Summer Vacation: Pennsylvania

Following tradition, our family spent a week on vacation earlier this month. But this year, our trip was quite different than normal. We didn’t touch a pool or visit the beach even once; we went to the funeral viewing for a dear friend who died unexpectedly; we visited a very sick relative on our way home; and we spent almost twice as long in the van as we normally would on a trip like this (over 20 hours!) Despite the fact that it was so different, we enjoyed our time and all the chances we had to serve others.

We started off our trip by visiting my Grandparents in Pennsylvania. We arrived there on Saturday afternoon. After settling in, we went to visit my Grandma at the nursing home she’s staying at. We stayed for several hours. Following our visit, we went out to dinner with Grandpa.

This restaurant is quickly becoming a family favorite! It has a country/woods theme (kind of a cross between Cabela’s and Cracker Barrel.)

The food there is really good! Dad, Ben, and I went to this restaurant when we visited PA for Mother’s Day. We ordered a cinnamon sundae to split four ways, and it was a good thing we did! As you can see above, this “serving” is the size of a large soup bowl! It’s a cinnamon roll filled with ice cream and topped with whipped cream, caramel sauce, and pecans. This time, we ordered 2 for all 8 of us to share.

On Sunday we went with Grandpa to church in the morning. We had lunch and then spent the afternoon with Grandma. Whenever it’s empty, we turn the lounge next to her room into our personal living room. Her room is very small and so the lounge is a much more comfortable place to visit. We enjoy putting together puzzles, showing Grandma pictures on the laptop and in her albums from home, playing cards, and otherwise visiting together.

Photo Credit: Roma.

After our visit, we went back to Grandpa’s for a dinner of crock pot pork with vegetables along with a delicious pineapple-upside-down cake given to us by a neighbor. We usually try to visit Grandma twice a day, so we went back again later that evening.

One thing I’ve always admired about my grandparents is how they have loved each other through the good times and the bad for over 50 years. They have really taken the line of the wedding vows which says “in sickness and in health” seriously. They are a great example to their grandchildren!

Monday morning found us working outside. We usually try to do landscaping work around the house whenever we visit. We didn’t have time to do any work on our last visit, so it was in desperate need of attention! We headed out right after breakfast to get in the weeding and bush trimming before it got too miserably hot.

Grandpa also ordered mulch for us to spread. It was amazing to see the transformation from the overgrown, weedy gardens into . . .

. . . neat and clean beds with a fresh layer of mulch!

The boys tackled the big job of trimming the bushes. They also pulled out the dead bush on the corner.

Quite a transformation!

Some of the kids found rather large weeds. J

After all that work, we cleaned up and had a dinner of grilled chicken, succotash, salad, and rolls. Then we went to the nursing home to spend more time with Grandma.

On the way home, we stopped by the marina to watch the sunset over the lake. It was beautiful!

 

Tuesday we had planned on spending the day at the beach. Unfortunately, scattered thunderstorms were in the forecast and there was a strong breeze. We consoled ourselves by remembering our time at the beach in April. So we spent the morning relaxing at home and then had an extra-long visit with Grandma in the afternoon, as she was feeling especially good. That evening, we ordered a pan of lasagna for dinner and visited Grandma one more time before calling it a night.

The fourth of July found us working again. While Dad cleaned the gutters, Ben washed all the windows—inside and out—on the sun porch. It was a big job, but he did a great job and they look a lot better now.

Grandpa acted as the supervisor for all the work! J You can’t see it in this picture, but Daddy’s feet were dangling down from the roof above his head.

For dinner that night, we celebrated with burgers, watermelon, potato salad, peach tea, and peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert. It was a delicious, all-American feast! We enjoyed lots of fellowship and discussion around the dinner table each night.

Photo Credit: Roma.

Once it got dark out (around 9:00 p.m.) we had our fireworks show! We usually buy a few small fireworks to set off in the street in front of Grandma and Grandpa’s house. We had lots of fun!

Photo Credit: Betsy.

More beautiful fireworks.

But the highlight of the evening for us kids was definitely the sparklers. J We love lighting them up and running around the house making swirly designs as we go.

Photo Credit: Betsy.

Thursday morning we went to visit Grandma one last time before we left. We ate a quick lunch at home and packed up our things before pulling out mid-afternoon. We were headed to Ohio for the remainder of the week (more on that tomorrow!)