6 days before departure
Jon and I arrived in PA late Thursday night and spent the
night with my parents. The goal of our time in our home state was to say some
final goodbyes to family and friends, soak up as much of our hometown as
possible, and rest up for our major venture southwest. So on Friday we hung
around the homestead and did Central PA-y things like swim in the creek.
Marmie helped the kids make “boats” out of empty plastic
water bottles that she tethered in the middle of the creek so they could “bomb”
them with rocks. The plan was to play near
the creek, so we didn’t dress the kids in swimsuits. Duh. Kids can’t play near water on a hot summer day. By the
end of our time, both boys were having swimming competitions to see how far
they could go upstream.
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| This girl. She's a little too into having her photo taken. |
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| This is right about the time I decided we had enough pictures. |
That night we headed up to Jon’s parents’ to spend the
weekend in the mountains and by the pool. It’s so peaceful and lovely up on “Nonnie’s
mountain” (as the kids say). It was the perfect way to unwind after a hectic
week of moving out of the house.
5 days before departure
On Saturday, we were scheduled for family photos. It
actually went fairly well considering there were 10 kids involved. My children
are the worst with posed photos. Two in particular will intentionally NOT smile
when asked. We were able to capture this picture when Poppie started spanking
Nonnie behind the photographer. Fun times!
That night we had a big picnic with both sides of our
family, which gave the kids a chance to get some cousin-time before our
extended absence.
4 days before departure
Sunday was church, more goodbyes with our PA church family,
another family photo op...
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| Whereas Julia loves to have her picture taken, Joci fights it with every ounce of her being. |
... and yet another picnic—this time with Jon’s aunt and
uncles. And of course, more pool time. My kids have very little experience with
pools. But they couldn’t get enough of Poppie and Nonnie’s. They were the first
ones in and the last ones out each and every time. Which meant lots of
lifeguarding by Jon and I. But I’m glad they enjoy the water so much!
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| The "big kids" liked the water guns too! |
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| All the adults watching the kids' whiffle ball game. |
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| Aunt Katie teaching Julia about selfies. |
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| Playing well into the night. |
3 days before departure
Monday is was back down to Marmie and Poppa’s. We let the
kids have some extra play time with Marmie’s collection of yard sale toys “for
the grandkids.” For some reason, they seem so much more entertained by the
grandparents’ toys than their own!
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| Marmie is so organized! |
That evening, we visited a famous local playground, had
lunch at my favorite restaurant, and then finished off the evening with a deep
in the community pool.
2 days before departure
I woke up another year older on Tuesday. To celebrate my
birthday, we headed to one of the happiest places on earth—Knoebels. The first
thing we saw when we pulled in was their newest ride, Impulse, which is a
straight drop and a few loops. No big deal. Naturally, Jack was in line before
the girls were even out of the restroom.
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| Jack is in the front row of this thing! |
After my mother-in-law arrived, she felt that riding Impulse
would be an excellent way to usher in my 33
rd year. And since my life
is a constant flux between need-to-show-my-kids-mama’s-still-got-it and
I-am-not-the-same-person-I-was-before-kids, I allowed myself to be persuaded. It
was fun, I’ll admit. But after half a Dramamine and an iced coffee later, my head
was still spinning. Kids, Mama may have the heart, but I just don’t have the
head that I used to!
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| Poppa and Lia in the back row of the kiddie coaster. |
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| We told the kids we were going to see my birthday cake ... Joci couldn't understand why we weren't eating it. |
It really was a fun day though. The cousins, Gabe and Aviel,
came along and, according to Jack, it was “the best time Gabe and I have ever
had!!” And it wouldn’t have been a trip to Knoebels without Marmie and the
girls dressing up and play-acting at the castle. One of my little ladies is
particularly into role-playing. The other one is not quite sure. I’ll let you
figure out which is what!
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| I've always wondered why I got my love of dress-up. This. This is where I got my love of dress-up. |
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| Aviel and Lia were mermaids. |
It also wouldn’t be a trip to Knoebels without someone
convincing a small child they’re ready to ride a roller coaster. And since Jude
outgrew his fear sometime between last year and this, that particular status fell
to Julia this summer. Everyone was lining up for the Twister, one of the wooden
rollercoasters, and I was off getting a second iced coffee. When I returned,
Julia was not in the onlooker crowd.
I was told she didn’t cry or scream. She just kinda froze.
And her only comment upon disembarking was “I didn’t like that.” Well, kudos to
you, girl!
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| "Hey Marmie and Poppa, can you watch the kids while we get a quick photo?" |
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| Final goodbyes ... post Skloosh. |
1 day
before departure
It took most of the morning for us to organize our stuff and
pack the car. We had amassed a bit more volume between birthday gifts, Knoebels prizes, and last
minute stuffing.
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| Waving goodbye to Marmie and Poppa as we round the bend! |
Our final day on the mainland was jam-packed with a bunch of
dull must-dos—we picked up a rental car immediately after arriving, then
checked into our hotel.
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| How we roll. |
And then we had to drive another hour south to drop off our
minivan at the shipping center. Unfortunately, this all overlapped with DC rush
hour so we ended up spending most of the day in the car with very little to do
(since everything was all packed up.)
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| Last drive through Annapolis. |
Thankfully, our favorite spicy family had invited us over
for one last hurrah that evening. You may have noticed these friends show up a
lot in our final days. We just love them so much and are REALLY going to miss
spending time together letting the kids run wild and commiserating over raising
so many children!
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| And I thought it was difficult to get 4 kids to smile for the camera ... |
By the time we gathered up our offspring and snapped one
final photo (or about 50 photos trying to get the best shot, which never quite
happened) it was long after dark. We still had to drop off some errant library
books and drive back to our hotel—swinging by the old digs for one last wave!
The kids were so hyped up over time spent with besties,
sleeping in a totally awesome hotel room, and our impending adventure that they
were bouncing off the walls (and beds.) I think the last child standing drifted
off someone after 11pm and I’m sure I followed a few seconds later! It was
going to be a very short night—3am and the race for our flight was not far off!
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