The real reason for the trip

Honestly, the real reason for our road trip was the Blowout!! My mother has two sisters and they each have two children. They, along with the whopping seven kids in our family make up the 11 cousins that drew us altogether. My grandparents aren't here anymore, and my parents and aunts and uncles do a great job of seeing each other even though the three sisters live in three different states. However, the cousins rarely see each other. In fact, the last time we gathered was Christmas 1998. The blowout had been planned for over a year, so many were able to save the spot on their calendar. Although many of my immediate family still live in PA, all my aunts, uncles, cousins live elsewhere. We came from Michigan, South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Maine, New Hampshire, Louisiana, etc. (that's for the cousin who was transitioning from Germany to Kansas). 52 people make up this family tree, and only 6 couldn't make it. Amazing.

We stayed at Refreshing Mountain Camp not far from my parents' home from Friday night until Sunday afternoon (7/1). It was a brilliant plan to be altogether in one place for the whole weekend. Of course, with two toddlers in tow, it seems there's not enough time to visit, but it was a fabulous weekend. Perfect weather. Nice accommodations. Fluid schedule. Abounding laughter. Reliving memories. Intergenerational kickball--yeah, we're a pretty creative bunch. Relays for the kiddos. Peanut scramble-this must be a PA thing. Beautiful pool. Kids' storytime--kudos to our resident librarian cousin. Animal rescue scavenger hunt. Volleyball. S'mores around the campfire. Family portraits. Family worship. Sore calves (from all the climbing!). Good times.