4th of July Weekend

It was a whirlwind of travel, laughter, food, sightseeing and family.  The whole family including the new addition, Chase the puppy, loaded up the van and headed north to Newark, Delaware.  We left on Thursday evening after I got off work. 

Our weekend schedule was packed with seeing family: Uncle Jim & Aunt Becky, Cousin Jake and his family, Cousin Elizabeth and her family and Niece (Dad's oldest granddaughter) Rena.   It was good to see and stay with Beck and Jim; they have a beautiful house. 

Meeting with Rena was wonderful; we had to fit it in with her schedule of heading to DC for drum corps parades/competitions.  Dad and I had not seen her since 2002.   So we met her at the Delaware House Service Area. 

On Saturday,  we went sighseeing in Amish country about 45 minutes from Jim's house.  We stopped at a yard sale where Bill and I found 37 books from the Hardy Boys series.  All the books are hardbound and range from 1940 - 1955 editions.  It is not the complete set but we couldn't resist after reading the sign that said $2 a book.  Bill haggled a bit and we got all of the books for $50.  Woohoo, can't wait to start reading them to Jea.  Not only to let her enjoy books but also to reacquaint ourselves with the series.  We will also have to track down the other books in the series!  This just might entice Bill to go garage saling with me.  Oh, Uncle Jim loved telling the story to everyone we met about our purchase.

Jake and his family drove down to see us on Saturday afternoon.  Traditional 4th fare was on the menu with hamburgers, hotdogs, and grilled corn.   Seen here are Jake and Bill shucking the corn!   The kids had a great time, playing outside in the sand and inside with the playdough!

We also got to have a date night on Saturday, well okay, dinner out by ourselves while our daughter stayed with the three grands (Jim, Becky and Dad!)  We had wonderful tapas at Ole Tapas Lounge and Restaurant.  If you are ever in the area, you should check it out.   I highly recommend the lamb chops!  They also have paella on the menu and while we didn't have it (it states on the menu it serves 2-3), another table had it and oh my the aroma was fantastic! 

Sunday, we went to church and then over to Elizabeth's.  There we had a great time visiting and hearing about their trip outwest to the Grand Canyon.  We also had a great meal. Do you see a theme?

On Monday we headed out.  We drove from Newark, down through DC and over to Skyline Drive, VA.  Our goal was to continue on down the Blue Ridge Parkway but with the rain that started we jumped off at Swift Run Gap and over to I-81.  We stopped in Staunton VA for the night.  We saw some wonderful fireworks at Gypsy Hill Park.  Thank you goes out to our waitress at Shoney's for giving us the heads up on that one.   Then on Tuesday we visited Frontier Culture Museum and Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library. A great time was had by all.  If you have kids, the library offers a scavenger hunt and a small play area including dress up items from the 1920-1930's.  The frontier museum was a wonderful look at the houses and cultures that make up the early settlers and frontiersmen.  Jea even helped sweep in the English house.