Sky Top Orchard

Over the years I have heard a lot of great things about Sky Top Orchard, but just have never been. We decided to check it out this afternoon. In all my years I have never been apple-picking (there are a lot of firsts for me lately…last year it was my first time at a pumpkin patch!) Miss Maddie is certainly going to be a world traveler, because we love to take her places! Sky Top is an amazing place, but boy does it get busy during this time of year! It was packed with people, so we decided to grab our baskets and head to the trees furthest away! Thank goodness for the BOB stroller, because no ordinary stroller would have been able to endure the hills, mud, and apples!

Maddie had a great time picking apples and eating them, too! As usual it was hard to capture any sort of smile from our very serious child, but we knew she was having fun the whole time. We picked many different apples, including Red Delicious, Cortland, Ida Reds, and some others that we have no clue what they are! We ended up with a little over a half-bushel, so I have some plans to make some apple pies and maybe some applesauce! After we were done we checked out the store and bought some apple fritters and apple cider donuts, which were both DELICIOUS!

We look forward to picking pumpkins in the next few weeks! HAPPY FALL!

Dr. Daddy and his Beloved Maddie

               Finally, I’d like to write in the long existing blog that Danielle has set up for our family. The past few months have been very busy for us as a family and for me. I don’t really know who reads this blog but I hope that I can post more often to give those with families as well as our friends and family a glimpse of what our life is like. I can’t begin to state with full affect how much Danielle does for our family. If our family was a stone arch. She is unequivicoally the keystone. In the past year, she has been a great mother and wonderful wife to Madison and me. It’s hard to state how difficult medical school would be without her help. Many of the times she is an outlet for my fears and concerns as well as advisor when I need help with tough decisions. I’m very blessed to have a talented wife like her.

               Madison  is a breath of fresh air to me when I get home from the hospital every day. As many of you know, the hospital is a place of miracles but often a place of dispair and death. While I love what I do, it is often emotionally, physically, and intellectually draining on a daily basis. But when I come home, I can always count on Madison and her big happy smile to run and give me a hug. Typically, she has something funny to show me like her “monk-monk” (monkey) or a book. No matter how tired I feel; I always want to read to Madison. She’s a joy to hold and now talk to. She’s quite the talker! Although many nights I would only get to spend 2-3 hours with Madison I always attempt to make those hours count. Being a medical student and having a child is challenging yet more rewarding than I could have thought. I’ve learned to maximize my time with family while I have the opportunity. Many times, we become apathetic in our lives and with our families. All too often we get caught in routines. It has taken medical school for me to realize that work stays at work and you need to soak up as much time with family and your children as you can while you have the time.

              I entered medical school with much conviction but a fair amount of trepidation. It was always in the back of my mind that this profession is difficult and families make huge sacrifices. However, I believed Danielle would be strong enough to walk beside me on this journey and help raise our family. When we learned that Madison was coming it was so joyous. There’s nothing else in the world that feels like the day of your child’s birth. There were many new challenges that faced both Danielle and myself as we finished up my second year of medical school and began my third year. The recent loss of Danielle’s father was emotionally straining on both of us. Then Madison had a milk protein allergy shortly after her birth which made for many long nights. The toughest thing though was studying. The hours are long in medical school. After class it was 2 hours for dinner and baby time and then off to the library to study until 11 or 12 midnight. Then get up at 7 the next day and repeat. Weekends were filled with long hours in the library studying charts and anatomy ect. The points in the night when Madison would wake up for one reason or another were tiring but I actually enjoyed them in the end. I still think of being exhausted sitting on the couch with madison in her carrier looking up at me in the dark with her wide beady eyes looking at me. Suddenly, I felt like she was all that mattered to me. I could care less if I got an 89 or 90 on a test. I just wanted to raise her right. After my first board exam 2nd year it was refreshing to have a one month break and move back to SC. As I’ve watched her grow over the past 19 months, I’ve truly seen the work of God. Madison is a perfect mix of daddy and mommy. She has daddy’s attitude and mommy’s looks. THANK GOD! She’s so independent and extremely headstrong which will serve her well in life.

            Probably the hardest year to be a father in medical school is 3rd year. You are away from the house much of the year and on call 4 times each month. The hardest was being on call. I felt I was gone for days. When I got home I would feel like I wanted to collapse and sleep but if I did I would miss the “awake time” that Madison had. So typically I would consume a moderate quantity of coffee and we would go to the park or play around the house until she napped. Then Daddy would nap. This worked well for those embarking on a similar journey. I thought that the next month would get better and I would have more time at home and each month it would be the same. I was home much of the month I did my ER rotation but, again,  my hours were weird and I truly believe the “lifestyle” of ER isn’t as family friendly as it’s made out to be. Nevertheless, my third year culminated in 6 weeks of studying for my step II board exam. The difficulty was that I had to self motivate and spend time with Madison while I could. It was tough and I’m glad I finished it. As I start my fourth year and residency applications and interviews, I feel excited! I have no more tests to take, no more paperwork to fill out for this year (at least that I know about) and my time is time that I can spend with my family. Unfortunately, I’ll be traveling a lot this fall, first to Augusta GA, then to Columbia SC, and Jacksonville FL in December. I can only tell fellow med student parents that SKYPE is awesome. Get it and use it. I know I’ve been without it while I’ve been in Augusta and it’s hard to hear your daughter but not be able to see her make funny faces.

           I hope to write more in the near future on some subjects of being a parent in medical school because it truly is both a huge challenge and joy. There have been many long nights on the wards and nights in the ER when I say to God “ thank you for giving me a great and loving family.” It’s about time for us to take madison to the park.  Remember to always spend every moment you have with your family.

           - Gabe McCoy

           “second year Father School Student”

Mommy and Daddy’s trip up north!

Gabe was scheduled to head up to Philadelphia to take his PE boards at the end of August…another requirement for the ole’ medical students…anyways we were about to book his flight up there and on a whim we decided that the two of us would just make a little trip out of it and drive!  I called my Omi and Pop-Pop to see if they would be willing to come watch Maddie for a couple of days and of course they were over the moon excited to be able to spend some time with her.  So not only was I going to get to spend a lot of car time with my husband, but we had plans to go into Philadelphia for a few hours and on our way home we were going to stop in Washington D.C.!  I have never been, so I was so pumped!

Being ridiculously OCD (about certain things), I had this trip meticulously planned out-all hotels booked, things to do planned, train schedules just about memorized, and bags packed.  We left on Wednesday afternoon and right before we left we (stupidly) decided to update our GPS.  We then set out on the road only to discover that the maps had not loaded correctly-everything was completely wiped clean.  After countless attempts to get the GPS to start working (we used Starbucks, Microtel Inn, and a parking lot of a Super 8 wireless internet connection) and a call to Garmin customer service we finally were able to get our GPS working on day 3 of our trip!

We made it to Philadelphia late morning on Thursday, parked our car at the hotel, grabbed our backpack and ran to the train station to catch the train into the city.  We had fun exploring the streets of Philly.  We saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and Ben Franklin’s old neighborhood.  We also ate lunch at the Reading Terminal Market.  It was so neat and there was so much food everywhere!  Gabe had a Philly cheesesteak and I ate a pot roast sandwich from some really nice Amish people.  It rained most of the day, so I didn’t get my camera out too much.  But here are a few pictures that we captured---

 

 

Independence Hall

Grave of the Unknown Soldiers (of the Revolutionary War)

Room where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed

No big city is complete without China town

Old Library (I think?)

Betsy Ross’ House

Beautiful Cobblestone streets

Carpenter’s Hall

Liberty Bell

 

While Gabe was taking his test on Friday I stayed in the hotel until check-out glued to the TV watching Hurricane Irene’s every move.  The one time we are away a major hurricane was about to hit the northeast…and this only happens once in a decade, right?  Our plan was to be in Washington DC all day Saturday and Hurricane Irene was expected to make an impact with heavy rains and high winds in the late afternoon, so against our better judgment we headed down to DC on Friday night right after Gabe was finished with his test.  We hurried and made it DC on Friday night to see all the major monuments-Washington, Lincoln, Vietnam, Korean, and World War II.  There was definitely something special to see the Lincoln Memorial at night-we spent most of our time here and we even listened to a talk about our 16th president. 

 

 

After a long day we headed back to Bethesda (a suburb of DC) where our hotel was and got a good night sleep in preparation for a whirlwind of a day ahead of us…

Our plan was to walk through the monuments one more time so I could get daytime pictures of them first thing in the morning.  We decided to get off at a different station that was closer to the monuments in the “Froggy Bottom” neighborhood.  We started walking in the direction of the monuments (or what we thought was the direction of the monuments) and the whole time I was asking my dear husband “are we going the right way?” and all along he (the one with the map) kept assuring me that we were.  We passed through several hip DC neighborhoods and even saw several colleges a long the way.  After walking for nearly 30 minutes Gabe quickly took a look at the map and said “Oh My God we have been going in the wrong direction.”  Yep my boy scout, map-lovin’ husband took us due North about a mile in the WRONG DIRECTION! 

Nonetheless we FINALLY made it to the Lincoln Memorial right when the rain started.  Hurricane Irene was on its way…but I got the pictures of everything I wanted. We then headed to see the White House and to explore the Smithsonian Museums.  We saw the American History, Natural History Museums and visited the Archives where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution are held.  By the time we tried to go to the Air and Space Museum the winds had picked up and they started shutting the city down.  It was an insane day to say the least, but I can finally say I saw the nation’s capital.  I definitely want to return because there are many things that we didn’t get to see, including the Library of Congress, US Capitol, Arlington Cemetery, and countless museums and monuments. 

 

Vietnam War Memorial

Korean War Memorial

Lincoln Monument

World War II Memorial

The White House

The Boy Scout Monument

President Lincoln’s top hat he was wearing when he was shot

Dinosaurs-definitely my FAVE!

The Hope Diamond

Short visit to the Air and Space Museum before they closed everything down

 

After leaving D.C. we traveled to Richmond where we had a room booked for the night.  Thank goodness we had a reservation, because our hotel was turning people away who were from the coast trying to get a room for the night. We got a lot of rain and the winds definitely picked up by the time we checked in.  Gabe just about blew away trying to unload our things onto a cart. 

We had a fun little trip away, but we were so happy to be home with our little princess.  During all our travels we kept a picture of her on the dashboard so she was with us the whole time.  We never worried about her though, because she was with Omi.  I asked Omi one night how everything was going and Omi replied “me and Maddie are like two peas in a pod-we are having a great time!”.  Thank you Omi for taking great care of Maddie.  We love you so much!

Maddie cuddling with her Omi

Mommy and Daddy are HOME!