We spent the first weekend of April visiting the Johnsons in Pennsylvania, and it’s always SO FUN to see the girls together. Now that they are full-blown toddlers, they are actually playing WITH each other for the first time.
We arrived on Friday night and enjoyed playtime and dim sum for dinner. We had pork buns, beef and soup dumplings, a few traditional Chinese dishes, as well as adorable ‘piggy buns’ for dessert. I wish I’d gotten a photo of the custard-filled buns with cute pink pig faces piped on them.
Instead, here are two other cute faces:
I’m training for this year’s Buffalo Half Marathon, so I snuck away the following morning to run at my old stomping ground, Peace Valley Park! I needed six miles, and the lake is exactly six miles around–perfect!
We lived in a tiny red house right across the street from Lake Galena for a couple years when I was in elementary school, and my family used to bike around the lake regularly. I always forget it’s so close to Abigail and Marvin, but after this run, I’ll definitely do it again. I was a bit under-dressed for the spring chill, but overall I loved every minute. It was so nostalgic to see the familiar benches and playgrounds, and enjoyable to see all the families out for a walk with their kids and dogs.
While I was running, everyone else headed to the neighborhood park to play before lunch. I got another blast from the past that day: a cheesesteak from Silvio’s Deli! It’s a hole-in-the-wall cheesesteak place in Hatboro, and it’s the best because they bake their own bread.
The following morning, we went to the Buck’s County Children’s Museum. So cute to see all the kiddos lined up in the back of the van! The museum was a great idea, as the weather was a little crummy.
Maelle used her climbing skills to reach the owl on the rock wall, while Nora enjoyed the giant ‘lite brite’ and slide in the same room.
Then we all moved to the water table and rain spout, where the girls–thankfully–didn’t get too wet. On the way home, Maelle shared her first Happy Meal (in a car) with Nora.
Auntie Abigail is so sweet–she made Easter baskets for the girls that included squishy pineapples, peachy shoes, Disney Princess play packs and a paintable wooden bunny rabbit. Unsurprisingly, their favorite item was the Reese’s egg hidden inside their plastic bunny eggs!
Unfortunately, our trip took a turn for the worst when Andrew and I both got sick Sunday evening and had a terrible night. Andrew rallied and went to a work meeting in New Jersey the following morning (the whole point of the trip!), and thankfully I got a few extra hours of sleep while Maelle played with her cousins and Abigail.
By noon I was up sipping Gatorade and able to pack up our things. We’d already arranged to break up the drive on the way home and stay in Lewisburg, which turned out to be a wise decision since we ended up leaving the Johnsons’ house later than we’d anticipated. Maelle was VERY excited to stay at a hotel with a pool!
We woke up the following morning feeling much better…only to find out we had c0v1d. (Insert face-palm emoji here.) Abigail and Marvin had also come down with colds, so they tested before taking Nora to daycare. Crazy! The news certainly made for an interesting drive home. Thankfully, we had a decent amount of food in the house and friends delivered their leftovers, which kept us fed for a few days. I was basically better by the time we found out, and Andrew said he felt like he had a ‘moderate cold’ for a few days. I think our first bout of c0v1d must have helped us have a much more mild case this time around.
We’re already looking forward to seeing our cousins again!
thehealthypineapple 