This is almost an annual tradition by now. July rolls around, and I feel an itch to travel. Though I love to stay in town to run the Kernersville 4th of July 5K, no surprise here, it was cancelled this year.
So… we dropped off Luna at doggy-daycare, then headed north for a much-needed change of scenery!
My parents still live in the house I grew up in, which makes for random, quirky memories every time we’re there (ex: this time, Gabe saw stickers on the walls of my old room, where Javi & I were sleeping, and asked if I put them there. I replied, yes… about 20 years ago! Wow, time flies!)
We started off with my cousin’s wedding–yes, same cousin that walked the entire Pacific Crest Trail, as well as the Appalachian Trail. It was a kid-free wedding (well, supposed to be), so Javi opted to stay back with the boys. We had a nice time catching up with family, but didn’t stay too long since we wanted to wake up early to drive to Mount Marcy.
Congratulations to Cole & Hayley!
Post-wedding, we finished packing for our trip to NY & VT, then the boys went for rides on the old 4-wheeler. Here’s Asher waiting for his turn:
A hazard to riding an old ATV–no gas gauge. It ran out of gas, then the boys had to push it back to the shed. Asher tripped and fell, right after I took this pic below, and got his little arm run over by the back tire. Despite his tears, he was fine and didn’t break anything (thank God!) I think it scared him more than hurt him.
My mom’s flowers, as usual, were stunning! I enjoyed some quiet moments on their back porch, just taking in the morning. Ahhhh… if only all mornings could start with a quiet cup of coffee, outdoors, surrounded by flowers and lush green. Aaaand here comes Asher, eating a popsicle for breakfast!
Mom & I went to get some new dishes at Campbell Pottery, then grabbed a secret ice cream cone (we didn’t tell the boys… shhhh)
We went to 20 mile beach, in Northeast, PA, for a nice cold swim in Lake Erie. This beach was much less crowded than I imagined Presque Isle (the main beaches on Lake Erie) was.
And we had such a good time, we went back the next day too! I saw my classmate from high school, C, as her mom is good friends with my mom. Her boys played with Asher (Gabe had opted to stay home)
I love watching my kids with my parents. It just warms my heart, and makes me look forward to being a grandparent someday too 🙂
We saw the piggies at the farm… the kids really didn’t enjoy the pig pen smell though 😛
We had a pre-4th of July picnic, complete with target practice, 4-wheeler rides, and a swim at a family friend’s pool. Asher got more confidence in swimming in deep water–he swam back and forth between my sis-in-law and me, and I was very proud!
The day before we left, I did a slow 30 minute run around our town’s best (only?? haha… small town) park, and claim to fame, Drake Well. My legs were mostly recovered from New York and Vermont hiking. Loved the peace and quiet–saw a mama deer and her 2 babies, and just enjoyed the foggy, humid morning.
Lastly… A fantastic 4th of July at Water World (in which I got sunburned bad on my belly 😛 and Asher finally went down the big slides!) We had yummy hot dogs, fries, and shakes at Sara’s afterwards–a summer tradition!
Not pictured:
- Watching The Greatest Showman with Dad (and later with Gabe and Asher)–what an awesome movie! I downloaded the soundtrack the next day. Fave song is here.
- The kids went fishing with my parents several times, and caught lots of fish!
- All the yummy meals my mom cooked for us 🙂
- Finding new ancestors with my mom on my Ancestry.com account!
Looking forward to our next trip back home, whenever that will be!
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