Things Are Looking Up.....

After a very wet and rainy day at Sesame Place, we caught a break in the weather. Friday turned out to be sunny and about 80 degrees for much of the day.

Here are some photos from our day (in reverse order....it's just how they were uploaded!).

We finished the day with a last minute stop at Indian Echo Caverns. This is something that Kevin had discovered when planning our trip, but we had put it on the back burner, not really thinking that we would get to it. Once we finished our tour of the Hershey factory, we decided we still had some energy left, so off we went to tour the Caverns.

The photo below is of Kevin and the kiddies inside the caves.

This is one of the underground lakes inside the caverns...it is called Crystal Lake and although a bit difficult to see in the photo, it was probably the clearest naturally occurring water that I have ever seen.

This is our tour guide, Danielle, with Noah and Rebekah. Of course, Noah couldn't resist being foolish, and made a face instead of smiling nicely....sigh.....

Here we have some flow rock formations. Look closely and you might see the Easter Bunny winking at you!

Below the kids 'working the line' at Hershey's Chocolate World where we went on a tour to see how chocolate is made.

In the photo below, Kevin and the kids stand at the entrance to Hershey's Chocolate World. You can smell the chocolate all over town. By the time you finish taking the tour, they have pretty much convinced you to buy one of everything in the gift shop. Who can resist that smell?!

Before we made it to Hershey, PA we meandered our way through Lancaster, PA. This is the area where many communities of Pennsylvania Dutch people live. It was fascinating to see them in their traditional clothing, riding in buggies pulled by horses, hanging their washing out to dry. We met a five year old girl and her mother when we browsed in their family's furniture store. She looked like she had stepped out of a time in the past, with her braided hair and long, plain dress. One of the most amazing things we saw was in the parking lot of a popular restaurant....there were parking spots for horses and buggies (note the shopping cart in the foreground)!

Overall, we had a very good day. It was fun and educational....and the shining sun made it even better!

It Rained and it Poured But Nobody Snored....

Thursday was spent at a very wet, cold version of the warm and sunny Sesame Place that you see advertised in travel commercials. It poured the entire day. Actually, the rain did let up to a slow but steady drizzle in the afternoon for about 45 minutes. It was during that time that we took this pic on a ride. I can't remember what the thing was called...but it basically bounces you up and down until you feel like you are going to toss your cookies. The kids loved it.



We met one character up close and personal...the rest we saw during the parade. This is Bekah's meeting with Abby from Sesame Street. Noah refused to join in the picture...Bekah likes all the characters whether she knows who they are or not.

We saw one show during the day....Elmo's World. It was cute...just like the set you see on TV with the piano, Mr. Noodle through the window, and Dorothy the goldfish.

Before the show began, the kids got to check out the set. Here are Kevin and Rebekah in front of Elmo's piano.

This is how we all looked for the majority of the day. Coats zipped, hoods on, and umbrellas in action!

Noah and Kevin went on this roller coaster six times. Three times at the beginning of the day and then three more times before we left. The one good thing about the torrential rain was that there were no lines. :)

Here are Noah and Rebekah in the fire engine from the Sesame Street firehouse. They couldn't sit down on the bench because of the inch of water pooled there...so we had them stand on the seat for a quick pic in the pouring rain.

If you happened to be wondering about my title....it refers to the fact that in addition to the fact that the day was a washout...the kids didn't go to bed well either. I really think they were overtired. Noah felt nauseous after dinner, but was fine the next morning and Bekah woke repeatedly during the night to cry and carry on without any apparent reason. It was one loooooong day.......

Goodbye

Our goodbyes are finished and a new chapter is beginning. We said our final farewells today, and headed west towards Ohio. I am not really sure about how I feel about the whole thing....it may not have completely sunk in yet. I got away with fewer tears than I anticipated, and I am not sure if that is a good thing, or a bad thing. Time will tell.

We made it to PA today. It took us about 5 1/2 hours because of a dinner stop and some traffic around NYC. Kevin thought we would skirt around the Big Apple...but apparently, the GPS had a different idea. We drove right through the Bronx and into New Jersey. We got fabulous views of the Manhattan skyline, and that was fun to see again.

Sesame Place is on the schedule for tomorrow...unfortunately, the weather is grim. There is a 70% chance of rain ALL day. Ughhhhh. Hopefully, the weather man is wrong. I really hate being partially wet and partially dry. If I am in a pool, that is fine. If I am completely dry, that is fine. It is the in between part that I really hate.

The packing and cleaning of our house went well. Nothing notable happened. The new house is ready for our arrival...overgrown hedges and all. Kevin said that one of the bushes has overtaken the sidewalk. I guess yard work will be pretty high on the list of things to get done when we arrive!

Here are a few of our moving pictures. Here we have Kevin and Noah checking out the moving truck......

This is Noah and Rebekah inside the cab of the moving truck. The kids were thrilled to be given a ride in the truck to the end of our cul-de-sac when the driver had to turn around. The crew was excellent...very friendly with the kids and happy to do their best to accommodate us. Noah followed the poor guys around with incessant chatter peppering them with questions for two days straight. I am sure they will be grateful for the quiet on the long drive to Ohio. :)

This is Bekah with the moving crew just before they pulled away. Noah was at school at the time...so he didn't get to be there. He was disappointed. In the middle is the crew chief...Denzell (the one that Rebekah affectionately calls 'the one with the big belly'), and on either side there is a Ryan. Yes, they both have the same name. It makes things easier that way!

One of the nice things about this move is that we get to have the same crew at both ends. When we came from Switzerland to the USA there was no continuity...for obvious reasons, the people at either end were completely different. We already feel like we know these guys and they have a good understanding of us (well...mainly me) and our quirks. Denzell said that the picture became clear when he saw how neatly my children's drawers were folded and the colour coded closets helped to hammer the message home too. We have already talked about how we will systematically unpack and keep things as organized as possible. Stay tuned.....

It'll Be No Problem....

Our entire house is now packed and ready for the big move. The crew is still working on loading the tractor trailer, with a bit more to be finished tomorrow.

In funny 'moving news' though...the poor guy who got stuck packing my craft room/spare bedroom will never be the same! After the job was done, he admitted to us that he thought that the task would have been 'no problem', but he soon learned that looks can be deceiving. He said that he had moved executives for Creative Memories before, and his exact words were that 'they haven't got anything on you!'. It didn't help that there were boxes and boxes of photos from all of our travels stored under the queen size bed. I am sure that took up a few of the forty (yes...I did say forty!) boxes that were taken out of the room.

Well, I am low on battery, and Kevin is waiting for me with a cold drink after a long day. I will be back with more updates later!

Big Changes!

Wow....so much has happened since my last post in the fall! I have so many things to chat about....so many memories to record. I feel the need to get back to blogging to that I don't forget all of the everyday moments.


We are on the move again. Our next home will be in Ohio. Our last move, from Geneva to the Boston area, prompted the start of this blog....so I guess it is only natural that another move would revive it. :)


One recent, exciting event in our house took place when Noah earned his yellow belt in Taekwondo. He has been taking classes since January, and his Sa Bum Nim (coach) prepped the kids to be able to take their test before Noah had to move away. He had to perform his Poomse (a series of eighteen steps, punches and kicks), as well as selected techniques and the biggest and most exciting moment was the breaking of the wood. I muttered a silent prayer that he could actually do it...as they had never practiced breaking wood before. He did it on the first try!

Here is the video of his Poomse:

And, here is the big moment...the breaking of the wood!

I hope the video can be viewed successfully....this is the first time I have uploaded video. It seems to work at my end!

Enjoy, and be sure to check back for footage of Bekah's very first dance recital! :)