{Vacation}

Why do vacations go by SO fast?

We just returned from a week in Virginia at the Massanutten Resort.

                              

                                            

We were in that section of condos on the very top all the way to the right.

 We've been going there for years, and have talked about going someplace else, but when it comes right down to it, we just love it too much!!!

We have a very unusual family tradition for our vacations - do NOTHING!! Sometimes we will site see somewhere or something, but apart from eating way too much food and spending hours in the pools, there's not much else we do. We love it!!! This year was especially "schedule" free!

Saturday:

We left our house Friday night around 10:00p.m. and arrived at our condo around 1:30a.m. Saturday morning. Later that day, we had to go in to Harrisonburg to get some groceries anyways, so we decided to do some shopping!!!!

Sunday:

We went to church. 

Monday:

It was Memorial Day and the Resort was packed, so we decided to just stay in. Some of the kids had brought bikes, so they rode around a little. Mom and I ran back into Harrisonburg to get a few things and run in some stores that we weren't able to go in on Saturday.

                                

We tried out this recipe for homemade Orange Julius! It was so good (and a lot cheaper!)

Click here if you want the recipe!!

Tuesday:

 Dad took Kaleb and Katrina to a nearby park to ride bikes for a little while in the morning.

                                  
                                                               A man's work is never done!
                                               
                                                                          Mr. Long-legs!

                                 
                                                                    Never too old to swing!

                                              
                                                        Katrina at a very large tree in the park

 In the afternoon, Aunt Dianna came over and we had the pleasure of going to visit mom's aunt and uncle who live not far from the Resort. It was such a wonderful visit! Both Aunt Margaret and Uncle Glenn have had some health issues over the past few years, so it was just so wonderful to get to visit with them and see them doing so well!

                                   

Mom and Aunt Margaret. Isn't she the prettiest lady? 

                                  
                                           Karen, Uncle Glenn and Aunt Dianna looking at pictures.

Aunt Margaret's daughter, Karen, was also able to be there,

and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit with her as well!

Wednesday:

 We finally got to go to the pool!!! With the holiday and everything, it was just packed!

We spent the morning at LeClub in the gym, indoor pool, hot tub and playing horseshoes!

                              

                              

 Mom and Dad went to the sales-pitch/lunch to get a $125 visa!!! So while they were there, we went to the outdoor pool! It was probably the coolest day we had there, so it felt really good as long as you were in the water, but when you got out, it was freezing!!! It was still in the 80's, but there was a breeze, so with that and being wet, it was pretty cold! So we sat right in the middle of the sunniest place there to warm up! After about 3 hours, we went back to the condo and realized we were TOTALLY burnt!! Everyone's face and arms were SO red!

We also managed to lock ourselves out of our condo on Wednesday as well! It's a key card and if you get it close to a cell phone or credit card, it basically disables it. So we had three keys and ended up ruining one, but it got put back with all the rest. So before we left for church Wednesday night, we just picked up a key and went! Unfortunately, it was the bad key, so we were locked outside at 10p.m.!!!!

                                 

                       Katrina, Kaitlyn, Kelley...

                        Might as well get comfortable!

                                               
                                                      Kaleb decided he might as well take a ride.

                                                
                                         On the phone trying to get security to bring us another key!

Thursday:

We again spent the morning at LeClub indoor pool and things and then when they closed for pool aerobics, we went to the outdoor pool again for a little while.

                                

                               
                                                                              Katrina

                               

My nicely toasted forehead!!

We went back to the condo and decided to do the Go-Karts!

                               

                               

Kaleb and Dad - the professionals!

                                             

                              

Kelley and Katrina

                              

Kaitlyn

                              

Some of us where a little too competitive...

                              

...and some of us just didn't know how to drive one of these things!

                              
                                                                             :)

                               

                              

After we were done with the Go-Karts, we headed to the park one more time.

                              

                               

                              

                               

                               

Kelley and I played some catch

                              

Kelley and Kaitlyn made "ducks"!!!

Around 8p.m. Ashley and Ava arrived! We had worked it out so Ava could come while we were there and then we could take her home with us for a few days.

                                           

                             

We didn't get to see Ava on her birthday, so we brought her presents with us!

Friday:

We had been saving for a long time and had purchased tickets to see the Jonah show at Sight & Sound Theater in Lancaster, PA (no, that is not close to Virginia!!) It took about 4-1/2 hours to get to Lancaster from VA. We had to check out of our condo by 10a.m, but the show didn't start until 7:30p.m, so we had a lot of time to kill! After we checked out, we went to the pool and spent some time there. Ava LOVED the kiddie pool!!!

                                 

                                

                                 

Such a cutie!!!!

                                 

                                

She thought that was the greatest thing ever!!

                                

Kaitlyn was finally old enough to get in the hot tub!! It's a huge joke, because no one believes any of us are over 16, so every time Kelley, Kaitlyn or I step in one of the hot tubs, a poor life guard comes running over saying, "I'm sorry, but you have to be 16 to get in"!!!!!! I always feel so sorry for them when they find out they we aren't 16...we're 17, 19, and 21!!!!!! We've made it a habit to never get in unless mom or dad are there to vouch for us....unless we're carrying ID!!!

                              

Kaleb and Ava went to play basketball while everyone else got dried off.

                              

And then she was WORN OUT!!!!! She fell asleep about 20 minutes after we left!

                                             

We stopped at Golden Corral on the way to Lancaster and Ava was in love with dipping her strawberries in hot fudge sauce!! I don't have any clue how many strawberries that girl ate,

but with all the hot fudge, she was wired!!!!!!

                               

   In Heaven!!

                               

The Jonah show was AMAZING!!! I absolutely love going there and Ava is still talking about it today!

If you ever have a chance to go, you definitely should! Simply Fabulous!!

We saw Joseph last year and have seen Noah and Abraham and Sarah in the past.

When we heard they were going to do Jonah, we were super excited!!!

It was pouring the rain when we got there. Dad sort of dropped us off before he parked, but we still ended up having to run a long ways to get to the door. By the time we got there, we were so soaking wet!

It was a little better when we came out, but we still got pretty wet...and we hadn't dried off from the first time!!

                                

Pappy giving Ava a ride!!! 

It was 10:30p.m. when we left Sight & Sight and roughly 2:30a.m. when we got home, so we were all super tired. But we've managed to get everything put away and most of the laundry done today!

Poor mom and dad had to get up and get a couple things done, re-pack and they headed out before noon for NY. Dad has a business meeting on Monday and then they'll come home Monday night.

We had a GREAT vacation! It's sad that it's over and we're already looking forward to next year!