Cousin Time....Lots of It!

 As I have recently mentioned in a previous blog, activity has been fairly constant here, as we keep Joshua busy with lots of cousin fun.   Or....should I say.....cousin fun keeps Gramma G pretty busy?  Well, at least on her toes, that's for sure.

In the last couple of weeks, we've had plenty of cousin time.  First, with twins and baby brother in house, where we enjoyed some swimming (thanks to the generosity of my neighbor letting us use her pool)

and home made Peanut Butter Ice Cream

A big hit....obviously

Joshua taught his cousins how to use "Dawn of the Dead" to kill garden bugs

Parker helped to pick some produce

Aunt Becky directed some home made pizza baking

which was certainly appreciated by this crew

And there was some cousin story reading.

The morning was met with pancakes enjoyed out on the deck.

and, as you can see, the plates were wiped clean!

After Marty and I dropped off the three youngest, we stopped at the Shoe House for an ice cream treat.

I don't have a picture of the ice cream, but you can take my word for it when I tell you that it was delicious!

The very next morning, we were back on the road, meeting up at Stacey's place for a mini family reunion. But first, we needed to stop to bring the donuts!

Jim, Finn, Marty and Joshua headed out to do some fishing.

and when they returned, it was time for partying at Aunt Stacey's house!

Sliding

Water Guns

and water balloon launches

I brought the cake...(there was marshmallow in a hole in the middle......yummy!)

And, for the first time....ever....we were able to get a photograph of Marty and me with all of our grandchildren in one place!  (It's just too bad that I didn't look so tired.)

And then, we enjoyed some cake!

We hadn't had all of our children in one place for several years.  It certainly meant a lot to me that Stacey would host the event, and that Jim and Amy would drive out for the weekend so that we could all be together.  The weather was perfect, and the place was a buzz of activity with cousins enjoying themselves to no end.  Really....it was the perfect day.

A week later, and we had the youngest three back here in our house for a few days.

Joshua had a great time entertaining the girls with Humpty Dumpty.

He showed him his technique for removing bricks while keeping Humpty Dumpty from tumbling.

We made a quick trip to Red Caboose Park

which has multiple slides to enjoy....and they were sure to try all of them.

Back at home, Joshua helped the girls perform surgery on Mr. Potato Head....I hear he survived the experience.

And evenings were spent watching the Olympics while rooting on Team USA!

Honestly.....I'm not sure that you can come up with much more fun than that in 10 days time.  

Well, at least not without collapsing when it was over!  Which, I have not.....yet. 

I'll keep you posted.

Gring's Mill Glory

On Sunday, July 18, we headed out to Gring's Mill after I learned that there was a Civil War Encampment set up for the weekend. Saturday had been a brutal day with the heat and humidity, but Sunday offered a much more pleasant environment, so why not check it out?

Here you can see the grand total of participants,

 minus the "doctor" who was set up at a tent adjacent to the "battlefield", attempting to sell some of his wares.  (all for the sake of re-enacting).

The camp was set up near the beautiful red covered bridge known as Wertz's Covered Bridge

within view of the serene Tuplehocken Creek flowing by.  (Nicknamed the "Tullie" by some....not me.)

Along the walking/biking trail, stands the Bicentennial Eagle Memorial along with the Police and Veteran's memorial at a distance.

And, just on the other side of the Red Bridge, is the C. Howard Hiester Canal Center.  I had never been inside, and I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised!

One's eyes are immediately drawn to the array of water craft used over the centuries through the canals that ran from north to south and west to east, right through this area.

Near the entrance was the front of a canal boat, set up to look as if one is steering down a canal in a past century.

which you can see in this photo, even if Joshua doesn't appear all that thrilled that I am taking his photo.

There were descriptions of the various canal boats that were used

various diaramas:  this one featuring a boatyard.

a great hands on explanation on how steam power works

as well as visuals of locks

and how they work as well.

By the entrance, there were model boats representing water craft from some of the locals over time.

Some of these can be seen through the front window, but I have to admit, looking at the outside, I would never have expected such information and detail to be inside.  Plus, there were two very enthusiastic guides, each eager for us to have the best experience possible.  You just can't beat that!

Across from the canal museum there is an old farmhouse, with a farmhouse garden in the back.  I took a couple of photos of some unusual flowers.

Just next to the garden stands the Epler's Schoolhouse.  It was just recently moved from a location one and a half miles away, saving it from demolition.

The interior underwent some damage during the transfer, and there is a non-profit group working to recreate the interior to look like it would in 1847, when it was first constructed.  New windows have been installed, carefully modeled on the original.  The restoration group have a photo that they are using as a guide to restore it to the original standards.  One can go inside for a peek, but there is still a lot of work to be done to recreate the interior.  Still, we found it impressive that one could transport a building to save it from destruction. 

Just next to the schoolhouse stands this tree: look closely and you will see the pods resembling green beans.

The formal name is Catalpa tree, but it has been nicknamed Indian bean tree in reference to the pods resembling those beans.

At this point, we decided to take a stroll along the path in search of the original locks to the canals that ran along the creek many years ago.  Upon our return to the red bridge, Becky spotted this in the distance.

A real treat for us prior to heading to the car.  One last photo as we made our way to the parking lot.

Where else would you see a Distlefink, an 1847 schoolhouse and an old fashioned well at a distance?

Not too many places, I'd dare to guess.  And, that's what makes gallivanting so much fun!

Until next time...