Our Really Big Trip!

Prepare yourselves--This post is HUGE, because it's all about our month-long trip to Pennsylvania!  (Or as Naomi calls it, "our really big trip!").

My mom flew out to make the drive to PA with me, which was a HUGE help!  Thank you, Mom!!  I don't know how I would have been able to get ready for the trip without her, and having her along made the drive so much better!  We took 3 days to make the drive.  The first night, Thursday, we stayed in Indiana with some friends, but I didn't even get my camera out of the bag, so I have no pictures!  Then Friday we arrived in Pittsburgh, and we spent the whole weekend with my brother Chris and his fiancee Jess!  (She was still his fiancee at that point, but now she is his wife!).

We had so much fun in Pittsburgh with Chris and Jess!  They really spoiled us.  We had amazing breakfasts every morning--waffles, fruit, bacon, eggs, blueberry pancakes... SO much delicious food.  On Saturday, the girls spent the morning playing with sidewalk chalk and decorating Chris & Jess's patio.  Then we went to this Family Art Fest thing at an art center in the area.  It was so perfect for the girls!  They had a bunch of different art activities set up all over the building, and Naomi & Aleta loved it all.  They decorated octopus tentacle cookies, made art with food, decorated paper bag vests, made panda bear masks, got their faces painted, and did a bunch of other fun things that I can't remember. Then later in the day, after Chris made us all a yummy dinner and Aleta had a nap, we went to a playground and then got ice cream!  It was a busy, fun-filled day!

The girls had so much fun with the sidewalk chalk!

I love this picture of the girls with Aunt Jess!

Making art with food...

Grandma helped Aleta decorate her cookie.

They both wanted their faces painted like "yellow kitties".

Aleta wearing her vest that Uncle Chris helped her make!

"I see you, Grandma!"

Naomi modeling the vest she & Aunt Jess made!

Naomi has been posing like this lately for pictures.

Playing with a snake...

Uncle Chris was helping Naomi to make the plastic frog jump.  

Trying to get a picture with my girls!

This one is slightly better than the other one, although Aleta was being silly!

Sunday was a bit more laid-back.  We all lounged around the house for a while, and the girls helped Jess make heart-shaped crayons, and then we spent the evening having dinner with Jess's family.
The whole weekend in Pittsburgh was so perfect, and I was so glad we were able to spend the time getting to know Jess, since it was the first time we met her!  I knew we weren't going to have much time to talk to them at their wedding, so being able to spend that weekend with them was really great!

On Monday we drove from Pittsburgh to Hanover, and we stopped along the way in Chambersburg to visit the cemetery where my mom's parents are buried.  We bought some flowers for their graves and took a few picture with the kiddos.

We got to Hanover Monday  night, and then for the rest of the week, the girls were really sick!  So that was a bummer.  We mostly stayed inside my parents' house watching movies all week, which was not the way I had planned on spending our first week in PA, but I needed them to get well for Chris's wedding that weekend!  Luckily, by the time we had to leave for the wedding weekend on Friday, they were over the worst of it.  I painted their fingernails & toenails on Thursday night.  It was the first time I've ever painted Aleta's nails, so she was excited!  Naomi picked the color--it was purple.

The wedding weekend started on Friday, up in the mountains near Pittsburgh.  The wedding was in Mill Run, PA, and we stayed in a big condo at Seven Springs Ski Resort.  The condo was perfect--it had 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, so my parents, myself & the girls, my 2 younger brothers, and my older brother Nat with his wife Cathy and their 4 boys were all able to stay together!  I think my cousin may have even stayed over on the couch one night.  The girls loved being able to play with their cousins all weekend. Sadly, I was so busy all weekend with the girls that I didn't take my camera out even once!  I'm still so depressed about it... I can't believe I didn't take a single picture of anything the entire weekend!  Luckily, other people did take some pictures, so I got a few of me & the girls.

Chris & Jess outside in the parking lot after the rehearsal dinner (I'm in the car in the background)

Me, my girls, and my nephew Baby Gaby at the wedding

Me & my girlies at the reception

Although I didn't take any pictures, I did get a couple videos of the girls dancing.  They had so much fun!  The first video was taken by my uncle, and the other two were from my video camera.

My poor Mom got sick the week of the wedding with what we had assumed was the same things my girls both had.  But whatever Mom had just kept getting worse, and by Saturday morning, she was so sick my dad had to rush her to the nearest hospital while we were all getting ready for the wedding.  She had Pneumonia and was really dehydrated, so they admitted her, and she ended up having to stay in the hospital until Tuesday.  So she wasn't able to attend the wedding, and my dad wouldn't have gone either, except that she kicked him out of her hospital room and told him to go.  Luckily, the wedding started late, so Dad made it in time.  I felt so bad that my mom had to miss the wedding!  But my brother Nat sent her the video he got of the wedding ceremony, and then Chris & Jess went to visit her in the hospital on Sunday, Chris wearing his tux and Jess in her wedding dress. 

Here are a few more pictures of the wedding (these are from Chris & Jess's wedding pictures):

My Family!  Missing Mom & Jacob.

I can't even remember who that guy was... Jess's cousin maybe?  Anyway, he & I did a reading at the wedding.

Aleta LOVES people--she is so friendly and doesn't care at all if we know the people or not.  At one point during the reception, I looked over to check on the girls, and Aleta was just dancing with this woman we don't know at all.  So funny!

Since Mom was stuck in the hospital near Pittsburgh, Matt and the girls and I drove home by ourselves after the wedding.  The girls and I didn't do a whole lot the first couple days back in Hanover.  We played outside, went to Codorus State Park for a picnic, played with sidewalk chalk, and went out for ice cream at Bruster's.  When we found out Mom & Dad were coming home on Tuesday, Naomi wanted to decorate the front steps with sidewalk chalk for them.  So we did!  It was 100% her idea--she is my sweet girl!

Aleta spent like 15 minutes just jumping from one stepping stone to another in the front yard.

Kids under 40 inches get a free ice cream cone at Bruster's, which is awesome!

Picnic!

Naomi was so cute decorating the stairs--she had to color EVERY inch of that step.

Naomi & her silly poses.

Later that week, I took the girls to Friendly's in Gettysburg to get lunch and ice cream.  Mostly, I just wanted the ice cream, but we hadn't had lunch yet, so I figured I should feed the girls some kind of real food before filling them up with ice cream.  I LOVE Friendly's.  My friend Sarah and I used to go to Friendly's all the time in high school.  Their ice cream is so yummy!  Aleta was so funny at Friendly's... I already mentioned how she loves people and is super friendly (maybe a little too friendly).  The whole time we were eating, whenever anyone would walk by our table, Aleta would wave and yell "Hi!  How are you?".  The waitresses had to hear it every single time they walked by the table.

The girls enjoying their Friendly's Cone Head sundaes!  Yum!  (I just realized they are wearing the same shirts as in the Bruster's ice cream photos... I promise I didn't take them to both Friendly's and Bruster's for ice cream on the same day. haha)

We had a Saturday get-together that week with two of my best friends, Sarah and Cassie.  Sarah has two kids now, and Cassie is pregnant with her first.  It was so great to see them!

Aleta didn't get a nap that day, so when she got really tired, she decided to rest on the floor with Sarah's dog.

 

That Saturday night was also part of some big annual weekend celebration at Codorus State Park, so they had fireworks at the park.  The girls love fireworks, so of course we had to go!  Dad knew of the PERFECT spot in the park to watch.  It wasn't crowded at all, and it was directly across the lake from where the fireworks were going off. 

We also had fun catching lightning bugs outside some nights.  We've never really had a yard, so the girls never really got to catch lightning bugs before!

Sadly, we had so many things planned that we didn't get to do on our trip, mostly due to sickness.  But the one thing that I knew we HAD to do, no matter what, was go to the beach.  Naomi had been looking forward to going to the beach for months.  I made the mistake of telling Naomi way back in like February or March that we'd go to the beach on our big trip to Pennsylvania.  And then almost every day afterward, she would ask me how how many days there were until we left for our trip to the beach.  So on our last week of our trip, we went to the beach!  My mom's family pretty much all live in Wyoming, Delaware, which is only an hour from Rehoboth beach.  So we stayed with my Aunt Dawn & Uncle Joe for a few days, and we got to visit with my mom's family and spend 2 days at the beach!  And our beach trip coincided with Chris & Jess's honeymoon, part of which they spent at Rehoboth beach.  So we actually met up with them at Dawn & Joe's when we first arrived and then again on both days that we went to the beach

At Dawn & Joe's

 This little girl (in the picture below) and her brother were at the beach both days, and they were the cutest little kids!  They came up to the girls on our first day and asked if they would like to ride on their boogie boards.  So the little girl and her brother pulled Naomi & Aleta around in the water on their boogie boards.  The girls loved it!  And for whatever reason, the little girl and her brother loved pulling my kids around on their boogie boards.  It was really cute.  Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of Naomi, but I got a few of Aleta.

After our first day at the beach, we got pizza for lunch at Grotto's!  Yum!

The girls also got to ride their tricycles around in front of my aunt & uncle's house.  It was so nice that they live at the end of a cul-de-sac!  

Naomi is seriously the sweetest big sister.  It makes me so happy.

 Day 2 at the Beach!

Ok, story behind the flag:  Naomi watched some little show months ago (I can't even remember what show it was) where the characters in the show built a sand castle and then put a flag in it.  So of course she decided that any decent sand castle absolutely must have a flag.  So before we even left for our trip to PA, she was asking me to get her a flag for her sand castles at the beach.  And I bought one when we got to Hanover, but I left it sitting on the dining room table at my parents' house, which didn't do us a whole lot of good once we left for Delaware and the beach!  Naomi was so disappointed, and I felt terrible.  So Uncle Chris found a perfect little American flag at a shop near their hotel, and he saved the day! 

 

Naomi loved the water, which was surprising, because until last summer, I couldn't even get her to step foot into the baby end of a public pool (I'm talking like, just a couple inches of water) without completely freaking out.  So I thought the ocean was going to be too much for her, but she loved it!

Our last day at the beach, we spent a couple hours on the boardwalk before we left.

Candy Shoppe!!

Dinner on the boardwalk!

Trying on hats at the kite store!  This was always my family's favorite store on the boardwalk.

Ice cream on the boardwalk!

 That night we went to visit my Uncle Richard & Aunt Joyce.  My uncle has a huge train set-up in his basement, which the girls loved!

This is my favorite building--it lights up and smokes like it's really on fire.

My aunt is showing Naomi where the trains go into the tunnel through the wall.

My aunt & uncle took us to Wendy's for lunch the next day before we left.

 Thank you, Aunt Dawn & Uncle Joe!  We had SO much fun visiting you guys and playing at the beach! 

 Back in Hanover, the girls wanted to show off their boardwalk treats.  I let them each get a pony & lollipop from the candy shoppe.

 My mom and I took the girls to the movies to see the new How to Train Your Dragon.  It was Aleta's first time at the movies, and it didn't go too well... I think she is just not quite ready to sit quietly in a movie theater!
The girls both wanted to bring their new ponies that we bought on the boardwalk, and when we first sat down, Naomi yelled excitedly, "Mommy!  Look!  They even have pony holders!", and she stuck her pony in the cup holder on her seat.  Funny girl.

Aleta's first movie theater experience!

Dad took us all to Codorus State Park one evening, and the girls learned to skip rocks.  (Well, they watched my dad skip rocks, and they threw rocks into the water.)

 

The last fun thing we did in PA was go on a train ride!  It was a special treat from Grandma & Granddad, and the girls loved it!

All ready to leave for the train!  Naomi insisted that she needed one pink and one white bow, to match her pink & white shirt.

The girls love Uncle Matty!

We had so much fun in Pennsylvania!  It was so, so, so great to be able to finally go home and bring my kids home to see my family!  It has been killing me the last few years that my kids didn't know my family, and my family didn't know my kids.  Now, Naomi and Aleta are always "calling" my family members on their phones, or asking me to see pictures of their uncles and aunts or their cousins.  A couple days ago, Naomi brought her picture book into my room with it opened up to a picture of my parents, and she said, "Mommy, I really miss Grandma and Granddad!  I just love them so much!".  And of course, it made me cry.  But it also made me so happy that my kids finally know & love my family so that they can miss them!

Anyway, the rest of the photos are from our drive back to Missouri:

We spent the night in Virginia with Jacob's brother Jared & his wife Jen and their family.  The girls had so much fun with their cousins!

We stopped for lunch at IHOP on one of our days of driving.

We spent a night at a hotel in Kentucky.  It was the girls' first hotel stay ever.  The girls are excited, I think?

They had fun riding on the luggage cart.

Hotel pool!  Naomi was fearless.  She was swimming all over the pool in her floatie, without any worry about whether or not I was close!  She loved swimming!  Such a change from the past few summers!

Pizza & TV!

My cute girlies in their big hotel bed.

 And finally, home in Missouri!  This is the the living room looked like after unpacking the car:  (And you can't even see everything that was in the car... we had SO much stuff in that car, it was insane.)

And that's the end of the biggest blog post ever!  If you actually made it this far and are still reading, I am super impressed. :)