www.romanvenable.net:  Clark's Weblog

We live in Hershey, Pennsylvania; the 'sweetest place on earth.' The best candy maker in town (in my opinion) is not Hershey's, but our neighbor, Dale Ebling, who is kind enough to share his chocolate creations with us on occasion. Thanks, Dale!

Categories: Family
# | Discuss (0 replies)

Give him/her your digital camera set to standard quality so it takes about a bagillion pictures before the card is full. Oh, and jury rig a dropped camera bungee cord to reduce the likelihood he will drop it on the floor. Don't reduce the likelihood to zero, though, because it's only real purpose is to convince your spouse it's okay for a five year old to walk around with a digital camera taking pictures. With the free time this buys you, spend some time on the web looking for the camera you would like to replace the one you just kissed goodbye.

Categories: Family
# | Discuss (0 replies)

In the week before I start my new private practice job, we spent several days in the Pocono Mountains at the Skytop Lodge. Bottom line? WOW. We stayed for two nights in this lovely lodge which was completed in 1928.

Early Spring was a great time to visit from my perspective because I hate crowds, and Skytop doesn't become truly busy until after Mother's Day. Our March visit was a great time to explore the Lodge when there were only fifty other guests (as opposed to 500 when full). A mix of families and couples (including at least one pair of newlyweds), there were plenty of activities for all.

  

Our favorite was hiking; something we've been wanting to do with the boys. The first day, we hiked 0.75 miles along a lovely creek

to Indian Ladder Falls.

  

Daniel and Matthew made it on their own, pausing frequently to toss branches and rocks into the stream.

The second day, we used jogging strollers for a longer hike around Skytop lake, during which we found evidence of native wildlife (deer droppings not pictured).

Our favorite part of the trip? The food, hands down. The price of a night's stay includes three meals. Dinner is a 5 course experience. Mary and I agree it was the best food we have ever eaten (sorry, Moms). Breakfast and Lunch are buffet style, with a cooked-to-order menu also available. It was good practice for the boys to order for themselves and try to sit still until Mom and Dad were done. We sat at the same table for each meal and had the same waiter for all meals except the last two.

And the beds were comfortable, too.

Categories: Family
# | Discuss (0 replies)