May 18, 2014 - Family time!

My parents first came to town nearly a month ago.  They went away for a few weeks and came back.  Now we get them for a week, and then they go home.

We've had some fun times, so here is a photo selection of recent goodness:

Went with Libby and Jake to Philly for a day.  A photo of Liberty with the Liberty Bell, and both of them getting a carriage ride.  We had camped in PA, spent a day in Hershey, camped again, then hit Philly and drove home that night.

Jake at Penn's Landing in Philly.  Camden NJ is across the Delaware River.

In April, I got to ordain Christian as a Deacon in the church, and the next week I baptized Jacob.  Lots of good stuff happening here this month.  This is just after Jake's baptism.

 On May 1, I saw my first ever MLB game, Yankees vs the Mariners.  I went with 2 local guys (Yankee fans), 1 guy from Canada (impartial) and me (Mariners if I have to choose).  Mariners win, 4-2.  Yankee stadium is beautiful, comfortable, and the weather was perfect.  Lovely evening, had a great time.

Spring means all kinds of things around here - flowers, leafy variegated plants that I can't name, and the drive ins open up.  Our first this year was a date night for a reliable franchise: the latest installment in the Muppets.  Muppets: Most Wanted was hilarious.  A good time for all.

And of course, the pool opens.  This is our first time for the kids swimming this year.  We had some pros come out to winterize last year, and I was very careful to open the pool with minimal intrusion of debris.  It was comparatively easy to open this year - 8-10 hours of pumping out the pool cover with a pool cover pump, reassembly of the filter/pump housing, and some chemical stabilization, and we were most of the way there.  I still had to backwash 10 times or something, but now it's beautiful.  I couldn't be happier with how it's turned out so far.

 Mother's Day this year was simple.  Katrina and Aria got back from a trip to DC late Saturday night, we went to church.  We got home, I took the kids out to the pool while Katrina napped, and then Aria helped the other kids QUIETLY make cookies.  Lovely afternoon.

 I've been back on the AT a little this month.  This causeway is in the forest near Lake Canopus.  The dogwood tree is in our pool area.

On May 9, I got to go with Aria to a choral festival.  Her choir performed a few pieces, and then it started to sprinkle on the way to Six Flags.  So Aria decided we should go to the Palisades Mall instead.  We bowled at Lucky Strike, walked around, picked up some things we needed, and headed home to see Libby and Jake's talent show performance.  The performance went from 7-10pm (!).  Luckily, they were near the beginning, and we left at intermission.

 We've been working through Spring Cleanup the last couple weeks as well.  Christian discovered a Robin's nest in the pool area.

This afternoon, us men took a hike.  We went to Fahnestock State Park, and parked outside the gate.  It was closed.  So we locked the cars and walked in.  The trail we wanted leads from the cafe/restroom area at the beach and heads toward the Appalachian Trail.  The view at the top was great, and we had a nice hike together.  A lovely, relaxing afternoon.  Christian has been camping with my dad and brother before, but this might have been Jake's first time.  I need to get that boy in the woods more often.