This past weekend, Alvana and David came up to visit from New Jersey. (Here's Alvana and I on Monday, right before they left to drive back home.)
On Saturday, we met my Uncle Dale, Aunt Joan, cousin Pam, her husband, Rollie, and their kids, Luke & Carolyn at Watkins Glen State Park (only about 30 minutes north of where we live). We had a picnic lunch together and then drove to the upper entrance to the park. Once we were at the park, we found out that dogs aren't allowed on several of the hiking trails (although we did see them), so Uncle Dale and Rollie hiked a different trail with Luke and Carolyn's dog, Angel. Here they are looking down at us from the trail they were on at the rim:
The rest of us trekked down (thankfully!) the 842 steps of the Gorge.
Seth and Aiden had a wonderful time playing with Aunt Alvana and Uncle David and taking turns with their cousins (and it was a nice break for Dan and I too!).
There was lots to see, and Dan kept busy taking pictures of all the beautiful sights.
I had a chance to catch up with my cousin, Pam, and to learn some more signs from her that I can use to teach the boys.
There were several places where the path was wet from water that had dripped down the sides of the gorge. Of course, both the boys loved playing in that!
About halfway down, Alvana was carrying Seth and asked him if he wanted to put his head down on her shoulder. He nodded yes, and was completely asleep within three minutes! Dan and I offered several times to carry him, but Alvana didn't mind carrying his dead weight the rest of the way (until the next day when her arms were
still sore).
Aiden held out a lot longer and didn't fall asleep until we were within sight of the parking lot. Since both boys had refused to nap that morning, they were quite crabby that evening when their 20-45 minutes of total napping time really started to show.
Once Aiden and Seth were put back in their carseats though, they were wide awake. Which worked out well, since we had planned to stop at an ice cream parlor right near the park entrance. It was a perfect end to a wonderful day!
On Saturday, we met my Uncle Dale, Aunt Joan, cousin Pam, her husband, Rollie, and their kids, Luke & Carolyn at Watkins Glen State Park (only about 30 minutes north of where we live). We had a picnic lunch together and then drove to the upper entrance to the park. Once we were at the park, we found out that dogs aren't allowed on several of the hiking trails (although we did see them), so Uncle Dale and Rollie hiked a different trail with Luke and Carolyn's dog, Angel. Here they are looking down at us from the trail they were on at the rim:
The rest of us trekked down (thankfully!) the 842 steps of the Gorge.
Seth and Aiden had a wonderful time playing with Aunt Alvana and Uncle David and taking turns with their cousins (and it was a nice break for Dan and I too!).
There was lots to see, and Dan kept busy taking pictures of all the beautiful sights.
I had a chance to catch up with my cousin, Pam, and to learn some more signs from her that I can use to teach the boys.
There were several places where the path was wet from water that had dripped down the sides of the gorge. Of course, both the boys loved playing in that!
About halfway down, Alvana was carrying Seth and asked him if he wanted to put his head down on her shoulder. He nodded yes, and was completely asleep within three minutes! Dan and I offered several times to carry him, but Alvana didn't mind carrying his dead weight the rest of the way (until the next day when her arms were still sore).
Aiden held out a lot longer and didn't fall asleep until we were within sight of the parking lot. Since both boys had refused to nap that morning, they were quite crabby that evening when their 20-45 minutes of total napping time really started to show.
Once Aiden and Seth were put back in their carseats though, they were wide awake. Which worked out well, since we had planned to stop at an ice cream parlor right near the park entrance. It was a perfect end to a wonderful day!
2 comments:
What a cool day! Those are amazing pictures and I LOVE that Alvana carried sleeping Seth all that way... so sweet!
You guys got a lot of great pictures! I love the ones of David and I swinging Seth and Pam and Seth by the waterfall. I'm so thankful that you guys are close enough for regular weekend visits... you can bet we'll be seeing you often!
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