Lake Placid, New York

Zola and her parents spent the Memorial Day weekend at Lake Placid, New York. It was loads of fun. Here are the highlights of the trip.


The nice lady working at the Greentown, PA Subway shop said about Zola "Hers has blueberry eyes." I don't really know what to say about that.



Lake Placid is a charming little town in upstate New York. And I mean upstate - almost to Canadia. (not a typo)


Zola's first hotel room - the Swiss Acres Inn. Don't be fooled by the Oakleyesque decor. This place was bad news. Our neighbors were loud, the shower water came out brown, and the TV made a strange Poltergeisty sound all night (yes, it was turned off). Luckily, we managed to score better accommodations the next night.



As you can see, Zola was much happier with her upgraded accommodations at the Lake Placid Hilton.


The town of Lake Placid is near the lake, but there's another lake, more accessible, called Mirror Lake that lies next to Main Street. Here's Mirror Lake. This was the view from our hotel room balcony. The lake is 2.65 miles in circumference. We know this because we ran it.


Dirk was in conference meetings for a lot of the time, so Jana and Zola got to know the town.





We got half a round of miniature golf in before Zola demanded her dinner.


Kathi and Jana are a pretty tough putt-putt golfing team.


Lake Placid is most famous for hosting the 1932 and 1980 Olympics. We got to take a little tour of Lake Placid's Winter Olympic Museum .





One of the most famous hockey games in US history was played at Lake Placid. In the 1980 Olympic Games, the United States team defeated a heavily favored Soviet Union team in "The Miracle On Ice."



Here's Zola in the arena where the game was played. She's unimpressed.



Here's Zola in the Penalty Box. She got a 5 minute major for pooping her diaper.


Jana spent some angry time in the box as well.


Zola liked the bobsled.


After spending so much time at Mirror Lake, we decided we needed to get to know the other lake, the actual "lake" part of Lake Placid a little better. So, we strapped up and headed out on a little hike. It's only a few hundred yards away from town, but it was very peaceful . . . placid, if you will.

Here's (almost) the whole gang: John, Dirk, Jana, Zola, Kathi, and Chad. We missed you, Matt and the Twietmeyers.




Some of you may have heard of the 1999 B-movie called "Lake Placid," where a giant crocodile terrorizes people on a lake. We brought this movie along and watched it in our hotel room to set the mood. Unfortunately, the movie is set in a remote part of Maine - not this charming New York town. A line of the movie's dialogue explains it: "

 What's with the water? It's so black.
 There's no waves or anything.
 Well, they wanted to call it ''Lake Placid,''
 but some body said that name was taken.
 It's too bad. 

It was a little bit of a disappointment, in the end, that we weren't in danger of being eaten by a large crocodile . . . or were we?



[That water was COLD!!!]

At the end of the day, Zola was pretty tired. She was a trooper, though, and we're very glad we were able to take this little trip all together.

Our Friend Derek

Derek is our good friend we met at church. Zola always likes to play with him during church and he's come over to the house a few times to play. Unfortunately, his job is moving him back to Colorado. We'll miss you, Derek. Especially Zola.




Derek brought Zola a Grover toy. Apparently, Grover doesn't use contractions when he speaks. Who knew?




Derek was kind enough to share his pizza with Zola. Zola, however, was not kind enough to ask.


A goodnight story, then off to bed.


Thanks for everything, Derek! Safe travels and keep in touch.

Meet Jana, Zola's Mom

Since today is Mothers Day, we (Zola and Dirk) just wanted to tell everyone how great of a mom Jana is. She's the best!

We thought you might like some pictures to show off her awesomeity. For most of these pictures, you can click on them for closer views.



JANA THE MOM:
Jana is the best mom I know (tied with Zola's two grandmothers, of course). She's always so patient and funny with the baby. Zola loves her mommy so much that she appreciatively poops her diaper three or four times a day (wow!).



JANA THE ROMANTIC:
We all know Jana's a hottie, but her taste in men is questionable. Don't believe me? Just check out some of her old boyfriends. It's a tragic flaw that Dirk is more than happy to exploit.



JANA THE TRAVELER
Jana likes to visit all sorts of places and is always up for adventure (more on that in a minute). In fact, Dirk and Jana met halfway across the world in Italy. We've had some really fun trips together and can't wait to start dragging Zola around to more exotic locations than central Pennsylvania.

A lavender field in Provence (This photo took some courage. There were bees everywhere, and your weapons are useless against them.)


Jana at the Brooklyn Bridge (she might be a cat burglar too).


Jana in Belize



Jana in Paris (in front of the Louvre). She's 7 months pregnant in this photo. You'd never guess it.


Jana at Niagara Falls. Zzzzzzzzzzzz




JANA THE FIGHTER
Jana's a fighter. Luckily, she usually fights for the good side. Usually.

(Check out her sweet tattoo):


Jana's punching bag in the garage. Hitting bag=good. Hitting Dirk=bad. Jana once punched me in the hamstring so hard I couldn't walk without pain for a week. (Yes, I gave her permission just to see how bad it would hurt. Answer: Real bad. P.S. I'm an idiot.)


Jana the Piñata assassin


Jana: enemy to Peace Poles everywhere. We need more War Poles.




JANA THE ADVENTURER
Bubblegum Alley in St. Luis Obispo, CA. Yes, that's all chewed gum. Jana thought she would like a free sample. Ewwwww.


Ready for the tour at Ben and Jerry's in Vermont? Jana sure is!


Jana at the monument to the Wright Brothers at Kill Devil Hills (or Kitty Hawk), N.C.


Jana with her tongue stuck to an ice sculpture in Punxsutawney, PA on Groundhog Day.


Strike a model pose on the snowmobile at Oakley (photo credit: Spencer)


Jana's near-death experience in Vermont. Whew! She survived.





JANA THE HANDY-WOMAN
Jana is a genius at putting stuff together. She assembled this little barbecue in far less than the manufacturer's recommended 3.5 hours (for native Chinese speakers; longer for English speakers).




JANA THE ART CRITIC
(special appearance by the backs of Rhett and Kim)




JANA THE PARTY-GIRL
Say hi to Rosie, Jana's mom (she goes by Lynette too).





JANA IN HIGH SCHOOL
With bestest friends Danielle (left) and Patty Ray.




JANA THE ATHLETE:
Inducted into the Nordoff High School Hall of Fame (Volleyball)


Rock Climber. Check out those arm muscles. Seriously, she's amazing.


Jana at the Echo Triathlon.




JANA THE RODIN MODEL
(taken at the Rodin Garden in Paris)


(WARNING: this statue was banned from visiting the BYU. If you choose to look, do so at your own risk.)



JANA THE BEACH GIRL
Atlantic Jana (Outer Banks, NC)


Pacific Jana (Morro Bay, CA)





JANA THE NAVIGATOR
Jana is a great map-reader. Her skills make road trips a breeze.


We love you, Jana! Thanks for being the bestest mom ever. Happy Mothers Day!