Camping in PA

We left our cozy NC home on August 6th with extreme heats outside and a comfy temperature of 74 degrees inside and headed up to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania for a family reunion and camping adventure. We got there around 4:30 pm and had ample time to unpack and get situated. The reunion consisted of 2 out of 6 branches of the All family. Represented from our side was my Mom and Dad, Kris and family, and us. Then the entire Persutte clan (minus Dorthea) was there. It was fun to see everyone. We spent every evening eating and sitting around the campfire. Saturday they had ponies from the Land of Little Horses at the campground and the kids all got to go on a horsey ride. We also went to the pool in the afternoon and Sunday we took a walk in downtown Gettysburg (which we found out later that day that there was a whole lot more than what we saw - bummer). Matt went on tour of Gettysburg with my parents and Liz. He really enjoyed some history. The weather was spectacular!! It was in the 80s during the day and at night it was quite comfortable. The first night we were actually COLD! So I had to get an extra blanket for the next night. The kids absolutely loved sleeping in the tent. Me, not so much. I am usually a great sleeper, but the air mattress wasn't the greatest and our site was right on Highway 15!! So the sound of tractor trailers roaring down the road wasn't the funnest to go to sleep to. Combine that with staying up late and being pregnant. Let's just say I was a complete zombie on Monday when we traveled home. But despite me not sleeping it was very relaxing and the kids absolutely loved being outside 24/7. They are true little campers. I love how our picture taking goes. Some trips (like Disney) we take a million pictures - too many in my opinion and others, we don't even take our camera out! This trip, the camera never came out. So our pictures are limited, but Gina was taking on a great role of photographer, so I will add more when I get those. Here are some highlights of the trip:

Harper relaxing by the fishing pond in the morning. He looked so peaceful.

Chloe caught a fish! Her bait - hot dogs! Don helped them out and they were so excited to get a fish!

Carly caught one too (these were both from Saturday morning). She also caught 2 more on Sunday with the help of Uncle Kris. They made a pretty good team! Chloe was a little down that she didn't catch any more, so Mom overheard Carly telling her that her next fish she caught she would let Chloe and Harper reel them in. She never caught another one, but it was still a sweet thought!

The kiddos getting ready to ride horsies! They were so excited and for $4 they each got to do one little lap around this small field! Oh well, they enjoyed it!

Chloe

Carly

Harper - I felt like paparazzi standing in the middle of the field trying to take pictures and video of all 3 kids riding. I think we need to just start hiring someone to come with us everywhere so I don't have to take pics anymore!

Sunday morning Connor came to fish too.

And these cousins sure do love each other!

Chloe getting some love!

Group shot of the kiddos

Mom made Carly, Chloe, and Kaitlyn all some super cute skirts. They liked wearing the same thing together.

Finley! Whew! This girl! Here she is dining on the picnic table. She was not the best camper. mainly because she wanted to get down, but she can only crawl - not happening. Staying up late she wasn't too fond of. But when she was happy, she was happy. She took her naps and slept great in the tent at night - and that is the most important thing to me! Her next camping trip will be when she can walk! That way she won't have to be held the entire time.

This statue of Abraham Lincoln was on our little walk of downtown Gettysburg.

We were going to go to Hershey, PA on the way back home and get a hotel room half way through. Kris reported that Hershey wasn't the greatest for the money you had to shell out and then we couldn't find a hotel and suite in an adequate location. So we made the decision to nix the whole Hershey idea and just drive straight home. I guess my pure exhaustion played a big role, but oh well, I am not too heartbroken. But the kids were that close to their first piece of candy. They didn't know that Hershey was even an option, so they don't know they missed out! So that pretty much sums up our Pennsylvania vacation!