Easter 2010

What a fabulous time we have had in Pennsylvania this week!

We arrived at my sister-in-laws on Friday afternoon and the kids enjoyed running around the huge yard and playing with the dog, Buster. It felt good to stretch our legs after the drive, and the weather was beautiful!! We had stombolis for dinner -one with steak and cheddar - which was different than our usual pizza version - yum! Our hotel had a pool so we all swam after dinner - even Jeremiah went for a dip!

Saturday morning we colored eggs. It was fun writing secret messages in white crayon and watching the kids see what we wrote. They made so many creative eggs! Jeremiah practiced saying, "hot!" everytime he dipped an egg. Then went to a super awesome park with so many places to explore. The adults could watch the kids from under a canopy in the shade. Last, we headed back to the hotel for another swim. Dinner was a delicious cook out (sort of). Something went wrong with the grill so Uncle Dave had to broil the burgers, but they were GREAT!! Homemade potato salad topped off the meal.

Easter Sunday... we went to church at Beth and Dave's church. Their church has some incredibly talented singers!! After that, we returned to their house for some brunch and an egg hunt. Each kid had to find 14 of their specific colored egg. Candy and coins were enjoyed by all! Some people played kick ball, some played wii, and some took a nap before dinner. Tim and Jen joined us for a ham dinner and we all visited for awhile before going our separate ways. The kids were disappointed in not being able to swim, but Ken ended up taking them one last time early on Monday morning before check out!

On Monday morning Ken headed north to see Tim and Beth took the kids and I to the children's museum in Pittsburgh. We had been there before about 3 years ago and the kids remembered some things. They love the "tippy room" which is a room that "defies gravity". Unfortunately, Jeremiah loved it too. We must have gone up the stairs to that room and down the slide a hundred times!! Aaron liked the "garage" room (suprise, suprise). Rachel put on a show at the theater. Caleb played a turtle. It was great that Rachel was able to pull him out of his shell (ha ha ha). The kids made paintings and homemade paper in the art room. That was probably my favorite room except for the fact that Jeremiah painted on a little girls new jeans!!

We said our goodbyes afterwards and headed up to Tim's to join Ken. The kids had tractor rides and we ordered pizza for dinner. Ken and Tim went out to a movie and Jen and I stayed in to watch, "Time Traveler's Wife". What a great movie!!

Tuesday we went to the zoo with Grandma, Aunt Arlene, Scott and his girls. It was overcast, but that made the day cooler. The best part was the baby orangutan. We remember seeing his older sister when she was first born, so it was great to see the new addition/growing family. The kids loved playing on the playset in the children's area. Ken liked the polar bears and the leopards. Good times!!

Jan took us to Perkins for a yummy dinner. The kids got pancakes and we enjoyed sampling the various syrups. We got a chocolate peanut butter pie to take back to Tim and Jen's to share as a gift for Jen's birthday. Aunt Ruthie and Aunt CeCe came by for a visit and brought treats to share - baked goods from CeCe and flashlights for the kids from Ruthie. It was nice catching up with what was going on on that side of the family!

Wednesday was miserable for me! I thought I was having a sinus headache from this cold I've been having, but it turns out it was a migraine! I should have taken my pills right away, but I tried sinus meds first and my migraine became unbearable!! Nothing was planned for the day, so I laid around a lot while the kids helped burn wood and brush in the fire pit outside. I had to miss Jen's birthday celebration though... spent the evening in bed waiting for my migraine meds to kick in!

So, we leave today to head back home. Not sure when we're leaving or how far we're driving. Ken has to be in Raleigh early Saturday morning, so we hope to get home at a reasonable hour on Friday so he can get back in the car and head west...