So now I'm going to be obnoxious, and cover the entire week in one post. Or in other words: BEWARE-- REALLY LONG BLOG POST TO FOLLOW. Consider yourself warned.
Anyway, we actually managed to strike a balance between fun and productivity, so that made me happy. Craig spent the first few days working on the rec room, and the main room now has all its drywall up, and some of it has even been spackled and taped, so that's good progress. Then starting on Thursday we moved onto the "fun" portion of the break by driving to Gettysburg and meeting up with my sister Natalie (who is the biggest Civil War buff I know). We toured the battlegrounds there and tried not to laugh at the irony as the CD tour praised the stoicism of the soldiers and we kept turning up the volume hoping to drown out the whining of our children. But despite all the whining, we managed to finish the tour and I learned a lot, so I'm glad we did it.
Here's Natalie with Robert E. Lee. When we happened to visit Arlington on General Lee's birthday a couple years ago, she sent me a text asking that I wish him a happy birthday from her. Because she just happened to know that it was his birthday. THAT'S the sort of Civil War buff she is. Lest you think I was simply exaggerating.
Holding my nephew Samuel at the top of the Pennsylvania monument. He took one look at his mommy standing below us and was not happy that I'd dragged him up there. Oops.
The family at Little Round Top. I love how Kendra's pants totally clash with Craig's shirt.We spent Friday hanging out with Natalie and meeting up with some of her friends who also happened to be visiting Hershey. Then that night, we put the kids to bed, left them with Natalie and Cameron, and Craig and I headed out to Hershey Park for their "preview" night. It was so nice to wander around the park without strollers for a little bit! I was kind of a wimp and only went on some of the roller coasters. I am learning to accept the fact that I am afraid of falling from heights, so several of the roller coasters were off-limits to me because of that. I did manage this one, though:
"Great Bear" at Hershey ParkAnd I'm awarding myself three coolness points for that, at least. Interesting side note: Craig and I discovered that we have exact opposite views on roller coasters. If I can't see where I'm going, I can just enjoy the ride and I will love it. That's part of the reason I liked Disney World's Rock ' n ' Roller Coaster so much. But if I can see the big loops (and yes, the big drops) coming up, then I'm terrified. Craig is the opposite-- as long as he can see where he's going, nothing much bothers him. Not knowing what's coming will just make him sick. Weird, huh?
Anyway, we had fun, even if it was only for a couple hours. And many thanks to Natalie and Cameron, who had to put up with our kids who did NOT go right to sleep for them like they should have!!!
The next day we all went to Hershey Park.
The kids were a little nervous about the whole thing (and cold-- it warmed up eventually!). So Natalie and I took them on oodles of little kid rides while Cameron and Craig enjoyed all the roller coasters that I had been too afraid of. And we had a good time this way! Best of all was Natalie being willing to take all the kids home for nap time by herself. Saintly points for that one. It gave Craig and Cameron and me a nice break from pushing strollers around, and the kids were MUCH happier when they came back. Then they absolutely loved all the rides, rather than mostly putting up with them like they had in the morning!
Unfortunately, by this time, I was tired of lugging around the camera. So we only got shots from the morning when the three-and-under crowd was still a tad trepidatious. Here are a few of them, though:
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I'll admit that we also enjoyed the yummy food at Hershey Park. We'd had grandiose ideas of packing lunches and buying a healthy dinner while we were there. But then we decided, "Eh-- it's HERSHEY Park! Let's enjoy it!" This involved Craig eating ice cream for dinner, and me devouring a chocolate-dipped Belgian waffle and a fabulous s'more, among other things. I did at least have a gyro sandwich for dinner, in addition to the chocolate. (Random note: do you pronounce it like "hero" or like it looks? I can never figure out what's correct!)
We went to bed that night exhausted, but pleased with how the day had gone. What is it about your kids having a really fun time that makes you feel like an awesome parent?
The next day we took our time packing up (and trying to clean up some of the mess we'd made of Natalie's apartment!) and eventually began our drive to Culpeper, where we had a lovely Easter dinner with Craig's parents. I'm always a big fan of Easter dinner, but after eating nothing but junk the day before, this one tasted absolutely WONDERFUL. Many congratulations to my Mother-in-law for her fabulous cooking! Seriously, even the carrots were to die for (and I don't usually even like cooked carrots). So we owe them lots of thanks and gratitude, especially since it meant I didn't have to cook as soon as we got home (something I seem to have forgotten how to do, lately)! Grandma and Grandpa had also planned plenty of fun for the kids: Easter eggs, blowing bubbles, and lots of chocolate:
After that we finally headed home. It was sad having Craig back at work on Monday, but it's awfully nice to be home again!
And now... I can hardly wait until summer vacation!
Anyway, we had fun, even if it was only for a couple hours. And many thanks to Natalie and Cameron, who had to put up with our kids who did NOT go right to sleep for them like they should have!!!
The next day we all went to Hershey Park.
The kids were a little nervous about the whole thing (and cold-- it warmed up eventually!). So Natalie and I took them on oodles of little kid rides while Cameron and Craig enjoyed all the roller coasters that I had been too afraid of. And we had a good time this way! Best of all was Natalie being willing to take all the kids home for nap time by herself. Saintly points for that one. It gave Craig and Cameron and me a nice break from pushing strollers around, and the kids were MUCH happier when they came back. Then they absolutely loved all the rides, rather than mostly putting up with them like they had in the morning!Unfortunately, by this time, I was tired of lugging around the camera. So we only got shots from the morning when the three-and-under crowd was still a tad trepidatious. Here are a few of them, though:
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I'll admit that we also enjoyed the yummy food at Hershey Park. We'd had grandiose ideas of packing lunches and buying a healthy dinner while we were there. But then we decided, "Eh-- it's HERSHEY Park! Let's enjoy it!" This involved Craig eating ice cream for dinner, and me devouring a chocolate-dipped Belgian waffle and a fabulous s'more, among other things. I did at least have a gyro sandwich for dinner, in addition to the chocolate. (Random note: do you pronounce it like "hero" or like it looks? I can never figure out what's correct!)
We went to bed that night exhausted, but pleased with how the day had gone. What is it about your kids having a really fun time that makes you feel like an awesome parent?
The next day we took our time packing up (and trying to clean up some of the mess we'd made of Natalie's apartment!) and eventually began our drive to Culpeper, where we had a lovely Easter dinner with Craig's parents. I'm always a big fan of Easter dinner, but after eating nothing but junk the day before, this one tasted absolutely WONDERFUL. Many congratulations to my Mother-in-law for her fabulous cooking! Seriously, even the carrots were to die for (and I don't usually even like cooked carrots). So we owe them lots of thanks and gratitude, especially since it meant I didn't have to cook as soon as we got home (something I seem to have forgotten how to do, lately)! Grandma and Grandpa had also planned plenty of fun for the kids: Easter eggs, blowing bubbles, and lots of chocolate:
After that we finally headed home. It was sad having Craig back at work on Monday, but it's awfully nice to be home again!
And now... I can hardly wait until summer vacation!
3 comments:
That was such a fun trip, I'm so glad you guys could come and stay with us for a few days! Hershey Park was totally awesome, and I'm glad that we were able to go to the Gettysburg together for your first time.
I totally forgot about me texting you to wish Lee a happy birthday - when was that??? Just for everyone else's reference, Lee was born 1/19/1807. :0)
It's pronounced euro, like the money in Europe, only tastier.
Loved the pictures-what darling children! Glad you had such a nice and productive spring break. As re your mention of chocolate-Dad & I went to dinner in Poulsbo and discovered that Mora's had opened a shop there (their second). So we had to help them inaugurate it! I loved my dark chocolate ice cream.
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