We started with Lewisburg's (pre)4th of July parade. This year was especially fun as Ashley, Haley, and Aunt Julie came to Oma and Opa's to join us for the parade. Peanut was content to sit on mommy's lap until the last 15 minutes of the parade (apparently, she was observing her brother and cousins and wanted to get in on the candy action). C trained Ash & Haley how to collect candy thrown from the floats and vehicles (as if any training is necessary when it comes to candy). Though do avoid any candy coming from a horse...
The highlights of Shawnee included the visit by Uncle Jamar (later Jo'Mar; to the rest of us, traditionally known by the more pedestrian Joe) and "Mrs. Uncle Jamar" (or her more conventional appalation, Aunt Helen). We were pleased C was able to discover Uncle Joe's inner black nationalist, which has been sublimated since his attempt to join the Black Student Union at Gettysburg College in the mid-1970s (thereby increasing its numbers to 4). His rejection apparently left him scarred and he moved on to other radical causes such as equality for women. To this date, he engages in stereotype-defying behaviors such as refusing to sit in the sun at the beach and reading the New York Times in public. Perhaps C's summoning of the inner Jamar will unleash the rage of the 1960s campus movements (which, appropriately enough in this case, mostly happened in the 1970s) on the GOP PA legislature. I'm sure that will be effective...and entertaining...
Monday, we had a fun day with Uncle John, Aunt Peggy, Katie, Braden, Lily and Ryan at the beach at John and Peg's Pocono's place. Uncle John is an accountant and used to work for the IRS, which explains why C was unable to identify any black nationalist tendencies. Along the same lines, a few years ago C called him the "white whale" while observing John swimming. Despite working for The Man and being a tool of the establishment, he and Jamar seem to get along well enough. Perhaps he appeased his brother by voting for the post-colonial Kenyan, Anti-Christ, Muslim, UCC-attending, Marxist presidential candidate (along with the leftist states of North Carolina and Indiana) while not admitting it to his accountant friends. Regardless, he's a nice guy though he does have a peculiar tendency to fall off buildings.
On Wed., we visited the Land of Make Believe. No, not the PA legislature, an amusement and water park in NJ. C liked the "cupcake ride"--a.k.a. the tilt-a-whirl. Peanut enjoyed having mommy spin her in circles while sitting in the teacup seat on the carousel (evidenced by her shouting "again, again" when the ride stopped).
Unlike her brother, Peanut had absolutely no reservations or hesitation at the Shawnee pool (well, in all fairness, it took C 2 seasons and help from Uncle Kevin to feel comfortable in the pool - now, he's a champ!). In fact, she unleashed her inner daredevil by insisting on jumping off the side of the pool into mommy's waiting arms (at least she listened when mommy said "wait" and would say the same thing, complete with pointer finger waving, before leaping off the concrete in a single bound). Peanut also allowed mommy to submerge her face underwater and help her float. Lil E also enjoyed the pool. She smiled, laughed, and splashed as mommy or daddy would walk with her.
As usual, we had our annual C & Ash funny face extravaganza photo event. The ham factor catapulted to level 100. This year, we also had the joy of experiencing C, Ash, and Peanut's "Thriller" zombie dance, added below for your enjoyment.
After Shawnee, Oma and Opa took us to T&D's Cats of the World, which thankfully had more than cats. We saw lions, tigers, bears, ...monkeys, deer, a lots more, including some animals I'd never seen before. Pretty remarkable for a small zoo in the thriving metropolis of Penns Creek, PA.
As always, everyone had a blast. We're already looking forward to next year... and the next trip to PA to see the whole Fay clan with Heberlig extension for Thanksgiving.
And now, what you've really been waiting for...the vacation slideshow!
