIC adventures.

There is so much more I would love to do with her but there is not enough time.

Have a magical day,
Traci

Summer 2018 Accomplishments

As Phineas and Ferb say,
“There’s 104 days of summer vacation
And school comes along just to end it
So the annual problem for our generation
Is finding a good way to spend it.”

I don’t have 104 days off this summer. I have about 70 days off this summer. So, what do I want to accomplish during the summer of 2018?

Finish decluttering my house – My aunt helped me reorganize my kitchen. I’ve also done the hall closet and am currently working on decluttering my bedroom.
Take a class about Inclusion and the Special Education Student. I’ve already signed up for the class. It’s a self-paced class and will help me with the way my career is going. The focus is more on inclusion and less on pull out services for students who have been identified as having some sort of learning disability.
Have my fourth EPIC adventure with Molly. She’s coming to town in 2 ½ weeks. While she is here, we have many fun adventures planned. (Click on the photo below for a link to the photos from one of the 2 adventures we had last year.)
Read at least 5 books if not 10 books. I want to finish reading/ listening to all the Cleo Coyle’s Coffeehouse Mysteries series.
Here are the books I have left to read/ listen.
Espresso Shot
Holiday Grind
A Brew to Kill
Dead Cold Brew
Watch all 13 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy. I just finished the third season.
Getting a physical and other preventative care taken care of – Actually was done this week.
Day trips around the area
Peace Museum
Boonshoft Museum
Wegerzyn Metro Park
Cox Arboretum
Etc . . .
Freezer Meals for the upcoming school year
Focus on more writing for the blog
Sleep – lots and lots of sleep

It’s not as adventurous as last year’s summer. This year’s summer vacation will be focusing more on making sure I’m prepared for next school year. My last 2 school years have been tough.

Have a magical day,
Traci

A Magical Birthday – Throwback Thursday

Around my 39^th birthday, I realized my 40^th birthday was going to be on a Friday. It was at that moment that I began to make a plan to travel to a new destination. I did not want a party.

Hubby and I began to make plans of where we could possibly travel. Disneyland, San Diego, and Seattle were all thrown out as destinations.

Finally, in January of 2015, Hubby made the final decision for where we would travel on my birthday. We were going on a Disney Cruise with stops in Nassau and Castaway Cay.

On the morning of my birthday, we got to the airport at the same time as the TSA agents. I was also the first person to get coffee from the airport Starbucks.

Once we landed in Orlando, it was time to get on the Magical Express so that we could get to Port Canaveral. At Port Canaveral, we checked in and then waited and waited and waited. We were in group 15, I believe, so it was a long wait. Hubby and I decided to help the Cast Member who oversaw crowd control, so she let us go in before our group was called which was magical.

My birthday consisted of eating a delicious lunch, riding down the Aqua Duck while yelling “I’m 40!,” exploring the ship, and getting pixie dusted.

Here are some photos of my fortieth birthday:

With the Donald Duck statue

Sophie – The Crew Member who Pixie Dusted me on my 40^th birthday

Sunset on my birthday

The cool circular bathroom

More birthday sunset

Dressed up for my birthday dinner

The menu from the restaurant where we ate on my 40^th birthday

My dinner – Scallops (I really did not like the scallops.)

My birthday cake

The crab that our blanket was folded into

I took many more photos. I had to be picky about which ones I was going to share today.

Have a magical day,
Traci

Throwback Thursday – The first time they visited WDW

In April 2009, Hubby and I visited WDW with the boys who were 3 and 5 years old. The Wee One enjoyed meeting all the characters. The smile on his face was truly magical during our visit.

Here a few photos of the boys during their first visit to WDW.

The Imaginative One went through a phrase where he hated riding boats. He gave this same look when he rode on the boat to Fort Sumter a few months later.

A few months after this photo was taken was the monorail accident where one of the “drivers” was killed. I’m so glad to have this photo.

I hope you enjoyed my walk down memory lane. They have since visited WDW 2 more times. Needless to say, we are a Disney family.

Have a magical day,
Traci

Crossing An Item Off My Bucket List: P!nk Concert

On Tuesday morning, I woke Hubby up at 8:30 with the question “Weren’t we supposed to be leaving between 8 and 9?” My excitement was overflowing because we were going to go see an artist that I truly admire. A few of her songs are ones that you could hear blasting from my car when I have had a bad day.

Hubby had promised me if this artist had a concert within driving distance (8 hours or less) we would go see her. In October, we found out she was going to be going on tour. I had a choice of many places we could travel to see her: Louisville, Indianapolis, Philly (furthest away), Cleveland, or Pittsburgh. I decided Louisville would be the best choice because I was going to be on spring break when she was going to be in Louisville.

Before getting the tickets, Hubby made reservations at the Galt Hotel which is connected to the Yum Center. He did not want to have to deal with trying to get out of the parking lot after the concert. We realized it was the best decision because we watched people trying to get out for over an hour after the concert.

So, who was this artist I was going to see? Why, she is P!nk. I have loved her music since 2001 or so. I listened to “You Make Me Sick” and “There you Go” in 2000 but there was no real connection with her music at that moment in time. When I heard “Just Like a Pill,” I felt a connection with her music. You’ll hear me play the song repeatedly.

That evening at 5:45, I was itching to get over to the Yum Center even though it was a matter of going down one flight of stairs, across the concourse, through a little bit of a parking garage, and then across the skywalk. All in all, it should take 10 or so minutes to get there. I wanted to get there so I could get my shirt. I used to get concert shirts a lot back in the day. Now it needs to be someone special for me to get a shirt.

The breeze way

My outfit

View from my seat

My new shirt

Hubby and I

Then it was a sitting and waiting game before the concert. People trickled in a little bit at a time. A lot stayed up on the concourse drinking at the bar before the concert.

The first act was a DJ. He was okay. There was a lot of good songs that he sampled.

Then it was a group called the Bleachers. They were once again okay. We had a problem because they would start shining these strobe lights that got into our eyes and blinded us. Think the sun but a million times worse. There was no hiding from these lights.

Finally, it was time for them to tear down the set from the Bleachers so we could “Get the Party Started.” The queen was ready to dazzle us with her singing, choreography, and aerials. For 2 hours, we were amazed by her pure talent.

A moment that stood out was when a young girl gave her an United States flag from her dad’s tour of duty. P!nk went off stage to get the flag and then refused to put it down anywhere but somewhere safe.

Another moment in time that will forever be sketched in my head is during “So What.” She did her aerials and ended up flying over us 4 times. You looked up and there she was in all her glory.

I could ramble on and on about the concert but instead will share a few photos and videos. (Oh and you may hear me singing in some of the videos. I apologize for my bad singing.)