We finally got to go on vacation to see David, Jen and MAX! Woo hoo! We had a great time, but it was too short and we had it filled with (probably) too much stuff.
We flew out on Saturday afternoon, arriving around bed time. By the time we got our rental car and drove to Hanover, to John and Pat’s house, it was too late to do much more than say hello and jump in bed.
Pat had decided to do Thanksgiving at her house on Sunday, and many, many friends and family were invited over. Dave and Jen were the first to arrive with little Max, who is much bigger and cuter and way more fun to play with than he was last time I saw him!
He warmed up to all of us pretty quick and it wasn’t long before he climbed up in my lap and let me give him hugs. Pat served a delicious dinner and we had a great time catching up with many of Wes’ relatives.
Max needed some outside time in the late afternoon, so I took him outside and he ran around Pat’s community for a while, then he discovered the fallen leaves in the yard! Before you knew it, Camden and Jake and Jayden were also out there jumping in the leaves.
Monday, we had decided to drive up to State College, PA, so Wes could show the boys and I around his old stomping grounds, Penn State. John and Pat came along, and we had to visit all his old favorite restaurants, including Berkey’s Ice Cream Parlor. We got our pic taken with the Nittany Lion and the statue of Joe Paterno, Penn State’s long standing football coach.
On Tuesday, we toured Penn’s Cave; an underground, water filled cavern! It was a cold, dreary, drizzly day, but the cave was so neat. At the far end of the cave, it emerges out onto a small lake. While out on the lake, we got to see a Bald Eagle! We drove home that day, and got to have dinner with Dave and Jen.
Wednesday, we drove to Annapolis so we could tour the Naval Academy (Camden hopes to go there someday). Another dreary, drizzly day, but we had a great walking tour and saw the campus and the dorms. Got to have a great lunch at a tavern there, and got some Navy souveniers. On the way home we stopped at Maryland Homebrew, Wes’ old stomping grounds and saw Christiane. Then we stopped at Dave and Jen’s again and had dinner with them.
Thursday we were invited to Thanksgiving dinner at Jen’s parents, Ken and Jocelyn’s house. Got to spend all day with Max, who, it turns out, is not always a happy go lucky child. LOL. Got good cuddle time with him, though, when he crawled up in my lap and fell asleep. That was pretty awesome!
We spent all day Friday with Dave and Jen and Max at their apartment. Dave took the boys for a short ride on his new motorcycle. They were thrilled to be so special to ride Dave’s motorcycle! LOL.
Friday afternoon we had to fly home. We were thrilled to be able to see everyone, but sad it was so short. We are hoping to get a nice long visit early next summer though.
I’ve messed around with the pictures for over a half hour and can not get it to do what I want. All pictures are on our my Facebook account WITH captions and facing in the right direction. The link is to the right, friend me. I am on Facebook everyday, and post pics and updates much more often than I do here, so check it out!
- David, Jen and Max arrive at Pat’s house for Thanksgiving dinner
- Max and Jake playing in the leaves
- Jake’s head was the only part not buried in leaves
- Jayden and Max bonding in a leaf pile
- Here we are at the Nittany Lion statue at Penn State
- Wes eating his Peachy Paterno ice cream at Berkeys Ice Cream shop
- Wes, Jake and Cam at the statue of Joe Paterno
- Going into Penns Cave
- One of the many beautiful settings in the cave
- Emerging out of the cavern onto the lake where we saw the Bald Eagle
- Happy Max and Jake in the background
- Hes not always happy, buthe
































