We ♥ PA & NY

The annual summer road trip had a new little twist this year...Austin got to come, too! Austin has always been working/interning over the summer, so it's been just Tracy & the kids, but this time Dad got to come, too. We had such a nice time visiting all the old stomping grounds. The weather was just gorgeous, warm and sunny but not nasty hot like NC. And better yet, we got to see some of our favorite people!

The first day was a long one in the car. The last 2 summers we started from NJ and MD, so starting from NC with a very wiggly Ripken was a bit rough. He is about the worst possible stage for a road trip: wants to be constantly walking, dislikes sitting still, and does not watch dvds!

After our long drive, we had a quick stop in Hershey at Chocolate World. Ainsleigh has been asking about factories lately, so the little ride describing how chocolate is made along with the kiddie factory satisfied her.The next day we went to Knoebel's ammusement park (or "ride park", as Ainsleigh calls it) with Tracy, Jer, Brynn (3), and Elyse (1); and April and Logan (2). SO much fun--this place is so central PA we love it! You pay by the ride at a rate of 50-75 cents, although we got the "big" kids unlimited rides so they could do their favorites again and again. We got stuck in an absolute downpour in the afternoon, and after a little while more and another downpour, we called it a day. I think all the kids were asleep before we even left the parking lot.

From there it was back to Tracy and Jer's new house in Williamsport. The next day was a recovery day (for us parents, anyway). We went to the park, waded in the stream, and at one glorious moment everyone took an afternoon nap. We left for NY the next morning, but first Tracy's friend cut everyone's hair at warp speed. It was Ainsleigh's & Ripken's first hair cut--remarkably on the same day. Ripken got his mullet chopped off and Ainsleigh got bangs! I had been agonizing over cutting bangs, having to grow them out in middle school, etc. but her hair was always in her face and most days she wouldn't let me put in a clip or pull it back, and when she finally asked for bangs, I caved. I must say, they look very cute and I can see her eyes and face now! Now I feel bad I made her wait until she was almost 4 to be able to see :) I'll have to get a good pic of her new do to post.

After the drive to Rochester (and a Weggies sub) we went to the much improved fish hatchery at Powder Mills Park. We went to a hatchery in Asheville back in October and Ainsleigh loved it, and now Ripken loves fish (and birds--as you see him pointing, bottom left) so this was a nice outing.

Afterwards we went to Abbotts, which is the frozen custard staple of Rochester. We were right along the canal and fed the ducks, too.

The next day we went out to Palmyra to see some of the church history sites. We haven't been out there in years. It was nice to be there almost exactly 8 years after getting married there (2 days shy) and to show Ainsleigh where we got married. Another gorgeous day!
On the way home we went to Lollypop Farm. That afternoon Tim arrived home from VT for the weekend, and the O'Connors came to visit from Palmyra (Tracy's Dad's sister's family). It's the first time we were all together since our wedding, so we took lots of pictures.

Everyone:

Extended Westons

GMa and GPa with the Gkids

Lorrie, Tom, TJ and kids

The girls

The boys It was really nice to have everyone together!

The next day we headed over to Austin's brother's house to see Karl-Erik, KayLee, and their 4 kids. We had a very nice visit and got a picture with all the cousins

The next day we went to the Strong children's museum. Ripken's 2 favorite things were picking out his own groceries while pushing his own shopping cart, and riding on, what he called, a duck.

That evening we went to see the dress rehersal of Karl-Eriks's show, Once Upon a Matress. It was very good, and K-E did a great job with the music! The next day we went to the aquatics center at the Perinton Community Center. Austin & I got to go out that evening for our anniversary. Always nice to go on a date! Thanks to GMa and GPa for staying with the kids!

The next day we started the drive south. We stopped for a few days in State College with Bethany (Tracy's friend from the neighborhood she grew up in. We've known each other since before I can remember). Although they're not Penn Staters (at least yet), they moved to the area because James is now working for Mini-tab. We helped them break in their new house, hopefully not literally! We also enjoyed the Bellefonte Wok with the Hanscoms (I think that kids did destroy that place--they were not in the best mood after the ride from NY).

WE ARE...

...PENN STATE!!!

(I need to do a little photo-shopping, as only 3 of the 4 of us had on our Penn State shirts. Ainsleigh's lime green is not so navy blue!)

We had a fun time with Bethany going around College Ave, the library, and the park. Most exciting was that I got to go with Beth to see Harry Potter, which I had held off on until then. I think at all of our outings Beth and I were too busy talking, so I didn't really get many pictures, other than this one of silly Ripken with a pillow on his head.

Unfortunately, he wasn't this happy on the car ride home, but we made it and really enjoyed PA, NY, family, and friends! Especially because when we got home, it was pushing 105 degrees!