Trip to Pennsylvania

With swim team at a close by the end of June, we took our first road trip of the summer to Pennsylvania.  We traveled up to Pottstown and Harleysville for a few days of visiting with Jonathan’s grandparents and aunt and uncle and then headed to Philadelphia for the July 4th celebration.  We took the very scenic drive up through western North Carolina and Virginia and I actually consider it a memorable part of the trip—beautiful rural scenes, only country music on the radio, reading stories about the Declaration of Independence to the kids (we were going to be in Philly for the 4th of July, afterall), and stopping at Dunkin’ Donuts once in Pennsylvania for their afternoon happy hour (one of Jonathan’s few weaknesses).  No pictures from that part of the trip, but, to me, definitely a calm, family-bonding part of the trip worth noting.
We headed straight for Grandmom and Grandpop’s house and were met there later by Jonathan’s aunt and uncle, Aunt Anita and Uncle Mark.  Grandmom had checked out of a rehab center that morning, after having shoulder surgery weeks earlier, but she still managed to have a huge spread of food for us, including her famous pierogies (yum!).  The next day Grandmom was settling in to being at home and expecting a physical therapist to come by, so Aunt Anita entertained us for the day before all (Aunt Anita, Uncle Mark, and their two daughters, plus us) met for a fun evening back at Grandmom and Grandpop’s house.  The timing of our trip might’ve turned out to be a little less than ideal with Grandmom unable to get out with us, but our visit to Pennsylvania was long overdue and we had a wonderful time hanging with the Pish side of the family.  And, we can’t thank Grandmom and Grandpop and Aunt Anita and Uncle Mark enough for their incredible hospitality.


{aunt anita}

{aunt anita took us to a cute little shopping village that had a place called mountain giggleberry.  she and i shopped around while jonathan and the kids had a ball playing here.  it was like plaza fiesta to the max.  here the kids are in an air cannon fight, shooting foam balls, with jonathan.  loads of fun and definitely had the energy-burning effect we were going for.}






{back at grandmom and grandpop’s house.}



{a little minute to win it fun with grandmom.}




{love these.  grandpop, chasing the kids around the yard and wrestling with them.}




{yay!  uncle mark joined us, too, after a day at work—he’s an amazing baker/chef.}


{jonathan’s cousin jenna, ella, grandmom, jonathan’s cousin julia, and grandmom’s best friend mary jane.  jenna actually had her beautiful baby girl just a little over a week ago.}

iPhone Dump

I have yet to take full advantage of the capabilities of my iPhone camera, but here are few highlights that haven't been blogged on from this summer. More to come on some of these!



1, 2, 4: Ella and I slept overnight at Riverbanks Zoo.
3: Charlotte Eagles soccer camp with Griffin and Noah.
5: One library trip Jack picked up 'How to Drive Your Sister Crazy'.
6, 7: Hair!
8: Camp with Baden.
9: Ella's first triathlon!
10, 12: Drive home from PA.
11: Brooke's bday party

Created with PhotoShake

Summer

As I work my way through our summer photos—more posts to come soon, hopefully—I came across this one.  It is officially my fave from the summer.  Just love looking at these three adorable, smiling faces.

Comic Con

guest post by Jonathan, from June 23rd

Jack, Ella, and I made another trip to Charlotte’s Comic Book Convention in uptown.  We went two years ago, skipped last year, but simply had to go again with all the recent super hero movies (Thor, Avengers).  I have to admit that I was secretly  a little disappointed last year when neither kid was too interested in going.  We go more to see the people in costume and less for the comic books, and we were not disappointed in the show we got this year.  By far, the best costume this time was an Iron Man, complete with glowing eyes in the helmet, glowing palms, and glowing chest.  I’m always amazed (and somewhat bewildered) by the level of detail and effort that people put into these homemade costumes.  A few other favorites included Wolverine, the three Ghostbusters, Captain America, and the ever-popular Storm Troopers.  Two years ago, the Green Lantern was the character to be.  This year, we probably saw 4 or 5 Captain Americas (in varying degrees of physical fitness).  Some men should never wear spandex….ever. 
It was a great adventure to uptown, and the people who dared to dress up in costume could not have been more gracious with their time.  They happily talk to the kids (while never breaking character), pose for as many pictures as you’d like, and generally have a good time goofing off for a weekend.  It is an annual event, so if you missed it this time, there is always next year!

Father’s Day

For Father’s Day, Jack, Ella, and I gave Jonathan a new set of wheels.  Not the motorcycle he’s been wanting for years, but a pretty cool ride just the same, and somewhat more safe, too.  We gave Jonathan a longboard/skateboard.  He had enjoyed riding a neighbor’s, and so had the kids, and—believe it or not—he’s not the only dad in the neighborhood to be seen riding a skateboard to and from the pool.  Since I’m posting this so many months after Father’s Day, I already know that we did a good job with this gift—we’ve all been having a lot of fun with the longboard.  There have been a few falls and scrapes, but there’s been a ton of fun—these pictures from Father’s Day are just the beginning of it.











{another great part of this father’s day was that i got to be with my father, too.  nonni and papa were our audience for a morning of skateboarding.}

Nonni + Papa’s Visit

We loved having Nonni and Papa come visit in mid-June.  On this visit Jonathan had the awesome idea of taking my parents to the Carolinas Aviation Museum.  My dad was a fighter pilot with the Air Force for over 25 years, so I can’t believe we didn’t think of this earlier.  I thoroughly enjoyed listening to my dad teach the kids about airplanes and jets and how they work.  And, once we mentioned to one of the museum docents, a former Navy pilot himself, that my dad flew F-16s, among other Air Force jets, my dad was definitely elevated to V.I.P., rock-star status.  The docent took us around just about the entire museum, very obviously enjoying sharing old stories from his Navy days and slipping in a good-natured Air Force jab here and there.  I’ve always known that my dad’s awesome, so I loved watching him get the special treatment.  It was so wonderful to have my parents there with the kids, sharing with them bits and pieces of something that was a huge part of my parents’ lives, and mine for 18 years.  Sometimes I really miss the sound of jets taking off…





{there are many, many pictures out there of me sitting in cockpits.  we told jack the story about what my dad would do when he would return from tdy (temporary duty—trips away for usually 3 weeks or more), my mom, my sister, and i would be out at the squadron watching all of the f-16s land.  one after another would come in with daddies wearing their helmets and face masks.  you could never tell who was in each jet and we were all so anxious to see our dad, safe and sound.  so, each and every time my dad would come in from tdy, my dad would give us moose horns with his hands on his helmet and wiggling fingers—that one little gesture would immediately bring smiles to our faces.  so, jack heard this story on a saturday.  on the following friday, i was in the balcony of our church nave searching for my kids in the crowd of hundreds of vbs campers.  i looked down and found jack looking up at me with moose horns with wiggling fingers.  that definitely made me well up and smile at his cleverness.}



{that’s the miracle on the hudson behind jonathan.}


{i had a ‘remove before flight’ tag keychain from my dad in high school.  yes, i admit, having a fighter pilot dad definitely made me feel cool…still does.  :) }


{holding hands.  june 14th, my parents’ first day visiting us, was not only my mom’s birthday, but it was also my parents’ 43rd wedding anniversary.}




{can you find all of us in the picture?}


{afterwards, we went to the airport to watch some planes take off.  i love uptown off in the distance here.}


{more insight from papa.}




{we ended our day with some fun and dinner in the backyard.}


{we caught (and released) fireflies, too.  i love summer.  and i love when nonni and papa come visit.}