A trip to the East

We kicked off our summer with a trip to the east coast to see all of my loved and much missed family that lives out there and way to far away. I booked the tickets in the spring then spent many a sleepless night wondering why I would put myself through the agony of a plane trip across the country with the TY. It turns out all my worrying was wasted because as is always the case, things turned out much better than expected and we landed safely and happily in Philadelphia on June 2nd. We were greeted by my sister Anne who drove over an hour to fetch us from the airport. Thanks Annie. Your the best. The kids had so much fun with all of their east coast cousins. We filled our days with amusement parks,swimming, playing at the park, playing at the beach, catching frogs, a fantastic day at the Bronx zoo, picking strawberries, lighting fireworks, being creative at the Crayola factory, and on some days, we watched the rain come tumbling down.

Skipping Rocks on the river

Catching frogs in the grass



The day we drove to the airport we took back roads through the Pennsylvania beauty. Rolling hills full of old stone farmhouses, horses out galloping thru one picturesque pasture after another. Everything was so green and alive and perfect it almost hurt your eyes. Later that day after we were back home in Arizona and on our way to the store, we were passing a bleak field that was basically a moonscape of dirt and rock and tumble weeds, and Brooke in the backseat staring gloomily out the window says to me, "Mom why did THEY make a place like THIS." "Who's THEY Brooke?" "Heavenly Father and Jesus. Why did they make a place like this!" I had to smile. She was missing the east and all of its overabundant green as we all were that day.

Definitely worth the flight. Thank you to my family whom I love so much for making our trip so magical.