Mark and I traveled to Pennsylvania to visit my family for the Memorial Day weekend. We hadn't been out to PA to visit my family since Christmas time! We were very excited to see everyone. As I'm looking at our pictures, I realize that I did a terrible job of capturing all of the fun things we did! I did, however, seem to take a lot of photos of our nephews. Go figure. They are very cute and whole lotta fun to be with! So I'll try to talk about the whole weekend and show you some of my favorite photos.
We first drove to my sister and brother-in-law's house on Thursday. They live just a little bit closer so the drive was about 10 hours vs. the 11 hours to my parent's house. We were excited that we could see Andrew (yellow) and Brandon (purple) both play soccer that night. Brandon scored three goals and Andrew scored one goal. Look out, World Cup!
While these two played soccer, we were entertained by Mason's antics. Mason will be 3 years old in June. He is a very free-spirited little boy ... he enjoyed roaming around the soccer fields, coloring, and jumping off a bench. It was fun to see each of the boys' personalities and how much they have grown since we last saw them in December.
On Friday, Brandon had to go to school. He is in the second grade and had a spelling test so he couldn't stay home to hang out with us. So Heidi, Andrew and Mason took us to see the new pump track. It's dirt track with lots of bumps and curves and the boys just love to ride their bikes there. Here is Andrew trying to catch some air on one of the hills.
After our trip to the pump track, we went to the local farmer's market. We love all of the Mennonite and Amish stands that sell awesome fresh produce and delicious baked goods. It was fun to visit and pick-up a few things for the weekend. Then we headed back to Heidi's for some lunch. Mason decided that he would like to have a left-over breakfast donut for lunch. Well, actually, he decided he wanted the icing and sprinkles on top of the left-over donut. I just love this picture of him! You can see traces of icing on his chin and the "who me? naughty?" look on his face is worth a 1000 words!
Andrew just loves his Uncle Mark. They had a good time playing 'rock-paper-scissors' together and then it turned to fake boxing. They were practicing doing it in slow motion. I thought this photo turned out so cute -- Andrew is trying to look serious but he is such a fun-loving, laid-back little guy that you can see the smile about to burst on his face. They had a good time playing together.
We left Heidi's house on Friday afternoon to head to my parent's house. Traffic was terrible but we eventually got there. My Dad was away on his annual New York state fishing trip so Mark and I went to dinner with my Mom and a family friend, June. June's husband was fishing with my Dad. We went to one of our favorite spots -- The Udder Choice -- a small, local restaurant that serves soup and sandwiches and delicious ice cream. After that, we enjoyed the rest of the evening on my parent's porch. They have a great screened-in porch along the back of their house. The weather was very warm and summer-like over the weekend and we spent the majority of our free time sitting on the back porch.
On Sunday, Mark and my Dad got up early to go trout fishing. My Dad knew the right place to go -- the local sportsmen's group was stocking the creek that morning. They came home with 9 trout for us to bring back to Indiana and my Dad came home caked in mud after a slip/fall into the creek. Thankfully, he was fine. While they were fishing, my Mom and I went shopping together, one of our favorite activities. Lancaster has two sets of outlet stores and they were very busy but we found some good deals. Later that day, we went to visit my Grampy. Unfortunately, he wasn't doing very well but now seems to be doing a little bit better. That night, my Mom and Dad made another great meal for us with some of the things we had picked-up at the farmer's marke the day before. (Do you see a theme here? Lots of food? Yes, we ate too much over the weekend!)
On Monday, my sister, brother-in-law and the boys, aunts, uncles, cousins and Grandma came over for a cook-out. We had a nice time visiting and eating yet again! We also celebrated my sister Heidi's birthday and my Aunt Barbie's birthday. (My brother was away this weekend to coach volleyball.) The boys kept us entertained by running through the sprinkler, making us laugh and watching Mason bowl. (He LOVES to bowl.)
Later that afternoon, we went to the cemetary where my Grandpa and Nanny are buried to put flags at their gravesites. I hadn't been there for awhile and I was glad that my sister thought of it. Then we went to the grounds of the Ephrata Cloister so that Mark could take photos of the boys. Both Brandon and Mason have summer birthdays so she wanted new photos. It was kind of tricky to get the three of them together! Mason kept running away -- he is small enough and fast enough that he could get through the fence and just run! And then whenever Brandon and Andrew would sit near him for a photo, he would get this mischievious look on his face and quickly run away from his brothers. It was a challenge but Mark did get some really great photos of them. The one below is just my attempt.
We left Heidi's house on Friday afternoon to head to my parent's house. Traffic was terrible but we eventually got there. My Dad was away on his annual New York state fishing trip so Mark and I went to dinner with my Mom and a family friend, June. June's husband was fishing with my Dad. We went to one of our favorite spots -- The Udder Choice -- a small, local restaurant that serves soup and sandwiches and delicious ice cream. After that, we enjoyed the rest of the evening on my parent's porch. They have a great screened-in porch along the back of their house. The weather was very warm and summer-like over the weekend and we spent the majority of our free time sitting on the back porch.
My Dad arrived home on Saturday afternoon while I was off getting a pedicure (a rare treat!) and Mark was fishing for trout. Eariler on Saturday, we visited another local farmer's market and greenhouse and did some grocery shopping with my Mom. Later that afternoon, we went to visit my Grandma. It was fun to catch-up with her and see her latest knitting project. That night, my parent's took us to a really cool new place for dinner called Beverly Hills Beach Club. It has a ton of outdoor seating that is surrounded by sand for kids to play in -- and they were! The food was so good and it was just a really relaxing spot for dinner.
On Sunday, Mark and my Dad got up early to go trout fishing. My Dad knew the right place to go -- the local sportsmen's group was stocking the creek that morning. They came home with 9 trout for us to bring back to Indiana and my Dad came home caked in mud after a slip/fall into the creek. Thankfully, he was fine. While they were fishing, my Mom and I went shopping together, one of our favorite activities. Lancaster has two sets of outlet stores and they were very busy but we found some good deals. Later that day, we went to visit my Grampy. Unfortunately, he wasn't doing very well but now seems to be doing a little bit better. That night, my Mom and Dad made another great meal for us with some of the things we had picked-up at the farmer's marke the day before. (Do you see a theme here? Lots of food? Yes, we ate too much over the weekend!)On Monday, my sister, brother-in-law and the boys, aunts, uncles, cousins and Grandma came over for a cook-out. We had a nice time visiting and eating yet again! We also celebrated my sister Heidi's birthday and my Aunt Barbie's birthday. (My brother was away this weekend to coach volleyball.) The boys kept us entertained by running through the sprinkler, making us laugh and watching Mason bowl. (He LOVES to bowl.)
Later that afternoon, we went to the cemetary where my Grandpa and Nanny are buried to put flags at their gravesites. I hadn't been there for awhile and I was glad that my sister thought of it. Then we went to the grounds of the Ephrata Cloister so that Mark could take photos of the boys. Both Brandon and Mason have summer birthdays so she wanted new photos. It was kind of tricky to get the three of them together! Mason kept running away -- he is small enough and fast enough that he could get through the fence and just run! And then whenever Brandon and Andrew would sit near him for a photo, he would get this mischievious look on his face and quickly run away from his brothers. It was a challenge but Mark did get some really great photos of them. The one below is just my attempt. 
On Tuesday morning, we said good-bye to our vacation and drove the 11 hours back to Lafayette. We had a wonderful time and are already looking forward to seeing everyone again. We were glad that we could help my parents with a few projects around the house since we don't live close enough to help on a regular basis. And look-out, Lafayette! The Quach boys are planning a visit to meet their new cousin next summer. Mark and I already have lots of plans for them -- a trip to Columbian Park Zoo, Tropicanoe Cove and a ride on the Boilermaker Special! We hope that you all had a good holiday weekend, too.
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