On the Road Again

Whew, it has been a whirlwind two weeks, as our little family was taking a grand tour of PA.  I often catch myself wondering why we don't just live there, because it seems like we are up north all the time! 

The main purpose of this particular trip was dropping Addy off to stay for a week with her grandparents (my Dad and step-mom).  I know she had so much fun, and I have an inkling that her grandparents did too :)  Mike and I got frequent text pictures, which we looked forward to every day.

Here are some of my favorites:

No doubt Addy is teasing Daisy with a treat of some kind

Relaxing with her new friend Piglet

Just chillin' in the dog crate

Nope, your eyes are not seeing double.... she has two ice cream cones!

And....done!

Checking out the flowers on Swamp Road

It looks to me like her grandparents put her to work, but they insist that she was just playing with that bucket of water ;)

Ha ha, so Mike and I got a kick out of getting these text pics every day.  Gotta love modern technology :)

While Addy got to relax in a cabin in the woods, Mike and I put 1500 miles on our vehicle in that one week traveling to, from, and around PA!  Fun?  Yes.  But, very tiring too.  Especially being 7 months pregnant.  We literally stayed in a different town almost every single night.  All week we were joking that we were nomads.

So we started it all off in Philly, where I shot a wedding with Tina on the hottest day of the summer.  Also fun when you are 7 months pregnant ;)  Literally though, it was the hottest day so far.  The couple even got interviewed for the evening news about getting married on the hottest day of the year!  I have a whole new respect for my sister's career.  I always knew it was tough being on your feet all day; I mean I often am at my job too, but this day took it to a whole new level.  On your feet for 9+ hours, several hours of which being outside in the 100+ degree heat, lugging heavy camera equipment.... and, oh yeah, did I mention that I am 7 months pregnant?  It was fun, but I was completely drained when we were done.

So anyway, the wedding was Saturday, and then Mike and I headed to Allentown on Sunday to spend the day with my mom, grandparents, and sis and bro-in-law.  It was great to see everyone and be able to have some time for adult conversation without chasing a toddler around all day.  I realize that I may not speak for everyone when I say this, as they all mentioned that they missed Addy.  But it sure was relaxing for Mike and I :)

Monday we headed up to Schuylkill County to visit my oldest and bestest friend, Julie.  We have been friends since kindergarten and we hardly ever get to see each other, so it was awesome going up to her house, hanging out and chatting the night away while our hubbies got into trouble ;)  I miss this girl like crazy!

P.S  Check out the view from her house!!!

Julie and Justin have all kinds of fruit trees and bushes on their land, so I had my first experience picking blueberries.  Oh my gosh, they were delicious!  I may have ODed on blueberries that day.

Yup, I (by myself) ate almost two of these containers in less than 24 hours!  But boy, were they good!

The next day Mike and I headed to Hershey to check out the sweetest place on earth.  We met up with Tina and drove around the area all day to scope out potential places that we'd like to live.  Tina and I have it in our heads that we want to live within 15 minutes (or less, ha ha) of each other, and Hershey seems to be the perfect spot to do so.  Now, our master plan is all very dependent on Jay getting a job there, since the rest of us could probably get jobs fairly easily.  It's a lot trickier to get a job in the law field than it is in the medical field.  And Tina, with her skills, will find clients anywhere :)  So, go Jay go!!!

Don't you just wanna live here?  Right there at the grand Hotel Hershey.  Ha ha, me too!  That place is gorgeous!

Next stop, Lancaster to visit with my other grandparents.

Love just relaxing with them on their back porch :)

Add a little oatmeal with blueberries, and fresh flowers on the table, and that is my idea of the perfect morning :)

We had dinner at the Jigger Shop in Mt. Gretna, an old favorite from our youth.  I had Tina snag a pic of Mike and I there.... I was unaware that he was making that awkward hand gesture, ha ha.

Wednesday morning we were on the road again, and off to Mike's hometown of Hollidaysburg.  We met up with his sister and our nephew and got to spend some time with them at the pool :)

Love this picture:)

Then Thursday we went up to State College to spend a little time at the Arts Festival.  I know this is the millionth time I've mentioned it, but again, the heat killed me.  Being pregnant in the heat of the summer, I literally feel like I can't breathe sometimes.  I felt like such a wimp walking around there because I had to stop a few times to sit down for fear of passing out.  This pregnancy is a whole new ballgame.  Give me my winter pregnancy back any day.

Anyway, Friday it was time to head up to my Dad's cabin to see our little Addy Marie!!  I took lots of pictures there, so I'll save that for the next post.  This post will be designated solely to the nomadic week of Mike and Jess.  You probably got tired just reading this!  It was a crazy week, that's for sure. 

As fun as it was, there is nothing better than getting home and back to your routine after a hectic week and a half away.  It's true what they say.... There's no place like home :)