Family Time


This picture isn't of any big event, but I just love how it shows Natalie's personality AND her new Hello Kitty earrings!

Our family is a little scattered, geographically. So it was so great to be able to see three sisters, one brother, three brothers-in-law, and all of my nieces and nephews in one fell swoop! Oh, and a big thank you to Don and Charissa for hosting us all, I know me and my girls had a great time and I think everyone else did too. It's nice to have Jared's family, some of my family, and the Kennedy's all in a line; just three hours from one end to the other. It makes it logistically easier to see at least some of the people I love.


My sister Charissa is nice and sends us her girls' outgrown clothes; Natalie and Samantha always love to get a box from Leah in the mail. So when I said that we were going to Leah's house for a visit they were excited - especially Samantha. I don't think they even realized the fun that having all of their cousins around would be. Natalie loved seeing "Baby Kayla", Megan and Ben's cute little one, and she also became really attached to Zachary. Samantha just wanted to play with Emma and Leah and dress up, dress up, dress up.
Samantha and Leah (who always tilts her head
like that for pictures!)

Natalie and Zach


While we were there we mostly just spent time together at Charissa's house and we also went to Sheetz a lot! Sheetz is awesome; growing up I remember MTO subs, but now they have MTO everything - even nachos! We went to the Fruit Bowl, a store that does sell fruit but that I like for the candy. At the Fruit Bowl there is a huge selection of candy, there's the regular stuff like Tootsie Rolls and mini bags of M&Ms, but there is also all this other candy that you don't see all the time. Like Cow Tales, Mary Janes, Bit-o-Honey, these things that look like flying saucers that are filled with a sweet/sour powder, and even candy cigarettes which I was never allowed as a kid! You just grab a bag and start filling it up and then pay by the pound. I ended up with over six pounds of candy that came home in my suitcase for Easter.


The highlight for my kids was probably Slinky Action Zone in Altoona. This place was like a souped up version of a McDonald's playplace; there were tons of slides and tunnels, a zip line, a ball pit, laser tag, bumper cars, and a big video arcade section. I think if I lived in Cumberland I would be at Slinky Action Zone at least once a week in the winter; it would really help the kids burn off some energy when it's cold and yucky outside.
Slinky Action Zone!

We all went to the Cumberland train station to just goof around and play on the old trains there one afternoon. It had been raining for two days and the rain finally stopped so we got the kids out to play. The river that runs through town was overflowing it's banks and the water was brown, muddy, and swirling. Samantha and Natalie spent a lot of time throwing rocks and sticks into the water and watching them sink or float away. I think every time we visit Cumberland we make the same trip to the train station and take the same picture with the statue out front.



Comments

  1. The Van Tassell'sApril 10, 2010 at 6:46 PM

    How fun to get to see all that family in one trip! It looks like you guys had a great time!

    ReplyDelete

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