Vacation to PA - June 13-20 part 1
After all the birthday insanity, we got Beca psyched up to go to "Pennsyl-bania". We rented a mini-van (Chevy Uplander will never be paid for by us again but it did have some power features and included a DVD player so it was sufficient) and loaded up early in the morning on Friday the 13th. A necessary Biscuitville and Starbucks stop put us a little later getting out than we expected. Not quite out of Raleigh (still on 440, actually), Beca decides to actually wake up enough to realize that she despises what she.
Ugh! Our first actual stop isn't even 20 minutes from our house! Once we had a different shirt and some pajama pants on, we got on our way. We made it north of Richmond in 3 hours, stopped at McDonald's and stretched our legs a bit, and then hopped back in the van for a miserable 2+ hour ride around DC. Traffic was bad and Steve was driving since I got up early to load the van and drive the first round. I always forget that the more north you get, there are only 2 seasons - winter and construction. It definitely wasn't winter. Eventually, we made it to my grandmother's (literally over the river and through the woods, mind you) just in time for dinner. And guess what, as soon as we walked in the door, Beca had more birthday presents! Dolls and princess shoes and princess hair accessories. Plus my grandmother was kind enough to save a silver lame' dress with a tulle bottom that has silver and gold polka dots on it that I wore when I was in middle school (special events only and the kicker was I had a bowl cut, big round glasses, and braces - ah, pre-teens) - thankfully, Beca will only be playing dress up in it. then we set up her tent in the basement and went to bed. 
Unfortunately, wake-up came early the next morning with Beca screaming. A "monster" scared her - better yet, her Uncle Kyle was sleeping downstairs and snores like a freight train. OK, so I could buy off that sounded like a monster. She managed to wake him up so at least the monster was quiet! Then we packed the car back up and drove 2 hours into the mountains to check into a hotel. The term hotel was pushing it even though it was a Quality Inn - not my idea of quality but mom, Steve and I are definitely spoiled yuppy types who get really nice rooms in nice hotels since we travel on a regular basis. We did some shopping and got fixed up and dressed for my cousin's wedding! Ryan is the #4 grand-child on my Dad's side and the 3rd to get married.
We had a blast at the wedding and reception! Beca even sat "still" and "quiet" throughout the ceremony as she had been promising her Oma all week that she would be (Mom taught her that she needed to be quiet during the wedding and Beca would always put her finger to her lips to say this!) The reception was a lot of fun - Beca had a great time dancing and during various songs that no one else wanted to dance to, she was the only one on the dance floor. I hate DJ's that don't get that.
Umm, nobody likes the song "Shout" here - everyone got off the floor when it came on sooooo, don't you think you should just move to the next song? Plus, this guy was a total dork and had all these games and things. And he kept yapping. "DJ at a wedding" means play music and keep things
moving along if they aren't going anywhere. Beca's favorite thing at the wedding was the box of M'n'M's on her plate that had pink and white ones that said "Ashley & Ryan" and "6/14/08". My favorite thing at the wedding was watching my cousin, Brett (Best Man and brother of the groom) hand out Peach Schnapps shots and then proceed to take all the shots that people didn't want all the time wearing that purple straw hat. Both were weird ideas of the DJ. It was a dollar dance that you got a shot for every $1 and then you got to dance with the bride or groom. I think people didn't contribute as much as they could have because no one really wanted to have to take a shot. And yes, the vests on the guys were actually even a brighter pink than this picture! We also enjoyed getting my dad and his siblings together. 
This is my dad in the middle of his two older (and rounder - hehehe) brothers! The next morning we woke up and I realized 3 unpleasant things: 1 - my stomach was not happy because of some medication I was taking, 2 - I had a bad rash all over my neck because I had used something in my hair that my skin doesn't like and I slept on sheets that were on the hotel bed, and 3 - I had no idea where my prescription sunglasses are. Remedies - #1-suck it up, #2 - stop using stuff in my hair. The third item happened to be an announcement during the reception that my
brother remembered hearing. Apparently, my aunt did too. All we can figure is that my glasses case fell out of the car or my purse. We took a detour to go back to the reception site and managed to find them, just laying on the bar. OK, time to head down the hills. Driving along those roads was beautiful - most follow and cross rivers and being late spring, it was just gorgeous. During the trip, Beca had gotten a CareBear kickboard, swim floaties, and beach ball, along with the "googles" which she had to run around in for a while. We decided to make a stop in Hershey, PA at Chocolate World! Beca was in heaven as "choc-o-late" is one of her favorite things. She picked out a stuffed hershey kiss with a tube of kisses attached. It was a fun little detour! Then it was on to my aunt's house for a graduation party for my cousin, Kat. Beca adores Kat and hangs on her constantly. She went in the pool with her for a while - at least until her lips started turning purple once the pool was in the shade. So, my cousin Daniel (Kat's brother) had gone out and bought at least 6 cases of beer (as best I can remember the number of boxes sitting around and the amount of beer in coolers). Reminder - this was a high school graduation party. Once the family had pretty much gone home, Kat's friends started showing up. And my aunt wasn't feeling good - she had thrown her back out and just couldn't get off the couch. So we tried to clean up a little for her. When we went out to check on the high schoolers, I heard one of them say "you can't jump off the diving board with a beer". Ok, time to take the beer in the garage - at least that way it wasn't as accessible. And of course, Daniel, the beer purchaser, was nowhere to be found. We made Kat promise to help her mom and get her friends to clean up. She said she would and we made the trek back to grandma's house, minus my dad who had flown home that evening.
Monday was super fun! We got up and got ready, then drove through Amish and Mennonite communities (including Intercourse, PA) and made it into Lancaster to go to an amusement park called "Dutch Wonderland". It's a great park for little kids and it has been around for a while. You enter through a castle that has a moat so you walk across the drawbridge! It is such a clean park too! Beca had lots of fun - her very favorite ride of anywhere was right up front - the carousel! While on it for the first of 
three times, she looks at me and says "I can't see my Dumbo ride" - she's definitely a Disney princess. We rode the potato sack slide (but since it's in a park, it doesn't rock dangerously as you climb it like the one at the fair). They also have a double drop log flume and a little roller coaster that Beca liked but said she didn't really want to do it again! Most of the rides there are perfect for little kids - there were only 2 or 3 that Beca couldn't ride. There were several she didn't want to ride either. Kyle, Steve and I went on the bumper cars and twice around on the big wooden roller coaster - it was fast and 
fun but not for Beca or her Oma! Beca got talked into going on the hippity-hoppity frog - it just went up and down, slightly dropping and then going up again. She panicked for the first few drops but then realized she was ok and she started trying to put up her hands. Lots of squealing!! She also rode a few other little kids rides and got to participate in a story time where they talked about around the world and made "snow". She danced and danced while they sang. But her favorite part of the day is when she and I changed into bathing suits and went into the water park area. Steve, Kyle and Mom watched us from the bottom of the big twisty slides. Beca would only go in the blue slide - which you could see through. She heard the folks working say that the 
black tunnel is dark so she kept repeating that she wanted the blue line. After loading our boat, Beca gave the girl a thumbs up and we headed down the slide. It was really fun and she alternated squealing and laughing the whole way down. Until we came out and Steve got a picture. Then we let her play in the water playground. Little water slides, water shooting out of the ground, "trees", playground fixtures, everything. And you could pump different features and make more water come down. I decided to try one more blue tube slide ride but when we got up the stairs and were getting ready to go down, Beca pooped in her bathing suit. At least it was a good time to get changed. One last carousel ride and some ice cream and then Beca started yelling at us so it became time to go. We weren't in the van for 3 minutes and Beca and Kyle were both asleep, alternating snoring rounds. Luckily for us, Grandma had some dinner for us! Beca got a bath, announced to everyone that "I'm a naked" as she likes to call it and then finally settled down when I got a nightgown on her. Uncle Kyle went home so no more monster in the basement! And guess what? Beca slept in the next morning! I'll finish Tuesday-Friday of our vacation on another post. It will include 5 generation shots!
After all the birthday insanity, we got Beca psyched up to go to "Pennsyl-bania". We rented a mini-van (Chevy Uplander will never be paid for by us again but it did have some power features and included a DVD player so it was sufficient) and loaded up early in the morning on Friday the 13th. A necessary Biscuitville and Starbucks stop put us a little later getting out than we expected. Not quite out of Raleigh (still on 440, actually), Beca decides to actually wake up enough to realize that she despises what she.
Ugh! Our first actual stop isn't even 20 minutes from our house! Once we had a different shirt and some pajama pants on, we got on our way. We made it north of Richmond in 3 hours, stopped at McDonald's and stretched our legs a bit, and then hopped back in the van for a miserable 2+ hour ride around DC. Traffic was bad and Steve was driving since I got up early to load the van and drive the first round. I always forget that the more north you get, there are only 2 seasons - winter and construction. It definitely wasn't winter. Eventually, we made it to my grandmother's (literally over the river and through the woods, mind you) just in time for dinner. And guess what, as soon as we walked in the door, Beca had more birthday presents! Dolls and princess shoes and princess hair accessories. Plus my grandmother was kind enough to save a silver lame' dress with a tulle bottom that has silver and gold polka dots on it that I wore when I was in middle school (special events only and the kicker was I had a bowl cut, big round glasses, and braces - ah, pre-teens) - thankfully, Beca will only be playing dress up in it. then we set up her tent in the basement and went to bed. 
Unfortunately, wake-up came early the next morning with Beca screaming. A "monster" scared her - better yet, her Uncle Kyle was sleeping downstairs and snores like a freight train. OK, so I could buy off that sounded like a monster. She managed to wake him up so at least the monster was quiet! Then we packed the car back up and drove 2 hours into the mountains to check into a hotel. The term hotel was pushing it even though it was a Quality Inn - not my idea of quality but mom, Steve and I are definitely spoiled yuppy types who get really nice rooms in nice hotels since we travel on a regular basis. We did some shopping and got fixed up and dressed for my cousin's wedding! Ryan is the #4 grand-child on my Dad's side and the 3rd to get married.
We had a blast at the wedding and reception! Beca even sat "still" and "quiet" throughout the ceremony as she had been promising her Oma all week that she would be (Mom taught her that she needed to be quiet during the wedding and Beca would always put her finger to her lips to say this!) The reception was a lot of fun - Beca had a great time dancing and during various songs that no one else wanted to dance to, she was the only one on the dance floor. I hate DJ's that don't get that. 
Umm, nobody likes the song "Shout" here - everyone got off the floor when it came on sooooo, don't you think you should just move to the next song? Plus, this guy was a total dork and had all these games and things. And he kept yapping. "DJ at a wedding" means play music and keep things
moving along if they aren't going anywhere. Beca's favorite thing at the wedding was the box of M'n'M's on her plate that had pink and white ones that said "Ashley & Ryan" and "6/14/08". My favorite thing at the wedding was watching my cousin, Brett (Best Man and brother of the groom) hand out Peach Schnapps shots and then proceed to take all the shots that people didn't want all the time wearing that purple straw hat. Both were weird ideas of the DJ. It was a dollar dance that you got a shot for every $1 and then you got to dance with the bride or groom. I think people didn't contribute as much as they could have because no one really wanted to have to take a shot. And yes, the vests on the guys were actually even a brighter pink than this picture! We also enjoyed getting my dad and his siblings together. 
This is my dad in the middle of his two older (and rounder - hehehe) brothers! The next morning we woke up and I realized 3 unpleasant things: 1 - my stomach was not happy because of some medication I was taking, 2 - I had a bad rash all over my neck because I had used something in my hair that my skin doesn't like and I slept on sheets that were on the hotel bed, and 3 - I had no idea where my prescription sunglasses are. Remedies - #1-suck it up, #2 - stop using stuff in my hair. The third item happened to be an announcement during the reception that my
brother remembered hearing. Apparently, my aunt did too. All we can figure is that my glasses case fell out of the car or my purse. We took a detour to go back to the reception site and managed to find them, just laying on the bar. OK, time to head down the hills. Driving along those roads was beautiful - most follow and cross rivers and being late spring, it was just gorgeous. During the trip, Beca had gotten a CareBear kickboard, swim floaties, and beach ball, along with the "googles" which she had to run around in for a while. We decided to make a stop in Hershey, PA at Chocolate World! Beca was in heaven as "choc-o-late" is one of her favorite things. She picked out a stuffed hershey kiss with a tube of kisses attached. It was a fun little detour! Then it was on to my aunt's house for a graduation party for my cousin, Kat. Beca adores Kat and hangs on her constantly. She went in the pool with her for a while - at least until her lips started turning purple once the pool was in the shade. So, my cousin Daniel (Kat's brother) had gone out and bought at least 6 cases of beer (as best I can remember the number of boxes sitting around and the amount of beer in coolers). Reminder - this was a high school graduation party. Once the family had pretty much gone home, Kat's friends started showing up. And my aunt wasn't feeling good - she had thrown her back out and just couldn't get off the couch. So we tried to clean up a little for her. When we went out to check on the high schoolers, I heard one of them say "you can't jump off the diving board with a beer". Ok, time to take the beer in the garage - at least that way it wasn't as accessible. And of course, Daniel, the beer purchaser, was nowhere to be found. We made Kat promise to help her mom and get her friends to clean up. She said she would and we made the trek back to grandma's house, minus my dad who had flown home that evening.
Monday was super fun! We got up and got ready, then drove through Amish and Mennonite communities (including Intercourse, PA) and made it into 
three times, she looks at me and says "I can't see my Dumbo ride" - she's definitely a Disney princess. We rode the potato sack slide (but since it's in a park, it doesn't rock dangerously as you climb it like the one at the fair). They also have a double drop log flume and a little roller coaster that Beca liked but said she didn't really want to do it again! Most of the rides there are perfect for little kids - there were only 2 or 3 that Beca couldn't ride. There were several she didn't want to ride either. Kyle, 
fun but not for Beca or her Oma! Beca got talked into going on the hippity-hoppity frog - it just went up and down, slightly dropping and then going up again. She panicked for the first few drops but then realized she was ok and she started trying to put up her hands. Lots of squealing!! She also rode a few other little kids rides and got to participate in a story time where they talked about around the world and made "snow". She danced and danced while they sang. But her favorite part of the day is when she and I changed into bathing suits and went into the water park area. Steve, Kyle and Mom watched us from the bottom of the big twisty slides. Beca would only go in the blue slide - which you could see through. She heard the folks working say that the 
black tunnel is dark so she kept repeating that she wanted the blue line. After loading our boat, Beca gave the girl a thumbs up and we headed down the slide. It was really fun and she alternated squealing and laughing the whole way down. Until we came out and Steve got a picture. Then we let her play in the water playground. Little water slides, water shooting out of the ground, "trees", playground fixtures, everything. And you could pump different features and make more water come down. I decided to try one more blue tube slide ride but when we got up the stairs and were getting ready to go down, Beca pooped in her bathing suit. At least it was a good time to get changed. One last carousel ride and some ice cream and then Beca started yelling at us so it became time to go. We weren't in the van for 3 minutes and Beca and Kyle were both asleep, alternating snoring rounds. Luckily for us, Grandma had some dinner for us! Beca got a bath, announced to everyone that "I'm a naked" as she likes to call it and then finally settled down when I got a nightgown on her. Uncle Kyle went home so no more monster in the basement! And guess what? Beca slept in the next morning! I'll finish Tuesday-Friday of our vacation on another post. It will include 5 generation shots!
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