Get ready for a photo dump...just warning ya.
This past week we(just Luce and I since Trey was studying for boards) visited the missionaries(my parents) in Somerset, Pennsylvania. It was really fun for me to get a taste of what they do. It makes me excited to go on a mission when Trey & I are old farts. :)
My parents came out on Lucy's birthday(Sunday) and then stayed overnight. On Monday, we went to the Hershey Memorial Day Parade which was fun. Then we packed up and headed west. It surprises me how much stuff you have to pack when you take a kid anywhere!
We just relaxed the rest of the day on Monday, since it was a holiday and a p-day for the parentals.
On Tuesday we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo. It was a great zoo that had some animals that I've never seen in real life before(like a Komodo dragon, that thing was a monster!). It was a HOT and super sticky day and you could tell the animals were feeling it to. A lot of them were sleeping. Can you imagine having a coat of fur in the kind of heat we've been having? Icky sticky!
We saw some classic zoo animals such as tigers...
flamingos...
giraffes...
polar bears...
and monkeys of course! This monkey was cracking everyone up. Check it out.
Next we made our way to the huge aquarium which was my favorite part. I love fishies! Lucy does too.
I'm pretty sure some of those fish could have eaten Lucy.
They had penguins, jelly fish, tons of tropical fish, an octopus, turtles, and sting rays that you could pet.
We couldn't stand much more of the heat so we headed out to lunch and look what we found on our way out...a giant praying mantis! Hello awesome! I thought Lucy would be excited about it because she is obsessed with bugs but I guess just the tiny ones tickle her fancy.
After the zoo, we went to Olive Garden and then to a missionary transfer meeting. It was interesting to see what goes on. Luce found the Nursery at the church we were at so it worked out nicely. She loved having all the toys to herself.
We got home in the evening and my dad decided it was time to mow the lawn. You could tell he was enjoying himself on the riding lawn mower.
Wednesday morning was district meeting at my parents house so the 6 elders in their district came over for the meeting and lunch. Luce got bored really quickly so we wandered over to the neighbors and played with their dogs.
That evening we went to the church for a Book of Mormon study session that my parents' branch has weekly. Luce and I once again found the nursery to stay occupied. As long as there are toys around, the girl is good to go.
Thursday morning we played at the neighbors house again. They were so nice to let us come over whenever we wanted. Lucy loved their fluffy pomeranians.
The white one, Dixie, loved to play fetch. That super poofy one was so sweet and old, she just cuddled right up to me. I can't wait until we can get some dogs.
Lucy had too much fun with her dog friends
Thursday afternoon we headed 20 minutes out of town to the Flight 93 Memorial. I was a little bummed that we couldn't get closer to where the plane crashed but you could see a flag pointing out where it was. It was quite a sobering experience to relive all of the September 11th tragedies. It made it more real to me to actually see the place and read in detail about everything that happened.
The plane went down just beyond those new trees that have been planted.
They were so lucky to have gone down in a field where there were no houses.
This temporary memorial constructed until they get the first phase done of the permanent memorial. It will be really neat. That phase should be done by September 11, 2011, the 10-year anniversary. By 2014, all the phases will be complete and it will really be a site to behold. I hope we can make it back when it's all finished.
Inside there were little posters explaining all that happened on September 11 and in detail what happened with Flight 93. I'm so amazed at the courage those passengers had to fight back. I read that the al-qaeda that were flying the plane actually turned it upside-down in those last few moments before it crashed! How terrifying those last few moments of life must have been for all those brave people. I can't even imagine.
God Bless the USA.
As we were leaving, the "Pinto Stampede" was arriving. It was a group of about 30 Pintos that drove in. Can we say random? But of course I had to get a picture of it.
Lucy being too cool for school.
That evening we went to a local baseball championship and the team we were cheering for won! Wahoo! Lucy entertained herself by dropping rocks through a grate into a puddle of water. Once again, whatever works.
On Friday, we went to Laurel Highlands State Park and it was awesome!!! They have a beautiful lake, so much nice white sand, and a little play area for kiddos. I closed my eyes and dreamed I was on the beach.
It was a perfect day.
We didn't have any sand toys with us so we had to improvise with Grandma's measuring cup. It worked great! Lucy loved getting her feet wet and digging in the mud.
We had a picnic and my mom and I totally got burned. I lathered Lucy up with sunscreen and totally forgot about myself. That's motherhood for ya.
Checking out her shadow.
Apparently we wore her out because she crashed in the car. I love this picture of her holding her little flag right up even though she was fast asleep.
Friday evening we went out for ice cream and then visited a lady that owns a bed and breakfast that my parents stayed in the first 2 weeks of their mission. She had a bunch of goats out back and Lucy was giddy with excitement. This girl loves her animals. And she's not afraid of them either.
My dad fed the goats my leftover ice cream cone, they were going crazy over it!
Sitting by Grandma Ma with rocks in her hands, of course. She is a silly one. My parents have a gravel driveway and everytime we would go outside to get into the car or get out of the car to go back inside the first thing she would do was run out to the driveway and grab 2 handfuls of rocks. We were finding rocks everywhere around the house and in the car. She also likes to collect pinecones and sticks.
On Saturday morning, my mom and I did some garage saling and found some fun treasures. I think I got my love of garage sales from her. Later that day we went to the local farmers market, a cute little Amish store, and a pet store. We found these awesome rocking chairs at the Amish store. They rock and spin, genius!
That evening we went on a lovely little walk and took Lucy to Lake Somerset to throw rocks in the lake and feed the ducks.
The problem was we couldn't find any ducks so we had to settle for feeding the cranky old geese. We had to keep our distance because there were lots of baby geese around so the parents were super protective. My dad was enjoying himself. He's like a 67-year-old kid sometimes, I love it.
On Sunday we went to church and then packed up and headed back home. I took these on the ride back. She was sucking on her big toe and thinking she was pretty funny. She kept doing it and then would crack up and say "I funny!" She's such a cheeseball.
And that was our trip. Whew! We had a fabulous time but we're happy to be back home.
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