Road Trip

This summer was fun, the boys are at a really fun age where they can do so much for themselves.  They also still think so many things are cool, and don't need much to make them happy.  We decided to spend a couple of weeks away from home and go on a road trip to Pennsylvania to where my Dad grew up.  Part of that trip I was going to sneak away and meet Brad in NYC.  We told the boys and they were excited, I was too expect for the 16 hour car ride to get from Arkansas to central PA.  The drive up there was even worse, we got caught in a horrible rain storm I couldn't see the road and it started to hail so us along with everyone else pulled off the road and huddled under bridges, and at gas station pumps. Then outside St. Louis we hit traffic where we didn't go anywhere for an hour.  Oh, I take that back we moved 1/2 of a mile. We got a hotel and it was late when we arrived, Jillian had a fever and Garrett declared, "Its too late, we all need to go to BED!"  We all agreed and fell asleep pretty quickly.  The next day we geared up to make it a better day and it was we only got into on traffic jam but it was much better than the day before.  My Dad informed me we'd be taking a different way home to avoid the route we came by and all its woes.

Pennsylvania its so quiet up there, the house sits on an acre of land so there is tons of room, and no fences the kids can roam; it backs up to woods which gives off great shade in the heat of the day.
The house its self has been turned into the ultimate "man cave/hunting lodge"  there are deer antlers everywhere and the basement is rustic in that its not finished but you can find some treasures down there for sure.  Like this old barber's chair my grandfather had in his shop a long time ago.  Now my Dad cuts my boys hair down there; circle of life happening right in front of me, its very cool to think about.

    
We had a great time while there before I left, we took them to an amusement park that the kids really enjoyed.  Brady has gotten so tall he can ride most rides and he really likes to, he isn't scared of most rides.

Jillian got to go on her first ride as well, she was ready and willing to go but I was nervous once they started moving she'd freak out.  My fears were put to rest immediately, she went with her brothers on all the rides she could and would cry when she couldn't get on the bigger ones.

The boys also got to ride something else they had never been on, a 4 wheeler!  My dad took them on rides all around the yard and into the woods near by.  Their faces say it all.....

Jillian worked on bonding with my mom while all of this was going on because I was leaving for 4 days to go to NYC and meet Brad for a little get away.   She was really attached to me when we first got there but they said she did really well while I was away and she didn't make a fuss for them.  Which made me feel great!  There were lots of happy faces with the grandparents this summer!  We are lucky to be able to see them so much, its truly a blessing.

Next up talking about NYC!  I could several posts about this, it was so fun.