Summer Vacation: Pennsylvania

Our family has had a tradition for many years of spending a week visiting family, usually around the beginning of July. This year was no exception! We have made so many memories through these vacations that will stay with us for a lifetime. Here are the photos from our most recent trip:

One thing we love about visiting our Grandparents in Pennsylvania, is that they have neighbors who graciously allow us to use their 12-foot deep, in-ground pool whenever we visit. Here, the twins are enjoying a Sunday afternoon swim after church.

My Grandma and I. We ate a delicious dinner of KFC: the all-American Sunday night dinner!

After dinner on Sunday evening, we watched a funny DVD by Chonda Pierce that we had given my Grandpa for Father’s Day. It was quite comical!

Monday morning (July 4^th) found us working in the yard. Josiah helped sweep up the bush clippings.

Roma, weeding in one of the beds.

Daddy cleaned out the gutters of the house, and let us kids climb up on the roof for a picture. Yes, we had fun! J

After all that hard work, we enjoyed another dip in the pool to cool down.

In celebration of the 4^th, we ate yet another “All-American feast” of burgers, watermelon, baked beans, and potato salad. Delicious!

And of course a red-white-and-blue dessert of cherry pie with ice cream and blueberries sprinkled on top.

For the past several years, we have bought some of our own fireworks and put on a display for the neighbors in front of my grandparents’ house.

One of our favorite fireworks was a little one that makes the surrounding area look like a bolt of lightning just flashed. See how well it lit up the area even though it was nearly 10:00 p.m.?

This one surprised us by how far it shot up and out.

We also enjoyed lots of colorful fountains.

And a fourth of July celebration wouldn’t be complete without sparklers!

Tuesday morning Mom fixed a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, grapes, toast, cinnamon rolls, orange juice, and milk.

We spent the rest of the day at the beach. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for the outing.

But it was admittedly a bit on the cooler side once you got in the water. J

For dinner we had my Mom’s homemade spaghetti, garlic bread, and tossed salad. It smelled like Olive Garden inside the house!

Since Daddy has a birthday this month and we don’t get to visit my Grandparents very often, we celebrated. Mommy made her delicious triple-chocolate birthday cake, and it was as yummy as ever!

Daddy then opened his cards and gifts.

Sadly, we had to leave the next morning. But we made our way to our other grandparents’ house in Ohio, so stay tuned for a post about that half of our trip!