It's Time for a Catch-up Post

 

Vacation Time!

This Blog is becoming more like a diary for me but a very erratic one. I suppose that is okay. If I ever have something really important that I want to write about, I know where I can come to put my thoughts down. Maybe it is a good thing that my entries have been sporadic because it means that nothing really traumatic has happened and I do like when life moves along without too many bumps and turns.

Since my last post in June after the grandchildren camping week, we have had quite a few birthdays.

The first one was Kyle's who turned 2 on July 7.

Kyle had a Winnie-The-Pooh birthday cake and he was so happy to be celebrated. Here is a video of him blowing out his candles.

On July 12, Awstin turned 12.

Awstin loves sports, especially Philadelphia teams :)

July 16 was Clara's turn. She turned 8 years old.

Here's the traditional cake...

...and here's the pretzel jello dessert because Clara requested this also!

And then came the big one on August 8! Alexis turned 16 years old and was finally able to get her permit. She had been anxiously counting down the days for this happy occasion!

Lydia was taking a cake decorating class and decorated Alexis' cake!

August 23rd was our 45th wedding anniversary and we celebrated it by going to a Phillies game! We have been enjoying watching their games this summer and hadn't been to a game in years. We drove down on Saturday afternoon and checked into a hotel before going to the game. Then we just had to drive a short distance to our hotel after the game and returned back home on Sunday. It seems a simple thing to do for such a momentous occasion but we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the Phillies even won!

45 Years! :)

Citizens Park

On Sunday, August 24, we got together at Jay and Kristen's for our annual Lehman reunion with Steve's mother and siblings and grandchildren and families. We got a few pictures but none with grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Mom, children and spouses

 

Mom and children

September 10 brought another grandchild birthday. Seth turned 2 years old.

Seth loves any kind of farm equipment and trucks. Julissa made the cake!

Seth was a little shy about the cake, birthday song and candles. Here is the video.

In September we spent a weekend at a cabin with three couples from church. It is the same cabin I posted about earlier and is owned by Randy & Diane's daughter and son-in-law. We love going away with these couples and had a wonderful time together!

Just look at the beautiful mountains behind us! L-R - Randy, Diane, Becky, John, Me, Steve, Sue, Bob

 

Taking a ride in the buggy

Steve followed on a four-wheeler

In October, Jay & Kristen's four oldest children showed their hogs at the Manheim Fair.

Mark

Alexis

Lydia & Hannah

And more birthdays!

Bryce turned 6 on October 9

Bryce started Kindergarten this year and is loving it!

Cassidy turned 4 on October 26

Cassidy said she wanted a cat for her cake so Julissa made her one!

The last birthday in October was Mark's on the 29th. He turned 13 so entered the teenage years!

When one of their children, turn 13, Jay & Kristen invite grandparents, uncles, aunts & cousins from both sides of the family. We went around and said things that we appreciate about Mark. It was nice to see how his face lit up when people spoke about him.

The only grandchild yet to have a birthday this year will be Hannah on December 21, so I'll cover that in my Christmas and year-end blog.

The last thing I want to write about was our vacation week in Myrtle Beach as referenced in the first picture on this Blog. Randy & Diane were able to trade their Hilton Head timeshare for one in Myrtle Beach and invited us to go with them. An invite which we happily accepted! It was one of the most relaxing vacation's ever. We arrived on Saturday, November 1 and left the next Saturday, November 8. We purposely did not plan many activities because we wanted to have time to just enjoy the freedom of no schedule and the beautiful ocean setting. We had booked tickets for 3 shows which we went to on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. They were all centered around Christmas and one was an acrobatic show, another a musical, and the last one was a Pirate Dinner Theater. All of them were really great and we loved them! We played miniature golf one day and usually ate out once a day, because what is a vacation if you don't enjoy different dining experiences! My highlight was watching the sun rise over the ocean each morning while drinking coffee on our deck. Of course we also spent plenty of time playing games, talking and laughing. We are so thankful for Randy & Diane! We joked that we are still friends after spending a week together but none of us were really worried about that! :)

Sunrise over the ocean

Sand, ocean & sky - beautiful!

We were on the 6th floor. Perfect for seeing out over the ocean!

This mini golf course was played on different levels with the top level showing a beautiful view out over the ocean.

I won! (But I didn't take the trophy home)

We were so fortunate to have beautiful weather all week.

Gotta have that picture on the beach!

Proof that I was on the beach!

Steve was the only one adventurous (or crazy enough) to go into the ocean. It was pretty cold! Here is proof that he actually did it.

That pretty much catches the year up. I'll be back to close it out late December or early January.

Camping 2025 - Boys

The girls camp ended and the boys camp began. Kristen picked up her girls around 10:30 on Wednesday morning and dropped off Mark. Megan brought Bryce and Jake soon after and then took Cassidy home with her. Awstin didn't arrive until around 4:00 as he had a 6th grade graduation to attend in the afternoon so Melissa brought him after that. While we waited for Awstin to arrive Steve and Mark went grocery shopping to replenish our supplies. I took Bryce and Jake to the playground and then when Steve and Mark returned we went swimming in the pool. This was Jake's first year to come camping and unlike his cousins he had no idea what camping really meant. All of the other families regularly go camping and own a camper but he doesn't, so it was really fun to see his excitement as he experienced it for the first time.

After Awstin arrived we went mini golfing and then for ice cream. We basically did the same things with the boys that we did with the girls except not all of them did crafts and we did a lot of swimming with the boys. I was glad that it got warmer as the week went on and the water heated up nicely. All the boys loved swimming so it was a great activity to do with them.

Ready for mini golfing!

Jake had never played mini-golf before but he caught on very quickly and loved it!

Bryce :)

Mark kindly posed for a picture for me.

Jake :)

Our friends had a cool swing in their yard and the older kids especially loved it.

Jake tries his hand at some crafts

The older boys also liked the Ninja course that our friends had in their yard.

The sandbox was a hit for Bryce & Jake

To say the boys loved swimming is an understatement

Love this picture of Mark & Jake walking to the train station.

Awstin & Jake are ready for the train ride...

...as are Grandpa & Mark...

and Bryce.

Whoops! Jake just couldn't stay awake.

Bryce is fascinated with the scenery.

Group picture before we leave the railroad!

Awstin took this cool video of the engine going by us to hook up to the other end.

On Friday morning we packed everything up. Kristen came for Mark around 10:30 and then we hooked up the camper and headed home with the other three boys where their mothers picked them up when we got back. I feel like it was a very good week. It certainly had not been a vacation for Steve and I but we did not intend it to be. It was time that we could spend with our grandchildren and hopefully give them some good memories of fun times shared with their grandparents. 

Will we do it again next year? Thankfully we have a year to decide. :)

Camping 2025 - Girls

Well, we did it again. After camping for the first time last year with the grandkids and knowing that they liked it we decided to go for round two, however we made some changes. Instead of going a couple of days with some of the kids and then a few weeks later, taking other grandkids for a few days, we decided that Steve and I would stay the entire week. We brought one group in the beginning of the week and another the end of the week so we only had to pack up and tear down once. We also switched it to an all girls camp and then an all boys camp.

We went to the same campground, Country Acres in Gordonville, where are friends, Randy & Diane Lapp live and we borrowed Josh & Julissa's camper again. We arrived on Sunday afternoon and Josh came and helped us set everything up. After we were settled in, Steve and I went grocery shopping for all the hungry mouths that would soon be descending on us. We grilled burgers and just relaxed around the fire, enjoying the beautiful evening. It was really nice to have a quiet, peaceful evening before the grandkids arrived. I can honestly see why many retired couples buy rv's and use them for rest and relaxation. There is not much that can top sitting out in the coolness of the morning and sipping a cup of coffee while listening to the birds chirping.

Monday morning at 10:00 the girls descended on us. There were six of them--Alexis, Lydia, Hannah, Clara, Janae & Cassidy--all sisters except for Cassidy. This was also Cassidy's first time to camp with us and she was so excited. Just watching her joyous expressions made my heart sing.

All ready for a game of mini-golf!

We had a great time with all the girls. We took them min-golfing, rode the Strasburg Railroad, treated them to ice cream and did a few crafts. Janae had the stomach bug over the weekend so we were a little concerned about her health as well as the rest of us possibly getting it, but it wasn't something we could just easily reschedule. She seemed fine on Monday but then in the evening she said her stomach hurt and she wanted to go home. I wasn't going to take any chances so Kristen came and got her and she went home for the night. She was fine on Tuesday morning and Jay brought her back and she had no other problems. I found out later that Hannah threw up doing the night on Tuesday and didn't even tell me. She managed to make it through until Kristen picked all the girls up around 10:00. Thankfully, no one else got sick.

Craft time! My friend Diane helped me come up with some crafts and was generous enough to allow us to do them on her nice big deck.

Clara lines up her next shot!

Cassidy getting that ball into the hole!

Concentration from Alexis

Janae taking a break :)

These two had a lot of fun together. They also enjoyed the playground but I didn't get any pictures of them there.

Sweet pose from Hannah

Lydia smiling for the camera

All aboard the Strasburg Railroad!

These two were so great! Even though they are teenagers they were always happy to be involved and to do what ever activity we had planned.

Trying to hide that smile but she just couldn't help it. She was always smiling. 

Clara wasn't going to let a small thing like a broken arm stop her! The only thing she wasn't allowed to do was go swimming which disappointed her very much. However, the weather was cold and when Hannah and Janae went for a swim, they didn't last very long, so she didn't miss much.

Posing at Down on the Farm Creamery where we ate our lunch and got ice cream!

Just playing a little shuffleboard.

Meal Time

The two older girls really enjoyed this swing in Randy & Diane's yard.

It was a great couple of days with the girls. They left around 10:00 on Wednesday morning and then the boys arrived. See next post.