Vacation Vacation

We've been traveling so much lately, I'm really tired as I'm writing this. For the week of the fourth Tyler's company forced everyone to take a week off because business has been so bad. I didn't mind ... any family time is a good time and nothing much seems to happen in the office on hot July days. So we went camping with Tyler's family to Lake Chamberlin State Park in Kentucky. We went tubing and Tyler went wakeboarding. I, of course, flew off a couple times but it was really fun. Tyler did really well wakeboarding for only doing it once every two or three years. Tyler's Aunt Denise and her three kids and husband from Texas and his Uncle Scott (both his moms siblings) and his wife Tracy and their two kids from GA came. It was the second time I had met them other than right before we were married and Tyler's grandpa was close to dying. Not exactly the best time to make good memories, ya know? It was wonderful to get to know them better.

Since we were driving eight hours south we figured we would go visit my mom for a few days in PA. Needless to say, I didn't look at a map. Where my mom lives is 11 hours from KY, a longer drive than if we had driven from MI. Oh well. It's always nice to go let your mom take care of you for a while. It's also fun to drive a huge triangle with a two and a one year old in the backseat.

Our fourth of July was somewhat disappointing. Being 2 hours from Philladelphia the fourth is a big deal. It's a very patriotic and historic area. The day before we went to a parade and played in the park while a band was playing. On the walk home it started pouring and my step dad Mike came and picked us up. Because of the rain the fireworks were postponed until Saturday, the day we drove home. On the drive home we listened to Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. We still have about four more discs to go, but it's really good so far. Thanks mom for letting us borrow it! We saw exactly two fireworks explosions. Probably illegal. :)



Chillin on the boat.
Ava swimming in the lake. The lake is actually a resevoir so there is a lot of calm water.
We played a lot of games.
Violet was pretty content and thankfully Tyler's cousin Scotland played with her the whole time despite her major separation anxiety tears.
Our tent in the background. From the left, Audrey, Riley, Spencer, Dad and Jared.

Learning to self feed while camping is a very messy business. Violet has decided she needs to hold the spoon and feed herself.
At the Hands on House in Lancaster, Pa. It was a great place for young kids. Here Violet is sitting in a crate used to gather, sort and distribute corn. www.handsonhouse.org
Ava got her face painted for the first time. Mom painted a butterfly.
We also took an hour long buggy ride. This isn't a horse and cart or a wagon ride for you westerners, it's a buggy ride in the east. There is a huge Amish population where my mom lives and it's not uncommon to see at least two or three Amish buggies while driving. We took a ride and learned a lot about the Amish and went to an Amish house. It was really fun.

Playing at the park in Lititz, the borough where my mom lives, before the rain started.