Pennsylvania or Bust

The past few weeks we have been on vacation! Chad had built up a bunch of vacation time at work so we headed back east for a visit with all the fun people there! We were a little nervous about the trip for a few reasons- with one being that it is a 17 and a half hour drive to Pennsylvania (where Chad's family lives) and our girls are newly potty trained. I really didn't want to spend a lot of time cleaning up potty accident. In the end I didn't need to worry at all. The girls did great! The only time we really had any problems on the way there was right before our first stop in Columbus, Ohio. I was getting really late at night and Lily was grumpy so she started screaming that she needed to go potty. I don't think she really even needed to go, so just wanted out of the car and I can't blame her at all.

Like I said; our first stop was in Ohio where we spent the night and the next day with our friends the Hancock's! They just moved there from Des Moines and we had a great time together. We took the kids to the Columbus Science Center (or CoSi). It is huge had had so many fun things to look at! There was a water room where the kids got to put on rain coats and play at the big water tables, a little kid area with everything from balls to Dr. dress up, and much much more.

After we spent some time there we walked across the river and had lunch next to a cool boat. It was a warm day so we were sweating on the walk over but just as we finished lunch it stated to rain on us. I was actually quite comical. The kids loved it and were jumping in all the puddles.

(click on collages to see the pictures better!)

After a fun afternoon we said goodbye to the Hancock's and started the second half of our drive to PA. We got there with enough time to unpack the van, put the kids to bed, and stay up and talk with the family. In the morning we were back on the road- this time with all of Chad's family on our way to Washington D.C. area to go to a baby blessing. Henry (who we consider a brother) and his wife Amber blessed their sweet little baby boy Henson! Here is a picture of the family all together! (I stole this off of Heather's blog! Thanks Heather!)

We love seeing family. We played a lot of games, told stories and just had a good time together. The last time we were in Pennsylvania Lily and Ellie were only six months old so this was their first real time to explore Nana and Papa's house. One afternoon they even got to eat their lunch while being serenaded by Uncle Ian on the guitar!

Heather found a fun little dairy that we went to visit! The girls were a little leerier about the cows at first but warmed up to them pretty quick. They love animals and getting to pet and feed the little cows was pretty fun.

This one liked the taste of Chad's shorts. :)

They had a little store where you could buy stuff like milk- we got ice cream! Yum! Here is Nana and the grand kids!

Between the trampoline, playing Settlers of Catan, staying up late to talk, and going to the park we had so much fun. I haven't been in a full house for a while. It was loud- but the good kind of loud. The kind I grew up with.

Other than playing with cousin Kacen I think Lily and Ellie's favorite thing about visiting was Gus the dog. We haven't spent much time around big dogs but they loved it. Gus was so good and didn't even mind when they chased him around and tried to lay on him!

August 10th was National S'mores day! We felt the need to celebrate it and had a BBQ and roasted marshmallows for s'mores. It was a beautiful evening.

(again- click to enlarge)

another one of the girls favorite thing to do while at Nana and Papa's was to pick all the flowers. They would pick a hand full come and tell me they were for Nana and when they would got to give them to her... they would want to keep them. Sorry to my in-laws if there are still dead flowers all over your house. :)

Chad, Lily, Ellie and I spent one day in Hershey, PA! We went to ZooAmerica and got to see some animals and let OUR animals run around a little.

After the Zoo we stopped at the Hershey's Chocolate world and took the girls on the little ride that tell you how they make the chocolate. They loved the singing cows- I loved the free chocolate at the end.

Lily and Ellie also got very excited because Nana and Papa gave them their birthday presents! They got a big Mr. Potato head and some really cute lights that are in the shape of flowers for their room! Thanks Nana and Papa!

The next mini trip that we took was to Frederick Maryland! Some of our very good friends live there and we loving visiting! We spent the morning and afternoon with Andrea, Scott and Johnny! Before Scott got home from work we went to the playground and lets just say that Andrea and Johnny are troopers. They ran around with the girls so much- just watching them wore me out! After a failed nap (where Ellie and Lily ended up spraying perfume all over) we headed over to Andrea's parents house for an awesome family dinner. The food was so yummy and the company even better. We adore them all and always leave feeling like part of their family. Lily and Ellie were WAY spoiled. Scott and Andrea got them so fun toys and Andrea's parent got them adorable "pack-packs" (backpacks) with all sorts of fun art stuff inside! When Ellie saw her bag she said "What a beautiful bag!", and when Lily saw the paint inside she was so excited she couldn't even contain herself! Thanks again all of you, we had a great time!

(Top left- All the family together! Top right- Johnny showing Lily what was in her backpack. Bottom left- Scott, Andrea, Johnny, and Chad watching Lily and Ellie play a game. Bottom right- Scott with Lily and Andrea with Ellie.

The next leg of our adventure was at Dewey Beach in Delaware! This was the girls first time to the ocean and they LOVED the sand! They would look at the water but didn't much care for actually going in.

Chad's family brought a bunch of boogie boards and two surf boards to play around on. I tried both and failed at both. The other family members did pretty good but the waves just were not big enough to surf even if you knew what you were doing.
(Here is Chad catching a wave on a boogie board!)

The one down fall of this trip was the rain. Two of the days we were at the beach it rained in the afternoon. If you were dry you had to huddle under the canopy with all our stuff. Even with the rain it was fun though. The kids played really hard and crashed hard too. I love this picture of cousin Kacen snuggling his mommy.

Perry doing the "Man Pose" in the rain.

While setting up camp we found a way to distract the kids so they wouldn't run away. Watching Dora in the van. Really roughing it- I know.

The first night we took a little excursionto the outlet mall and the Rehoboth boardwalk. Chad's sister Jessica and I had a great time on the beach taking funny pictures. We found a huge hole someone dug that they had carved their phone number in it saying to call them. We laughed about it but didn't actually call.

In the arcade we got all excited to have Zoltar tell our fortune but he wouldn't take our dollar bills. :(

The last day at the beach the weather was fantastic! Lily got buried in the sand and Ellie pulled a boogie board around the surf next to all the young boys.

Jessica, Heather and I played in the water and sand for a long time! I haven't been to a beach, let alone an ocean for a long time.

(You really need to look at these ones bigger... they are super funny.)

Chad had his own fun digging a big hole in the sand before we left!

He then somehow convinced us to take a picture in the hole...

Then he convinced me to get buried in it! (there was a French fry bribe) As everyone was pushing the sand on me my Mother in-law, Valarie, fell in and was buried with me.

Yeah- we are awesome.

When we got home we were all exhausted. We unpacked and tried to relax. We did have an eventful evening where we dyed a strip of Lily and Ellie's hair purple. I think it looks cute... as long as it comes out eventually.

The last day we were there a very nice lady from their ward took some family pictures for us! She is a great photographer and I can't wait to see the pictures! Here are a few I took with my camera. Someday I'll be as good as her :)

That night Maddison, Jessica, and Kyle watched the girls while Perry and Valarie took Chad and I out to dinner! It was so nice to go out! In the morning we packed up and said goodbye to everyone and started our long drive back to Iowa. We had a blast and wish we lived closer to family. Thank you to the Raleigh's for letting us come! We love you all!