Visit with Julia - Wahoo!

We traveled to Cocoa Beach, FL on the afternoon of Friday, April 20, to spend a few days with Grandma Julia. Arriving in Orlando, our plane encountered a thunder storm and was diverted to Daytona Beach airport where we sat on the tarmac for an hour or so before being allowed to return to Orlando to land two hours late. While at Daytona, we saw the Daytona Raceway stadium.

We stopped at the Seafood Atlantic store at Cape Canaveral and purchased dinner to make for Julia that evening. Rich set about creating a beautiful meal for us – Wahoo stuffed with Rock Shrimp. Yum…. It was as good as it was pretty!

On Saturday we spent some time looking for car seats on Craigs List for Luke and Leah for the rental car they would use. Found two seats for a total of $15, both within easy access. Rich’s cousin Flip picked up one for us. We drove to Melbourne where Rich purchased a meat bundle to use for the week at the resort and we stopped on the way to get the car seat for Leah.

Sunday we visited Julia’s church in Cocoa Beach, looked at pictures with her, and helped around the house with little things that needed to be done. We spent time on the dock watching the wild life (no manatees this year, however), and just relaxing.

Monday was a beach day and Tuesday we headed to Orlando to spend the week with the CA family, stopping at Flip’s house to pick up a car seat and then picking up Lars, Laurel, Luke and Leah at the airport.

Easter with family

It is such a blessing to have Kat and Jason and the kids nearby. They spent Easter Sunday with us, celebrating the resurrection of our Lord.

Daniel found an Easter basket in his play area in the rec-room.

He helped Abby get her Easter bonnet on just right!

Daniel likes to work in the garden, and even Easter finery couldn't stop him!

She's Just That Cool!

Wearing her daddy's sunglasses...

Birthday Weekend

We celebrated Susan’s birthday with a trip to Center City Philadelphia this past weekend with friends Nancy and Bob.

We picked them up on Friday at noon and headed to the city. After stopping at our hotel to drop off the car and bags, we headed off on our adventure.. Since the hotel was right on Penn Square, we were within walking distance of almost everything we wanted to do. First stop was the Mütter Museum, a museum of medical oddities. Since our friends worked at one time as EMT’s, they were quite interested in the strange array of skulls, models and preserved examples of diseased body parts, skeletons, embryos, medical instruments, and much more.

After checking into our hotel, we walked two blocks to the Reading Terminal Market where we selected some fresh fish, asparagus, bread, and desserts for dinner. Rich prepared the meal in our room and we spent a fun evening together. We even played a few games!

Saturday morning we ate a nice breakfast at the hotel then made our way to the historical area. We began by getting tickets to Independence Hall at the visitors’ center. It was a stirring feeling to be standing in the place where our nation began and our constitution was signed.

From there we went to see the Liberty Bell which is housed in a museum that looks out at Independence Hall and the bell tower where it once hung.

We were the first visitors of the day at Ben Franklin’s printing house. We went next door and Nancy had a postcard posted at Ben Franklin Post Office. The we walked by Betsy Ross’s house and down Elphreth’s Alley, the oldest continuously occupied street in America.

Taking a cab to south Philadelphia we spent a few hours roaming around the Italian Market. We ate lunch at Ralph’s (The second oldest Italian restaurant in the United States and oldest restaurant continuously owned by generations of the same family.) We picked up a sesame seed baguette at Sarcone’s Bakery, some butter steaks, fresh corn on the cob (in March!), and some leeks. We took a cab back to the hotel for a rest, then set out once more for the Reading Terminal, where we got a triple chocolate cake and some home-made ice cream for dessert.

Rich created another awesome meal in our kitchenette, Bob cooked the corn in their kitchen, and we had a delightful birthday dinner.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at the hotel then checked out and made our way to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. After walking up all the steps Rocky once ran up, we spent the entire morning exploring the museum.

We caught a shuttle ride to Pennsylvania Avenue and walked to the Rodin Museum, closed for renovations. The gardens were open, however, and the reflecting pool was lined with beautiful tulips.

Then it was back home to Mechanicsburg. We had a lovely time. In retrospect it was one of those trips that just seems satisfying in every way. What a super way to spend a birthday weekend!

Mild March

We have had an incredibly mild March. I worked in the yard until I couldn't move any more (will have to get used to that again so I can work in my garden!). We continue to spend Tuesdays with the grandchildren and occasionally get to see them on other days as well. Today is the first rainy day we have had all month. It makes everything seem so much greener...

Here's Abby and Daniel - they have such fun together.