June 2010

Hello from Elk Grove by way of the best east coast vacation (with kids). We have been VERY busy for the last month and we've had a lot of fun.

At the end of May we flew to Philadelphia to visit the Bradbury Family. They have 2 beautiful little girls that match up in age with our little boys. We stayed for 3 fun filled days with them. We had a barbecue and played at the park. We went to an amazing all kids park called Smith Playhouse. Tanner loved riding down the big wooden slide. Tanner and Lexi ran between 5 different play areas as fast as possible and had a wonderful time. We went to a nature preserve and saw turtles while the boys threw sticks into the creek. Tanner liked Lexi so much he started calling her "My sister" and he would introduce her like that to everyone.
One evening the adults went to the city without the kids and ate Thai food then walked around a crazy trinket shop. After the shop we got dessert at the Naked Chocolate shop that had everything chocolate on the menu. Nick and Nickie got the drinkable chocolate while Darryl and I tasted a few bites of the various chocolate treats from the display case. The crowning events of the visit were the late night games of Puerto Rico. We played until the wee hours and often had to play quietly so as not to wake up the sleeping children. When our time in Philly ended we did a rendezvous with Paul and Larisa Cuff and went up to their home in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

Paul and Larisa also have 2 great kids that Tanner couldn't wait to see again. The weather was so hot and humid we had to do a lot of playing in the water. The kids brought out the sprinkler and they jumped and played. We visited the Lawrenceville ward Memorial Day pic-nic in the park and the kids had a great time playing on the playground, eating watermelon, playing Frisbee and baseball. In the afternoon we relaxed and did some home improvement projects around the house. While in New Jersey we learned that the southern part of the state is predominantly devoted to agriculture. We visited a farm to feed the geese and goats, then we picked some strawberries and munched all the way home. We also enjoyed a great tour of Princeton University courtesy of Paul. The buildings have wonderful architecture and the grounds are lovely. We walked all over campus, let the kids swim in the shallow fountain, ate gyros, ice cream and gelato. We generally had a fun day and wore the kids out.

It was hard to say goodbye to the cousins, but we boarded the Amtrak bright and early one morning to head down to Washington D.C.. The train ride was great. No need for seat belts and plenty of space for all of our suit cases. The weather was super hot and humid. We got off the train and went site seeing to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Tanner wanted to see rocket ships, and on the way to the building we passed the Carousel on the Mall. After that sighting there was nothing more important to Tanner than riding the carousel. Tanner did like the activity about flying paper airplanes so he participated in a paper airplane flying contest at the museum.
Both boys were exhausted hot and hungry by the time we got to the car heading for Virginia. We loaded them up with snacks and water then they crashed out for the trip south.
In Virginia we met up with the Jensen family. They were so nice to let us stay with them. They have 4 great boys, so Tanner and Parker jumped right into the mix and had a great time running around as super heros, playing tag and eating pizza. The next morning we went to see our house in Hopewell that we renovated a few years ago and now keep as a rental. It was nice to meet our wonderful tenants and see how the house is holding up after our attempts at improvements. Luckily things look good.
That last day in Virginia was the hottest of our trip. It got up to about 95 degrees with 100% humidity. We all just walked around sweating. We went to visit with our friends the Gorbetts. Tanner shares a birthday with their daughter Taylor so it was fun to see and play with them and catch up on their adventures. Soon they will have a new home on the western side of the country we hope :)
The flight home was quite an event with 2 stops, in Denver then LA. By the time we reached LA, Parker was totally done and ready to get off. He screamed his head off for about 10 minutes then went to sleep during the whole flight. He woke up just as we landed and he was content for the rest of the evening. We weren't up for long. All of us hit the pillow very hard and slept in the next morning. We had such a wonderful trip and we are glad to be home again.