Wow. What a vacation. Let's see how many pictures I can cram into one post. Is there a record??
The short version: We were busy every day. We loved it!
The long version:
Thurs: Travel to PA. Fight delayed by 3 hours after a nearly 4 hour layover in Detroit. It was awesome. Oh, and did I mention that our day started at 3:15 am?
We had the poor little umbrella stroller loaded down with 2 backpacks, one big tote bag and my giant purse. Add 2 silly kids and that's quite a lot of weight!
Fri: Prep for family reunion on Saturday. The kids played at the park with Pop and Bobby. Then in the evening we went to a really neat concert at the park. It was a bluegrass group with a name I can't remember. But they were very good and funny too.
Sat: Sword's Family Reunion all day and then continued on at Aunt Debi and Uncle Harold's house. It was a really nice day - beautiful weather and they planned a lot of fun activities for the kids. Oh, and TONS of great food, of course!
Chris got nailed in the water balloon toss.
Pin the tail on the puppy.
A Pop and Chris moment.
Taking a swing at the pinata.
Uncle Harold giving out rides on the Harley!!!
Sun: Church and Sunday School and then a hotdog roast/BBQ at Aunt Debi and Uncle Harold's house again. This day we had a Slip N' Slide for the kids plus a water gun and water balloon fight.
Mon: We ventured out to Kennywood, the local big amusement park. Chris lucked out and was at the perfect height. If he stood just a tiny slouched, he could still ride all the kiddy rides with Emily. And if he stood nice and straight, he could ride most of the adult rides. He did it all: Pirate Ship, Roller Coasters, Tilt a Whirl, Wipeout, Bumper Cars, pretty much everything that he could.
Bobby and I rode a coaster called the Phantom. It has the biggest drops that I've seen in a long time. I screamed so loudly that when the ride was over the kid (maybe 7 yrs. old?) who sat in front of me turned around and gave me the most disgusted look. What can I say? Screaming is what gets me through the terror. :)
Chris on the swings.
Emily on her "peppermint" horse.
Tues: This was our first "rest" day. It began with a delicious brunch at Cracker Barrel to say goodbye to the great-aunts.
Three sisters and their hubbies.
Chris at his "job" of being doorman. He was even tipped $1 by Rick - what a great guy!
Later in the afternoon we went to the park to walk the trails and play at the playground. Mom and Pop joked on the way there that the last few times they had gone, they always were rained out. There were definitely gray clouds in the sky.... Mom and I set out on the walk and had made it less than a mile when the thunder started cracking and lightning was flashing. We jogged the last part to the pavilion just as big fat drops fell faster and faster. We ended up staying hunkered under the pavilion for almost 45 min. before we took advantage of a slowing in the downpour to sprint to the van.
Wed: The big guys went on a rafting trip down the Ohiopyle River with a friend from church and his oldest son.
The ladies and little kids visited at the friends' house. They have the most perfect backyard for kids - a trampoline, a swimming pool, a huge swingset/play station and even a paved alley behind the house away from the threat of cars! I didn't get to snap too many pictures, simply because we were too busy having fun!
I couldn't resist this pic of Emily in a Steelers helmet.
After we returned home at dinner time, Chris was treated to another motorcycle ride - this time on Pop's bike!
Thurs: Our second and last "at home" day. Bobby and I went to see the movie "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry". It was semi-cute in a stupid kind of way. Old-school Adam Sandler is much better. Anyway, while we were gone the kids stayed with Grammy and Pop and played outside. They dug up Grammy's garden with real miniature gardening tools and smeared Play-Dough all over the patio.
Chris and Pop also built a bird house together and hung it in the tree. Isn't that just the coolest thing ever?
After the relaxing, we went to Grandma's apartment for a delicious dinner. It was a lovely day.
Fri: On our final full day in PA we went to another amusement park called Idylwild, this time accompanied by Aunt Debi and Uncle Harold. It's not as big and "new" as Kennywood, but it has a wonderful kid section and a couple of neat old rollercoasters. Emily even rode one!
The day started out cool and rainy and it was forecasted to be that way all day long.
But Bobby offered up many many prayers for a clearing of the clouds and his prayers were totally answered! After about 30 min., the skies cleared and it turned out to be a beautiful day - not too hot and not too chilly.
I spazzed out and missed the big splash for the Log Ride, but managed to get this after shot taken.
Emmy and Mommy go round and round and round.
Kid rides. Vroom.
Sat: Our final 1/2 day in PA. Packing and flying and back to OK. How in the world are we going to be able to top this trip?
Thanks Mom and Pop!!
The short version: We were busy every day. We loved it!
The long version:
Thurs: Travel to PA. Fight delayed by 3 hours after a nearly 4 hour layover in Detroit. It was awesome. Oh, and did I mention that our day started at 3:15 am?
We had the poor little umbrella stroller loaded down with 2 backpacks, one big tote bag and my giant purse. Add 2 silly kids and that's quite a lot of weight!
Fri: Prep for family reunion on Saturday. The kids played at the park with Pop and Bobby. Then in the evening we went to a really neat concert at the park. It was a bluegrass group with a name I can't remember. But they were very good and funny too.
Sat: Sword's Family Reunion all day and then continued on at Aunt Debi and Uncle Harold's house. It was a really nice day - beautiful weather and they planned a lot of fun activities for the kids. Oh, and TONS of great food, of course!Chris got nailed in the water balloon toss.
Pin the tail on the puppy.
A Pop and Chris moment.
Taking a swing at the pinata.
Uncle Harold giving out rides on the Harley!!!
Sun: Church and Sunday School and then a hotdog roast/BBQ at Aunt Debi and Uncle Harold's house again. This day we had a Slip N' Slide for the kids plus a water gun and water balloon fight.
Mon: We ventured out to Kennywood, the local big amusement park. Chris lucked out and was at the perfect height. If he stood just a tiny slouched, he could still ride all the kiddy rides with Emily. And if he stood nice and straight, he could ride most of the adult rides. He did it all: Pirate Ship, Roller Coasters, Tilt a Whirl, Wipeout, Bumper Cars, pretty much everything that he could.
Bobby and I rode a coaster called the Phantom. It has the biggest drops that I've seen in a long time. I screamed so loudly that when the ride was over the kid (maybe 7 yrs. old?) who sat in front of me turned around and gave me the most disgusted look. What can I say? Screaming is what gets me through the terror. :)
Chris on the swings.
Emily on her "peppermint" horse.
Tues: This was our first "rest" day. It began with a delicious brunch at Cracker Barrel to say goodbye to the great-aunts.
Three sisters and their hubbies.
Chris at his "job" of being doorman. He was even tipped $1 by Rick - what a great guy!
Later in the afternoon we went to the park to walk the trails and play at the playground. Mom and Pop joked on the way there that the last few times they had gone, they always were rained out. There were definitely gray clouds in the sky.... Mom and I set out on the walk and had made it less than a mile when the thunder started cracking and lightning was flashing. We jogged the last part to the pavilion just as big fat drops fell faster and faster. We ended up staying hunkered under the pavilion for almost 45 min. before we took advantage of a slowing in the downpour to sprint to the van.
Wed: The big guys went on a rafting trip down the Ohiopyle River with a friend from church and his oldest son.
The ladies and little kids visited at the friends' house. They have the most perfect backyard for kids - a trampoline, a swimming pool, a huge swingset/play station and even a paved alley behind the house away from the threat of cars! I didn't get to snap too many pictures, simply because we were too busy having fun!
I couldn't resist this pic of Emily in a Steelers helmet.
After we returned home at dinner time, Chris was treated to another motorcycle ride - this time on Pop's bike!
Thurs: Our second and last "at home" day. Bobby and I went to see the movie "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry". It was semi-cute in a stupid kind of way. Old-school Adam Sandler is much better. Anyway, while we were gone the kids stayed with Grammy and Pop and played outside. They dug up Grammy's garden with real miniature gardening tools and smeared Play-Dough all over the patio.
Chris and Pop also built a bird house together and hung it in the tree. Isn't that just the coolest thing ever?
After the relaxing, we went to Grandma's apartment for a delicious dinner. It was a lovely day.
Fri: On our final full day in PA we went to another amusement park called Idylwild, this time accompanied by Aunt Debi and Uncle Harold. It's not as big and "new" as Kennywood, but it has a wonderful kid section and a couple of neat old rollercoasters. Emily even rode one!
The day started out cool and rainy and it was forecasted to be that way all day long.
But Bobby offered up many many prayers for a clearing of the clouds and his prayers were totally answered! After about 30 min., the skies cleared and it turned out to be a beautiful day - not too hot and not too chilly.
I spazzed out and missed the big splash for the Log Ride, but managed to get this after shot taken.
Emmy and Mommy go round and round and round.
Kid rides. Vroom.
Sat: Our final 1/2 day in PA. Packing and flying and back to OK. How in the world are we going to be able to top this trip?
Thanks Mom and Pop!!
