A Fun Day with our 4 Granddaughters!

Wednesday was a gorgeous, sunny day with low humidity and only in the low 80's. Ken and I were up early and packed a picnic lunch for us and our granddaughters for today's adventure to Lake Tobias, a safari and zoo type place near Harrisburg.

Lanie and Jamie arrived at our apartment around 9:15 with the girls and after exchanging cars with Lanie (we needed a van) the 6 of us were on our way to Lake Tobias.  We only arrived at 10:45 but the girls had fun on the drive.  We had to wait about 40 minutes to get in the open air bus to go on the safari ride, but fortunately there were animals to feed while we waited. The girls enjoyed the ride and the opportunity to feed many different animals.

Waiting for the safari ride!  Love these girls!

Katelyn had no fear and loved feeding the animals!

Sam was a bit tentative at first, but that didn't last very long!

Hey, where is the food???  I'm waiting! 

Just put the food on my tongue and I won't bite you!!!!

Like I said, Katelyn had no fear!!!

What a cute little baby!

The water buffalo were loving the muddy water hole!

That's the type bus used for the safari ride!

A baby bison!

I'm coming.  Please have food for me!

Thanks for the treat!!!

After the ride, we went to watch the reptile show and while there they got to pet a snake and an alligator.  Some interesting animals to see in that building. 

They were intrigued by the little monkeys!

This gal told us all about this porcupine!

...and then we learned about this turtle.

Then information about the alligators.

Their favorite part of the whole experience was the enclosed petting zoo where all the animals were free to move around.  They loved petting the miniature pony and feeding all the goats, especially the baby ones.

The goats loved following the girls around the petting zoo!

I think Samantha has a friend!

The miniature pony was Bria's favorite!

So many baby goats!

Again, Katelyn loves feeding the animals!

Time to brush the pony!

We did stop to check out some of the larger animals at the zoo area - 

..... the monkey

.....the bear

...and of course the sleepy tiger!

We left the zoo area at 1:45 to head to the pavilion area to enjoy our picnic lunch and spend some time on the playground.  We had to leave earlier than planned because Bria and Cali's swim meet was cancelled last night due to a storm and was rescheduled for tonight.  We took Bria and Cali to their house by 4:15 and then drove Samantha and Katelyn to our apartment where they had a fun time playing. 

Lunch was a success.  I think we brought there favorite
PaPa and Grandma special treats!

Samantha enjoyed being upside down!

We left at 5:15 to go to McDonald's for a Happy Meal before going to the swim meet in Ephrata.  Lanie joined us there at 6:30 and after watching a few of the events, the 3 of them left to go back home.  Ken and I stayed for the whole meet and are amazed at the swimming ability of Bria and Cali.

Jamie and Bria must be planning strategy for this race!

And a hug for good luck!

Getting ready to go!

I think this is her "game face"!

A good race for Miss Bria!

Cali takes a bit more of a relaxed approach!

But she is a serious competitor when she hits the water!

The butterfly certainly gives her some shoulder muscles!

....and Cali is the 2nd leg of the relay!

Go girl!!!!

We were home at 9:00 and went right to bed for these grandparents were very tired, but what a special and memorable day!

Another Day "On the Run"!

Ken was up before me, but we both had a good night's sleep and it was needed! After breakfast we went to Wal-Mart and Costco for needed groceries.  We are taking our 4 granddaughters to an animal park with a safari ride about an hour from our house tomorrow and packing a picnic lunch for all of us.  So PaPa and Grandma needed to buy some special treats!  We arrived back home at 11:30. Ken, being the special guy he is, removed the meat from the rotissiere chicken we had purchased at Costco.  

We had made plans to visit my parents this afternoon and because the storage area for Waldo was on the way, we decided it was a good opportunity to take him there.  Unfortunately when we got there, a truck and ladder where in our spot!  Now what?  After several tries, the owner of the storage area answered his phone and said we should just move the truck (the keys were in it). So, we were there a lot longer than anticipated.  

We had planned to be at Mom and Dad's by 1:00 but only arrived at 1:30.  We spent the afternoon playing 4 games of Pinochle and it was amazing, but the men won 3 of the games!  Not sure what happened!!!  While there we had a strong thunderstorm with plenty of rain and strong winds.  Some places in the area also had large hail.  There was a beautiful rainbow when we left Masonic Homes!

We were home by 5:45 and after watching the World News and eating our delicious salads, Ken went for a walk.  The sun had come out but when he returned it was cloudy again and there was some thunder in the area.  We watched some TV, including America's Got Talent and I worked on our blog!

Looking forward to a fun day with the girls tomorrow.  Because of today's weather, Bria and Cali's swim meet that was supposed to be tonight was postponed until tomorrow night.  We had planned to go out to dinner with them after our adventure, but they will need to be home by 4:15.  Ken and I will go to their swim meet and Lanie will pick up Samantha and Katelyn there.  

Time to Leave Avalon, NJ

Ken was up by 5:30 and did some reading till I arose around 6:15.  We made flax pancakes and then began the final preparation for leaving the CG.  All went well and we pulled out of our site by 7:45 and headed to the dump station in the CG.   Then we drove to the front of the CG to hook-up the CRV. By 8:30 we were on our way home!

The trip home was uneventful, the best kind to have when in an RV!  We made one stop at a WaWa for drinks and a potty break arriving at Lititz by 11:45. Then the unloading and unpacking began.  Amazing how many trips it takes to unload Waldo.

During the process, I started doing laundry.  After a late lunch, Ken did some necessary bill paying while I continued with the laundry.  Then we headed to Polly's house to unload our bikes and store them in her basement until our next camping adventure.  

My sister and I had planned to meet with our parents this evening for some family discussion.  Ken had his Celebrate Recovery meeting near their home, so we left at 5:30 and we went to their house.  By then we had everything where it belonged and had completed 3 loads of wash.  It was a busy day!

After some time visiting with John and Cindy, Ken left for his meeting and Cindy and I drove to Masonic Homes and spent about 2 1/2 hours with Mom and Dad.  It was a good evening.  Back to Cindy's by 9:30 and Ken was already there.  We did more visiting and were back home by 10:30.  Both of us were feeling very tired.

It was a very good day but we were constantly on the go!!!

Martins Leave and Ken and I go to Fortescue Again and then to Ocean City NJ

We were up early so we could say good-bye to Fred and Doloris before driving to Fortescue to search for more sea glass - we are definitely addicted!  

At 6:45 we thanked Martins for a great time of camping together and then we headed to Fortescue.  We were there from 8 to 11 and although there was less sea glass than previous trips, we did great.  Also, the flies were worse, but still didn't do a lot of biting.  They did swarm the car when we were leaving.  It was another gorgeous mild, sunny morning on the beach with low humidity.  It did get to 83 degrees later in the day.

On the way to and from the CG I talked to my mother and sister.  My father continues to have an issue with a sore on his leg that doesn't want to heal.  Dr.'s at the home did another culture and discovered there is a new bacteria present, so a different antibiotic is needed again.  We are praying that this one helps!

I also talked to Doloris who has called to find out about our sea glass hunt this morning.  They were back home and busy unloading and putting things in their proper place.  Also chatted with Jamie, Bria and Cali.  

When we got back to the CG we stopped to play another 3 rounds (27 holes) of miniature golf.  We have such a competition going on.  Again, I was victorious, but Ken did is very best!  After eating lunch, the prep work for leaving tomorrow began again.  Ken did lots of things outside while I cleaned and sorted our new sea glass findings and then put things away inside Waldo!

After showering, we left the CG around 4:00 to go to Ocean City, NJ the place where Ken's family used to go for mini family vacations.  We went to attend a service at the Tabernacle, also a place his family went to when in Ocean City. Brought back lots of memories for Ken.  We got there early so we could stroll the boardwalk and eat some of the special foods we deprive ourselves of most of the time.  We shared a coconut macaroon (so delicious), each had a piece of boardwalk pizza, and then shared a small cup (but it was a lot) of caramel popcorn (it was still warm!).  We enjoyed every little bite of all these treats and our time walking the boards!  It was a full place!!!

The farther we walked down the boardwalk, the fuller it was!

From the end of the boardwalk we had a view of Atlantic City!

Can you imagine eating one of these huge pizzas in 10 minutes??
I guess hardly anyone can even do it in an hour!

I was going to buy this shirt and
wear it when I saw my sister and mother,
 because I always sign all the cards I send
 to my mother, "from you favorite daughter".
Ken sent Cindy a picture of it but she
said she already has one!!!!

By 6:30 we were in the Tabernacle waiting to hear Tony Compolo, a dynamic speaker (minister), and professor at Eastern College in PA that we had heard years ago.  He is a great story teller with a keen sense of humor, but with such a strong messenger for God.  With him was Mark Lowry, another tremendous story teller but his greatest gift is his singing. For those of you who know the song, "Mary, Did You Know?", he wrote the words and a friend composed the music for the song.  He sang about 6 songs throughout the evening and with both of their story telling, it was a wonderful and inspiring place to be!

It was an amazing evening and they "fed" off of each other
so well.  Tony is 81 years old and so vibrant!

We were back to the CG by 9:00, loaded somethings in the CRV and vacuumed. It seems like there was sand everywhere!

It was another exceptional day and we were very tired!  Can't believe our 10 days at Sea Pines is ending.  It went so quickly and we loved every minute!