Lunch with Grace...

Update: I fixed the flick'r link below.

One day this spring, I was sitting at my computer, plotting our course for this trip, when it popped into my mind that one of our China families lives in Pennsylvania. Now, Pennsylvania is a huge state, and I tried not to get too excited as I googled up a state map. Lo and behold, their location was almost smack dab in between Hershey and White House Station, our next stop! I immediately sent out an email to see if we could arrange lunch, knowing it was a bit of a drive and the middle of a weekday for our friends. Things fell into place beautifully, as they tend to do when divinely orchestrated, and we were able to meet up with Grace and her family for an all-too-quick visit.

It poured...and I mean POURED...rain all day. Luckily, we were able to load up our van in a parking garage in Hershey, or our luggage would have been soaked! We hit the road according to schedule but traffic slammed to a halt within an hour. A horse-trailer jackknifed and separated from its truck, blocking both lanes! Thankfully, it appeared that there were no injuries, including one visibly shaken horse. The traffic jam, combined with a teeny-tiny wrong turn, caused us to be a little later than we'd planned. Grace is the fifth child in her family, though, so they were completely wonderful and understanding. We sloshed our way into TGI Friday's and chatted and stuffed ourselves silly.

What's lunch with your China sister

without a little sibling chokehold?

Click here to view the entire hilarious set!

As always, it was amazing how quickly our families settled into comfortable conversation. I fully expected for it to take a few minutes for the girls to warm up to each other. Grace is one of the quieter girls of the bunch, and they've only seen each other once since China...that being our reunion almost a year ago. I was pleasantly surprised to see them instantly wrap their arms around each other, grins plastered on both of their faces! It was so sweet! It didn't take them long to start cooking up playdates at each other's houses. That tugged at my heart a bit. I wish so much that they had that chance.

Sweet goodbye kisses and hugs...

We had a good laugh because the waiter insisted we

use the bar to stage our group photo!

All too soon, it was time to say goodbye and ease on down the road. We had such a great time and wish only that we could have had a longer visit with our friends! We're hoping to get another chance to spend time together at the AWAA reunion in October.

Game faces...

After our day at Hershey and dinner out, we came back to hang out at the condo. It was still chilly, so while the big kids hit the outdoor pool, we took Mick and Caroline to the game room. I dream of an air hockey table for our basement, so I was anxious to get some "air" time. Well, the guys grabbed the table first, so I...what else...took pictures. Then I got my turn against each of the boys and somewhat lost my desire for owning an air hockey table. They both cheat.

Meanwhile, Caroline was convinced she was actually playing the video game and spent at least 20 minutes tugging on the steering wheel with great determination and concentration. All of a sudden, she noticed herself in the mirror. She was quite enamored, and I got some adorable shots. Check out the flick'r set here. I took all of the pictures in this set with existing light.

Then I took a quick email break in the lobby while Jon took the younger two back for a dip in the "hot pool". Finally, we all settled in and, as tired as we were, tried to pry our eyelids open for a game of Scrabble. By the end, we were all practically comatose. Jon and I lost largely against Mindy and her big-word-loving iTouch-using boyfriend. We have created a monster. The boy had never played a game of Scrabble until we introduced him to it a few months ago. And now we're sorry we did. The winners packed up the game, and we packed it in for the night. We hit the road for New Jersey the next morning.

Wordless Wednesday...

Lightroom, I love you...

I know, I know. I'm still not finished with the trip east. I keep getting distracted. I mean, look at this face! How could I wait one second longer to share it? Oh, yeah. I did share this picture. Well, not exactly. I finally downloaded the free trial of Lightroom this weekend, and I think I'm in love. I may have to marry it. This was the first picture I edited in Lightroom. I used Rebecca's Platinum preset, and I couldn't believe how much I loved it!

Okay, now I really must get back to writing and editing. I have things to do, you know. Stop bugging me about Lightroom, and maybe, just maybe, you'll get a slew of new pictures from our trip.

An update...

Okay, so I'm sorry for the lack of warning about yesterday's photo...I was just too tempted by my ability to exploit Wordless Wednesday. To make up for it, here's a picture of Caroline. She sometimes balks at getting her picture taken. Like I have a camera in her face every day or something. The other day, however, I was trying to get a picture of something in my kitchen, and she repeatedly insisited I take her photo. I quick snapped a shot to quiet her down, not expecting it to turn out. And I was pleasantly surprised. I love pictures taken with natural light. And I love pictures of this sweet face.

So here's the scoop. My husband, at the ripe old age of 40-something, had his tonsils and adenoids removed yesterday. And what you hear is true. It is tougher on us older folks. Our daughter, Abby, had hers out last fall...did I even blog about that?? She's always been our chatty girl, and we all joked about how it was going to be quiet around the house for a few days. Yeah, well, the joke was on us. She came out of the recovery room yacking away. She actually felt okay for the first couple of days and then hit the wall and felt crummy for about another two weeks. It took her a month before she was her old self.

Which might lend itseslf to why I was a little hesitant for Jon to have this surgery. That and all the times I have nursed my husband's maladies. I'll just let you all read between those lines. I'm sure those of you with husbands just might be able to relate. Jon did not come out of surgery talking. He was in quite a bit of pain, and morphine didn't even kick it all the way. Finally, two doses of morphine and some Tylenol with codeine somewhat eased the look of pain on his face. Thankfully, he had no nausea and downed Sprite and popsicle slushies and soup and jello before he was discharged a few hours later. And then, as is apparently our family tonsil tradition, he requested a Happy Meal from McDonald's on the way home! The days of liquid diets following tonsillectomies are over, my friends. They encourage you to return to a normal diet, accompanied by lots of fluids, as soon as you like.

Overall, his pain and discomfort have been manageable. He's home for the next ten days, and he's a little out of sorts. Because he's an adult, he's on a steroid pack for swelling , and I think that's bringing on some restlessness. I have found him doing laundry (EEGHADS!), and dishes and other things he probably shouldn't be doing, and I've been met with varying degrees of irritability in convincing him to stop and rest. I did have one run-in with him over the medicine spoon I used to give him his prescribed liquid medicine. He was very disgruntled over the fact that it was a baby spoon. And I'll just leave it at that.

By the way, it was a good thing he got those suckers out. The doctor said there were at least 20 abscesses on his tonsils. They had done their job, and they were ready for retirement! Jon really wanted a picture of them before they whisked them away, and I just couldn't resist sharing!

And, just so you know, I have come a long way, baby, in not cringing when Jon does laundry. He mostly does his own laundry and towels and underwear and the like. He does not necessarily cater to my detailed instructions on how things are to be washed and sorted. I'm too controlling, you might say? Yeah, well, tell that to my dry-clean only suit he shrunk into Barbie's size when we were first married. And know that the clothing he brought home from Desert Storm all those years ago didn't look the same as when it left. Color-Catchers would have done him a world of good. I'm just sayin'...

Wordless Wednesday...

p.s. More to come on our trip east...

Chocolate World...

After a quiet morning of sleeping in, we ate lunch and then went in search of chocolate. We came to the disillioning conclusion that the town of Hershey does not, in fact, smell like chocolate. At least not on this particular day. Maybe on a hot, sultry summer day. The closer we got to Chocolate World, though, the more palpable the aroma became. At last...we had arrived.

The once-heralded tour of the actual factory has now been replaced by a simulated factory tour just down the road...an Epcot-type musical ride charmingly narrated by three animated cows. I'm warning you now. If you go on this ride, you will be singing the song the rest of the day. Of course, it's worth it because...DUDE...they give you chocolate at the end of the ride! Sure, it's a miniature candy bar, but it's still chocolate. And just in case you'd like to have that snappy little tune ringing in your head for days, I found it online and I've included it for your enjoyment. You're welcome.

Oops...don't forget to pause the music player at the bottom

so you can truly enjoy this little ditty!

I suspect we don't get out nearly enough because all the kids...toddler to teens...thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We then subjected ourselves to all things chocolate. It was actually so overwhelming that I really wasn't tempted to buy much. Although I'm a chips and salsa girl. If I were set loose in a room full of all varieties of that, I might be tempted to bathe in the salsa. We did partake of the freshly-baked cookies...my deal-sniffing husband procurred a buy one-get one coupon on the internet...but we weren't complaining. I chose chocolate-chocolate-chocolate. Well, that probably wasn't the technical term, but it was all chocolate, baby. The girls went with the same...shocking. Wouldn't you know it, Mickey chose a sugar cookie with sprinkles. Whatever. Of course, when Caroline got her fill of the chocolate variety, she happily dove face first into his cookie that he decided he really didn't want.

Mickey was all about factory worker experience. He wore the hat, got his ID photo taken, and worked on the "line" for about a minute and a half. I suspect that the chocolate fumes got to us all because, before it was over, all seven of us donned goofy hats. I am really not a hat person, so I reluctantly agreed to wear one if they let me take pictures.

We were about to leave when the younger two asked if they could do the factory ride again. I half expected the older ones to protest ( I did get one tiny eyeroll out of Abby, mostly for dramatic effect ), but they willingly hopped aboard again. Maybe a little too willingly. I was happy to see them all having fun, though. What's not to like about cheesy animated singing cows? Wish I would have bought the photo of us at the end of the ride because it was hilarious.

Quick review for those of you interested in visiting Hershey...the tour is free, and so is the parking for the first two hours. After that, it's $10 and up. We scooted out of there just in time! The "factory experience" is free, also, unless you purchase a $10 package, which includes a company ID and a small plastic container of Hershey's Kisses. We bought one for Mickey because his picture turned out so cute, and he really wanted it. Caroline didn't even notice. They do have choices for actual food if you're there during mealtime. We didn't eat there so I'm not sure of the prices, but I read online that the food is good and includes healthy choices...probably to balance out all the sugar being consumed! And there are some reasonable souvenirs...we found a really nice ice cream scoop (that we needed anyway) and a deck of cards (our souvenir of choice) for a total of about $12. They had Christmas ornaments, too, and a few other things that I thought were reasonably priced. The amusement park looked pretty fun, but we didn't have an extra day.

We spent the rest of the afternoon driving around Hershey...past the actual factory and in search of parking sites that Jon had worked on last summer. We discovered a charming little park in town with a beautiful gazebo that would have made for great photos if it hadn't been pouring rain. Finally, the kids were starving, so we set the GPS for Fuddrucker's. We don't have one back home, so it's a treat when we travel. Make a note...the GPS directions for Fuddrucker's will take you in circles around the place, but never to the actual restaurant. We howled with laughter as the GPS started to take us in the opposite direction for the third time! We just got the GPS at Christmastime, and we've loved having it. It ended up being a valuable time-saver when negotiating New York City and then into Philadelphia, but not so much in this instance!

Dinner was, by the way, delicious! Most of us had burgers and fries, but Abby got the nachos. Made me almost wish I'd gotten them...seriously good, enough food for two and a great price!

Lots more photos...if you're interested, click here.

Heading east...

We wanted to get an early start on our trip east, so we decided on a 5 am departure time. Being the morning people that we are (not), an early departure time usually translates into a tad later. Okay, most of our departure times translate into a tad later. We did actually make a 5 am departure time once. We were headed to Sanibel and knew that we had a loooooong trip ahead, so we made haste getting out the door. This time, however, we were back to our usual habits...5 am turned into a hair past 6 am. We'd already filled up the tank, but we made a caffeinated beverage stop just down the road and hit the highway around 6:30.

It was a gloomy day for a road trip. We drove in and out of rain all day, but we never shook the cloud cover. In fact, we didn't see the sun for the first three days of our trip. We were also in a little bit of shock over the nip in the air. I threw caution to the wind and packed mostly summer clothing, completely convinced that we would be sweltering. Not so much...I packed my sweatshirt in my suitcase and nearly froze to death all day in short sleeves. I guess I was thinking more along the lines of our trip this time last year to Florida.

The Wheeling Tunnel...

I had packed a lovely picnic lunch with memories of our last summer's road trip to DC in mind. With a cold drizzle falling, we ditched our picnic plans and stopped at Wendy's. By early afternoon, we were tooling through the tunnels of West Virginia (no bear sightings this time) and cruising across Pennsylvania. We arrived at our first destination in Hershey at a respectable 5 pm. We were pleasantly surprised by our accomodations, the Suites at Hershey. We had a practically brand-new 2-bedroom condo with a gas fireplace and a jacuzzi tub! Who knew a cozy fire would have such a draw on a June afternoon? We hauled out the lunch goodies for dinner and then went to explore the pools.

The Allegheny Mountain Tunnel...

Both were very nice...we hit the indoor pool first. Some of us hit the pool a little harder than others. Incurring one nasty nosebleed. Apparently, they were having a race on the bottom of the pool, and the depth changed a little too quickly. And someone is a lifeguard. Heh. Someone also plays rugby and has a previously broken nose that contributes to frequent nosebleeds. Bleh. So impressive was the blood gushing from his nose that my sick family all cheered, "Take a picture!" And I did. I'm not posting it. It's in the flick'r set. You'll have to go find it yourself. And I know some of you are clicking right now to see the carnage.

The kids loved this "pool within a pool"..

We had to watch to make sure Caroline didn't

follow Mickey's headfirst example

out of the baby pool into the big pool!

The big kids also insisted on a trip to the outdoor pool and hot tub. It was ridiculously chilly outside...probably in the upper 50s...but they dove right in. Caroline's southern China blood could only take it so long before she was begging to get in the "hot pool". And then we learned that Pennsylvania has a state law prohibiting those under 14 to be in public hot tubs. So we left the crazy teenagers to their fun and headed in. Luckily, that jacuzzi tub in our room quieted the protests from the younger two. I was hoping that our long day combined with a nice little soak in hot, bubbly water would have them calling it a day, but they just didn't want to miss out on the fun.

Don't they look cute in their coordinating swimsuits?

A total coincidence, but a pleasing one, nonetheless...

So then we hit the snack stockpile...I was much more prepared this time around. You might remember our spring break debacle when I was stuck in a hotel with nothing but granola bars. You health food freaks (and I mean that, oh, so lovingly) probably ought to stop reading now because I cancelled out every healthy thing I brought with the additional purchase of Pringles and sunflower seeds and chocolate chip cookies and fruit roll-ups. And then we wrestled over cable channels (remember, no cable at home) before trumping the History Channel (boresville...sorry, Jon...sorry, Alex) with none other than Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I kid you not.

"I wanna go in da hot pool, Mommy!"

And, while Mickey was passed out cold on the sofa bed by the end of the movie, Caroline held out until we all went to bed. I could not believe my eyelids. We had that kid up by 4 am and in the shower and dressed (because her idiot mother forgot to give her a long overdue bath the night before) by 4:30. She was practically drunk with exhaustion as we were loading up the car. She was walking around asking each of us questions and then laughing with the over-exaggerated laugh of a drunkard at any and all responses. How she managed to stay awake through a late-night movie is beyond me. She slept well, though...I woke up to her feet in my ear.

The "14 and over" crowd...

Mickey and Caroline in their very own "hot pool"...

Next up...our very own trip to the Chocolate Factory...

No sign of Charlie...

Wordless Wednesday...

It's taking everything in me to keep this wordless...

Oops...guess I blew it again...

Those are some keepers, eh?

Almost done with Hershey pictures...

It's a myth...

...the river isn't really made of chocolate.

And the town doesn't really smell like chocolate.

It actually smells like peanuts in the alley right next to the Hershey's Chocolate Factory.

But, as it turns out, you can buy happiness. For $39.95.

Okay, we didn't actually buy the World's Largest Hershey Bar. I mean, I love candy and all, but I wanted to eat dinner. As you can see, though, from Caroline's sweet little face, there were plenty of sweet treats to be had...and we all left with smiles on our faces.