Strausburg, PA

The day after Thanksgiving, we thought it would be a lot of fun to go to Strausburg, an old railroad town about an hour and a half away. Right now Sky is obsessed with trains and anything that goes "choo choo!" Originally we went with the mindset of riding the actual train, Santa was going to be on it that day, and it sounded so fun! But, at the last minute we decided not to, and that we would save it for another day, maybe in a year when Skyler is just a bit older to enjoy it more. We did get a glimpse of Santa though! We wandered the shops around the train station, listened to the carolers and ate some kettle corn, and then made our way to the museum. The train museum was so cool and the kids really loved it. I never thought I'd be so interested in trains, but they had models of trains throughout all the years and we got to peek into some of the luxurious diner cars and sleeper cars. It all hit me as very fun and romantic. The kids just thought it was dang cool. There was also a place for them to play with toy trains and look at models. We spent a lot of time there and definitely got our money's worth.

Afterward, we went to Cici's in Lancaster, our favorite pizza buffet in the world. It was so relaxing to sit there with the family and the kids were so good. It was a lovely day!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year, hosted by the Matsons, along with our friends the Millers. There was so much delicious food, games, good company, pie, and gorging ourselves into oblivion. I think I might still be full from that meal! Thanks all for the wonderful and memorable turkey day!

Glenn is Twenty Eight, finally!

For the majority of the time, Glenn is younger than me. It's really not a big deal, but he loves to rib me about it. It is nice to be the same age, for a few months anyway. We had a nice quiet birthday with Glenn seeing as school occupied most of his time. The Friday before we enjoyed a lovely night out for dinner, and the night of his birthday had his requested dinner of meatloaf, baked potatoes and vegetables (he always complains that I make weird things for dinner, meat and potatoes for him!), and that night he got his favorite cake combo, black forest in trifle form. I sure don't know what I would do without this guy in my life, he's such a great husband and dad. Love you Glenn!

A Day in Jim Thorpe

Early in November, we were all feeling the desperate need to just get out of our house and do some exploring. I had been really wanting to go out to the Pocono's mountains since they were so close and check it out. My brother-in-law, who was staying with us at the time, suggested going to Jim Thorpe. So, we made a little itinerary and went to check it out. The town was very cute. We didn't get any pictures of the town itself, but it had all of the small, touristy shops that you'd expect to see, as well as a cool train station (Skyler heaven). We had lunch and got ice cream at a little ice cream shop. The best part of the day in my opinion though was going to a small lake park just outside the city. The kids honestly could have been content to just throw rocks in the lake all day, and the weather could not have been more beautiful. It was a very fun day, and the break we all really needed.





Jayda likes to pose for the camera, this is how she insisted I take her picture.

Oh how I love these two!

Halloween Weekend with the Simonsons

This year we spent our Halloween with our long time friends the Simonsons. It never ceases to blow my mind, Heather and I have been friends/sisters since we were twelve, and now we're taking our combined six kids trick-or-treating, insane!

In Catawissa, where they live, the big deal on Halloween is the parade, which means that trick-or-treating is done the night before. Kind of fun, two nights of festivities for the price of one. The kids had a lot of fun getting candy and looking at all the houses decorated really spooky.

The next day was spent lounging, watching the Tinkerbell movie, playing in the leaves, taking a walk along the river and watching the parade! We had a wonderful time and a very happy Halloween.

Preschool Halloween Party

Halloween is the holiday that just keeps on giving between school, church, friends and the actual holiday, it lasts forever! It's fun though, and it seems to get more fun the older my kids get. Jayda had a really cute Halloween party with her preschool class. They had a parade and sang some songs for us before they got to play games and eat lots of yummy foods. Isn't she a cute witch, I just can't believe how old she's getting!

Freddy Hill Farms

Now that we've lived here over a year, there are certain events over the year that I'm hoping remain traditions while we are living in Philly. Freddy Hill Farms is one of them. We went last year with Jayda's preschool, and had so much fun that I really wanted to make sure we went again. The weather could not have been more beautiful that day, and the company couldn't have been more fun. We got the perfect pumpkins, went through the maze and down the big slide, ate DELICIOUS ice cream and had a great time with friends. I can't wait to do it again next year!