The sporadic posting over the last week and a half was due to our ten day trip to Pennsylvania. I’ve mentioned before that Philip’s sister, Deborah, lives in Philadelphia with her little family, so for our immediate family reunion this year we headed back east for a week long trip in the Pocono Mountains.

I should mention that Peanut had a hard time pronouncing the word, so nearly all of us were following his example and calling them the “Pocodos” by the end of the week.

It was a fantastic week full of relaxation, good food (more than I want
to admit), and fun activities. I’ll spare you all six hundred photos
that I took and just share the highlights (although there are still a lot…brace yourselves).

On Monday, our first full day there, we took family pictures (which I’ll be sharing soon!). After they were done and we were just sitting around relaxing at the house, Peanut thought it would be fun to play dress up with Grampy’s glasses. This photo kills me every time. 

On Tuesday, we spent the day at a nearby indoor water park. The husbands loved the surfing simulator, although this…

 …quickly turned to this.

We saw a lot of deer during our trip, but the mama and baby deer that showed up in our front yard one morning were by far my favorite.

On Wednesday, we drove to Hickory Run State Park where we had a little picnic, checked out the crazy boulder field, and went on a little hike.

Deborah and I were each in charge of one craft or activity for the kids during the week. Before we left for our hike, she helped the kids make toilet paper roll binoculars so they could use them for animal spotting. Peanut LOVED them, and I died from the cuteness.

 The rest of the day, Peanut stayed outside, exploring, finding lots of bugs, and showing off his muscles…

 and then finished off the evening with some delicious oreo fudge bars.

We spent several evenings out on the porch, enjoying the fabulous weather and watching fireflies. 

Thursday and Friday were spent at the beach. While I laid out in the sunshine (not a bit of color to show for it though), Peanut made sand castles and dug in the sand.

 For my activity with the kids, we did some painting. I was such a proud mama watching my little dude playing with watercolors.

 We also made some brown paper bag puppets. It was so much fun that everyone joined in!

 On Friday, while the babies were napping, Philip and I went off with Deborah and Sam to play a little mini-golf. We ended up playing in a tournament, came in second place, and got a voucher for free ice cream!

 On our final day up in the Poconos, the entire family went up to the Lake Harmony Resort and went bowling.

Afterward, we let the kids run around the arcade and play a few games. I gave Peanut a couple of tokens and let him choose a game. Of course he chose the one with the worst odds, threw his tokens in the slot, and suddenly two hundred tickets came pouring out! He was thrilled, and turned them in for a little stuffed dog.

The next morning we checked out of our cabin and headed back to Philadelphia. We spent the day at Deborah and Sam’s house, and then flew out early Monday morning. Such a great week. 

Now we’re back home and trying to get our lives back to normal. Don’t get your hopes up for regular posting until that sky-high pile of laundry has been tackled…wish me luck.

Happy Wednesday!