When we got to Pennsylvania, we went straight to Mountville to stay with my dad and Bonnie for a few days. Bonnie is an extremely welcoming hostess and truly made us all feel as though we were instantly at home. (You should have seen Abby's face when she came to me and said "She said we can run in the house!") She is quickly becoming another Grandma for the kids and it's obvious the kids feel the same way about her. To top it off, Abby has fallen in love with Bonnie's King Charles Spaniels, specifically Lizzie. They have a huge hill in the backyard, so the kids had a great time dragging the dogs up and down, rolling down the hill and going for walks around the neighborhood. Our visit there came complete with evening milkshakes for the kids which could give Jeremy's Steak and Shake visits a run for their money.
After staying with them, we moved on to my Grandma's house. While staying with her we were able to visit my Aunt Shirley most evenings and even took a dinner to her at the Rehab hospital so we could all eat with her. She is doing well and beginning to make progress though the road ahead of her will be a long one. Thank you all for your prayers for her. Please continue to pray for her progress and for her husband John's strength as he cares for her. It's a very difficult time for them and they need as many prayers as they can get. My Grandma is doing well and we love spending time with her.
While we were home we went to the Crayola Factory (visit their website at www.crayola.com/factory/ ) and had lots of fun. I was a bit concerned that we would be driving 2 hours only to be ready to leave in short order. It was every bit worth the drive. We got there about half an hour after opening and they had to shove us out at closing. There was tons of stuff for the kids to do and they even encourage the adults to do everything the kids do. There were quite a few artsy crafty stations (as I'm sure you can imagine) as well as a glass tube where the kids were given free reign to write on the walls with markers, a preschool play area, a dance/video area where the kids could see themselves on tv, a section where the floor was all chalkboard and sidewalk chalk was everywhere, painting with melted wax, making videos complete with sound effects, computer games, cool vending machines with crayola factory merchandise that they give you coins for with your admission and don't forget the actual making of the crayons and markers. It was pretty interesting and as the group is small, they give you each a freshly made crayon to wrap. That's just the first floor! The second floor and third floors are the National Canal Museum. We only had time to visit the second floor, but it was great. There was a room of model trains, a room of boats with experiments for the kids to do and a room where the kids could play with the largest water table I've ever seen in my life. The kids could play with the locks and figure out how boats are transported through canals. The more engineer minded of the bunch (Marshall and Caleb) could probably have stayed there all day. I can only imagine what they put on the third floor, but Marshall asked if we could go back to the boat room next time we visit Crayola before we even left. We'll have to be sure to hit that third floor then!
While in PA, we also visited Jeremy's family (with the exception of Joel who was busy on the weekend, WAAAHHHH!) and my friend Holly. It was so nice to catch up with everyone. On the way home we stopped for a night in Maryland to visit our friends Beth and Rick. Their little boys Joshua and Luke are growing up fast and are just as cute as buttons.
We're home now and life is trying to get back to normal. Abby is reluctantly resuming schoolwork. She has a little catching up to do, so it's been a rough start. Marshall and Amelia both have low grade fevers, sore throats and runny noses. Don't you love how life stays interesting?
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