Vacay!!!

My family and I went on vacay at the end of September and it was just so lovely! I of course had to snap some photos! Plus some selfies at the end taken by JT! Beware of my lengthy post, there was just too much fun!

My little sister moved to Philadelphia and we all wanted to go visit.  My older sister has timeshare-magical-powers and was able to find us an awesome place to stay in Atlantic City. Everything close to Philadelphia was booked due to the Pope coming to visit.  That just meant we got to see more places!  It was my first time taking time off from my new job which was very exciting. It is a very long drive from Michigan to Philadelphia which I was not looking forward to with a toddler, but she actually did excellent.  Better than she does on short car rides actually! haha!

The first night we stayed in Hershey, PA and went to Hershey the next day! First we went swimming which was a lot of fun. Ever since I was a kid I have wanted to go to Hershey! We got to see a simulation on how the chocolate is made, learn about the history and of course bought some chocolate. 🙂 The street lights were all Hershey Kisses! yum! The next day we drove to Philadelphia and I finally got to see Sara’s adorable apartment! We also tried Wawa which is an introvert’s food-ordering dream!  It is kind of like a Subway and is kind of a thing over there.  You order by clicking on the pretty food pictures on a screen instead of giving your order and pay like on a self-scanner.  Then you just wait for your food to be ready!  Usually I ask Ian to order for me because I feel awkward, but this avoids that whole piece!! haha! It is probably more hygienic, too, because they can focus on the food prep only instead of back and forth from machine/money and food.

After we acquired sister Sara, we all went back to the beautiful timeshare in Atlantic City.  The hotel was so fancy!  We went and put our toes in to the cold ocean even though it was dark. Then we played card games late in to the night which was fun. Saturday we explored Atlantic City: more ocean, the shops, a casino and Hard Rock Cafe.  We also went swimming. And by swimming, I mean we sat in the hot tub 🙂 Some braver folks like Ashley and Ian actually went swimming.  It was cold! Ian had never been to the Ocean, and of course neither had Rachel, so we were so glad for this experience, and all the others.

On Sunday, most of the family went to Philadelphia to try and see the Pope.  They were able to see him on the Megatron and experienced the excitement of the big crowds of people and security enforcement.  What an adventure!  While they went there, we went to visit JT in New York!! We could not be only 3 hours away and not say “Hi” haha! We went to Ellis Island and searched for where Ian’s Grandpa, Grandma and Uncle signed the manifest of the ship they were on that came through Ellis Island. We saw the Statue of Liberty, which Rachel thought was a “princess” and immediately tried to copy her.  We rode the subway and went to Time Square.  And JT took us for Bubble Tea at the cutest place.  It was a fun adventure and so great to see JT.

On Monday we had to say our byes and start heading home.  The ride there and back were kept entertained by: the alphabet game, songs, holding our breath through tunnels (thanks Sara and mom for that one!) and randomly catching up with family at rest stops! I have not taken a vacation with all these folks for many years so it was extra special!