Last week was vacation! I was spoiled by having Mark and my parents around most of the time and now am feeling a little tired being a full-time mommy again.
We got there Saturday afternoon and jumped right into having fun. Carter got a tractor ride and Ava put Nana to work reading books... in fact, Ava had Nana reading books all week long. The morning we left, she was begging for "one more book!"
In addition to wagon rides, swinging, and checking out Pap's truck, Carter could often be found playing with cars or this train set (one of my childhood toys) on the floor. Almost always in this position.
Monday evening, we met my best friend and her family at a park for a picnic, but I, of course, failed to take any pictures, instead leaving my camera in the car. Her girls are 10 & 8 (I keep doing the math in my head and that doesn't seem possible, but I'm pretty sure I got that right!) and they immediately befriended Ava and took her off to play. It was very sweet and Ava continues to talk about her friends Molly and Lindsay.
Tuesday morning, we headed to Lancaster, PA. We visited the
Strasburg Railroad Tuesday and headed to
Dutch Wonderland on Wednesday. Before we left Thursday morning, we enjoyed a buggy ride through the countryside. Everything was a big hit! Back at my parents' house, we spent the rest of our time relaxing and enjoying being together.
I'll post pics from our mini-trip to Lancaster later, but here are some more from Nana & Pap's house.
Can't you feel the love?
Carter with his buddy for the week. He'd often go to the front door and ask, "Swing?" After two seconds of swinging, he'd ask, "Truck?" wanting to go inspect Pap's truck. Once he spotted the cows and horses at the farm across the street, he'd also ask for, "horse?" if said animals weren't able to be seen.
Carter always is ready to eat - he'd notice us getting the table ready (or sometimes meals being prepared) and would rush to get in his chair. He had a little bit of time to wait that morning.
This one is a little random, but cracks me up, so I have to share it. At home, Ava doesn't always take a nap, but instead will spend close to 2 hours looking at books and arranging stuffed animals and books in her bed. Usually, the animals are arranged in a line and the books stacked in a very specific order. When I went to get her after "naptime" one day on vacation, she'd lined the books up around the perimeter of the bed. Also included are a few stuffed animals and the case of DVDs we brought along for the trip.
The next day we hit Dutch Wonderland. I think Ava almost had as much fun as Mark. Carter seemed to enjoy himself, too, but was a little more hesitant about riding rides.
Ava talked to the guide the ENTIRE time she rode the pony. I wish I could have heard what she was telling her!
As much as she loved the faster rides, Ava always wanted to come back to the carousel. I think this was the third time we rode... shortly after getting caught in the rain. Thankfully, the rain didn't last long!
