Think back to summertime if you will, and think about July. Right smack in the middle of the month we headed north to Pennsylvania so that Jason could defend his dissertation. He was surprisingly relaxed about the whole thing and we had a lovely trip to our old stomping grounds. We got to see old friends, favorite places and most importantly (besides that whole successful defense thing) eat LOTS of ice cream.
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| keeny beeny - the yummiest |
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| death by chocolate, cookie dough and cookies-n-cream |
On Hayden's birthday, we headed out, driving up to Maryland to stay with
friends who had recently moved away from Durham. It was great to see
their new house, and hear about how the move went. They have a lovely
backyard where the kids ran off their car legs. Somehow we all managed
to be well-rested, despite the 6 kid sleepover!
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| lunch on the road - please excuse the HT pharmacy photo bomb! |
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| Six kid photo - and you can see all their eyes! Thanks for having us! |
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| Angel seems to be enjoying her new digs |
The next day, we headed up to State College, PA. We met up with friends for lunch - mainly so Hayden could see her old buddy Noah. Remember Noah? He and Hayden spend a lot of time together as infants while their moms finished their dissertations! The two immediately reconnected over their shared love of reading. Great to get to see the two of them together, as big kids!
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| Noah and Hayden - 2008 |
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| Noah and Hayden - 2014 |
After lunch we headed into town, to check out our old stomping grounds. E
and M fell asleep as we stopped by the first place we lived and peeked
in on the gamelands. Then we headed to our first ice cream treat at
Meyer Dairy. YUM! After that we headed to our hotel in downtown, and
braved the possibility of getting rained on again to check out the
remnants of the arts festival and a little bit of campus. We managed to
find some pizza (imagine, finding pizza in State College! Ha!) and then
fit in a pre-bedtime swim. Despite the thunderstorm outside, we swam
safely in the basement pool!
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| traveling is exhausting! |
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| on the edge of the gamelands (thanks photographer Hayden!) |
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| H at the tunnel to the gamelands - it is much more overgrown now! |
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| M enjoys her first Meyer Dairy ice cream |
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| oreo gets thumbs up from Hayden |
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| checking out the water buckets from arts festival |
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| ducks on campus! |
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| my old building is getting COMPLETELY redone |
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| bunny! |
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| posing with the bronze pigs |
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| pizza party! |
The next day was DEFENSE DAY. Jason headed out early so the kids and I were on our own for a while. Despite the dreary weather, we went to one of our favorite parks to play before heading back to campus to find Jason. We timed our return just right and found Dr. Daddy ready to celebrate! Lunch at the corner room, pictures at the lion, then ice cream from the creamery - all the key components to a great PSU celebration!
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| heading off to his defense - doesn't he look ready?! |
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| butterfly garden at Tudek - pretty even in the gray mist |
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| what do you do at the park on a gray day? photo shoot! |
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| cheese balls |
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| Dr Daddy! |
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| celebrating at Corner Room with etch-a-sketches |
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| I promised her ice cream as big as her head. I think it came true with Peachy Paterno! |
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| M's first taste of creamery |
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| lion time! |
In the evening, we headed back to Noah's house (though Noah had left with his grandparents) to have a nice relaxed evening with good friends. We picked blackberries on the hillside, did another sleepover (only 4 kids this time) and just generally had a lovely time. The next morning we headed out early for breakfast at Waffle Shop, then back to campus for a little more sightseeing and for Jason to check out his old workplace. We finished up with more ice cream at the Creamery (you didn't think we would only go once, did you?!) and then got on the road for home.
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| reading is always popular with this crowd |
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| can I just eat one? and then this one? and this one? |
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| enjoying the rockers at Way Fruit Farm before breakfast |
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| waffles at the Waffle Shop |
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| pancakes and bacon - Hayden's dream breakfast |
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| lounging at Smeal |
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| super sad face because we were only going to SHARE ice cream, not give her another heaping cone all to herself |
One of the main things we did before we headed out of town was visit the Arbortetum across from Smeal. It was just getting started when we left, and it has come a LONG way. They just opened the children's garden this summer. The whole place was amazing and just gorgeous. We could have spent a lot longer there. It would be so great to be able to visit it regularly!
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| wouldn't this be lovely for a wedding?! |
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| the water pump was fascinating |
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| either E shrunk or that is one big caterpillar! |
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| one mushroom omelet coming right up! |
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| climbing in the coral |
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| too cloudy to tell time |
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| these are everywhere. so pretty. |
The drive was long but everyone did really well on the trip. It was fun to relive our Penn State days. State College is so beautiful, with such great views almost every where you look. It ALMOST made me want to go back to live there - until I thought about the icy, bone-chilling wind that cuts through multiple layers for most of the winter. :) Now if Jason can just get those last revisions turned in, there will be TWO Nittany Lion PhDs in our little family!
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| view from the top of the staircase behind our house. ponds are all overgrown with cattails. |
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| coming down the path from the old neighborhood |
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| back of our old house - they put up a fence! the dirt pile next door was gone! |
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| glowsticks to the rescue when the trip got long |
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| We are..... Penn State! |
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