Tuesday, July 11, 2017

4th of July (long) weekend, Part 2

On July 3rd we loaded up the cars and headed to Idlewild with all the kids, snacks, water bottles, and sunscreen.  We had a great day climbing ropes courses, riding rides, eating carnival food, riding more rides, and having a blast with a lot of friends.

 Elizabeth LOVES the ropes course




 The doodlebug!



 They loved the boats 


 Ben snapped this while we were waiting for the water ride

 Caroline wanted to ride with Kylie in the wagon
 
 Carousel rides with Dad :)

 
 Lunch break!

 These kids had so much fun together


 Motorcycle fun!


 Caroline is so big! :)


 Parent selfie

 Love my guy!

 Parents tired of waiting in line ;) ...

 We call them dragons...

 but they are actually dinosaurs


 Learning how to spend the teacup

 They figured it out :)


 Fun and dizzy :)





We stayed until late afternoon and the kids were wiped out by the end of the day.  It was a great day and the kids had so much fun!  Thank you so much to Stephen for the discount passes!!


On July 4th, we celebrated the holiday with a pool party!  We spent all day and most of the night poolside and enjoyed grilling out, swimming, fireworks, sparklers, and catching lightening bugs.

 Our attempt at a family photo 

 Still trying...

 Happy 4th of July ;)

 Caroline and Kylie hit the pool all day long :)


 Kylie LOVED the big yellow duck

And Elizabeth loved swimming in the deep end

 Caroline and I took a popsicle break

And then some chips and salsa too

 Pool party!

 Our crew


 With four kids, we made several attempts at a photo :)
 
 After dinner swimming

 
 
 End-of-swimming photo :)

  
 Ring pops!!


 For the adults too!

 After ring pops, it was time for sparklers





 And then some fireworks before bed!



Love the kids reaction!!!

On July 5th, we packed up our stuff and headed back to Virginia.  We tried to get a photo with all three girls before we left, but Kylie was suffering from vacation crash and refused to participate.  To be completely honest, our girls were very tired and cranky the rest of the day as they too were suffering from vacation crash. :)


And that's a wrap on our July vacation trip to Pennsylvania.

Thank you again to Jared and Kelly for hosting us!
Thank you Nick for hanging with us all week!

Happy Tuesday y'all!

Monday, July 10, 2017

4th of July (long) weekend, Part 1

We spent five days and four nights in Pennsylvania over the long 4th of July weekend!  We drove up on July 1st and stayed with Jared and Kelly (and Kylie) for a wonderful time with friends.  Nick and Nico joined us everyday for pool fun, fireworks, Idlewild, grilling, and more pool fun.  Here is part one of our vacation:

July 1st (breakfast at home), Caroline is ready to get out-of-town
Elizabeth is taking her time :)

I drove the first "half"

The girls watching movies and playing with their magnetic drawing boards

In Breezewood we changed drivers.
Our 3 1/2 hour drive took 6 hours due to all the holiday traffic (and car accidents)
I was so happy to NOT be driving at this point :)

Skip forward to Sunday, July 2nd.
Pool party #1



Ben throwing Caroline

Splash!

Ben's turn for the diving board

I love this picture!

Splash!


Kylie, Nico, and Caroline swimming backwards



Elizabeth "swimming like a mermaid"


Love this guy!

We brought Elizabeth's summer pudding gift and shared with all the kids.
It was chocolate pudding "dirt cups" with crushed oreos and gummie worms.

Caroline played in blue sand and then ate chocolate pudding.
After this photo, Ben hosed her off in the backyard. ha!


We made mountain pies for dinner and dessert.
I had never made these and took my opportunity to document the process
(I knew my mom would have questions, ha!)
Above is the contraption you put your mountain pie in.

I made a dessert one.
Two pieces of buttered bread first.

I added Nutella, chocolate chips, and marshmallows.

The iron is closed and ready for the fire

Nick was a very nice (and patient) teacher

Cooking my mountain pie

Ready to eat!
It was really good!!

After dinner we did sparklers with the kids
Again, Nick was a very nice and patient teacher

Caroline LOVED sparklers!

Elizabeth was really concentrating

Nico LOVED it too!


A dad and his baby girl


Love these three!



Jared had fun with sparklers too :)

Then we made s'mores.
Yum!




After s'mores, the kids went to bed and the adults hung out

We enjoyed the fire pit

That's a wrap on Part 1. Come back tomorrow for Part 2.

Happy Monday y'all!