The Raz Report: Mountains of Fun

We returned from the Poconos on Saturday with lots of crying and whining (and the girls weren't happy about being home either... !)

It was a wonderful vacation with absolutely stunning weather. It totally makes up for last year's weather when the temp never went about 57 and it rained. This past week the weather was pretty much in the 70s with no humidity. There was talk of rain one day, but it never happened. And that day was the day we spent at the outlets so a little rain wouldn't have bothered me one bit, anyway.

So what did we do?

We swam in the lake (okay, I didn't swim in the lake, but I waded in up to my knees at least twice).

We ate lunch at Piggy's. (The girls love this place because they make pancakes in the shape of Minnie Mouse's head.)

We ate at Hog Heaven. (HH opens when Piggy's closes so you can continue to eat. It's an ice cream joint with HUGE sundae's -- hence the HOG part of the name.)

The girls played and played and played with Tommy (their cousin). Then they played some more. Everytime we did something that did not involve Tommy (like take a bath) the girls would say, "Is Tommy taking a bath?" It was cute for about 2 days. Then, not so much.

We played dominoes and cards.

We played on several playgrounds.

Bob went kayaking.

Tracy went shopping.

Hannah won 9 bucks at the turtle races.

Lizzie's potato car won its first heat before losing.

I'm sure there was much more (I know there was much more eating.)

Here are pictures of us all having a good time.

Brenna was too little last year to really enjoy the trip, but she more than made up for it this year. Here she is at the lagoon:

Hannah is showing off the turtle bucks she won. Tina also won six bucks but the rest of us were losers. Hannah, however is NOT a gracious winner. She kept asking her sister, "How come my turtle won?"

Here are Lizzie, Tommy and Hannah pretending to be super heroes. Clearly, Tommy was the winner here.

Bob and the girls at the Francis Walter Dam. It's got a nice view, even if there aren't cute kids and husband in the picture.

This is a different view of the same spot (oh, and that's me behind the shades!):

Getting ready for the Potato Car Races to start. Each kit contained a russet potato, four nails and four wheels. The kids had to decorate their cars and put them together and then the staff at Split Rock had them race down a 15-foot incline.

This is Tommy's potato car winning its heat.

Here's the gang after Tommy's car KEPT winning and it got hotter and hotter in the sun. Tommy abandoned the races after the first or second win to jump in the lake. Aunt Terry still looks happy here and Grandma is mustering a smile (although she appears to be coveting Grandpa's cold drink). Tommy's car ended up coming in fourth or fifth overall, out of 27 cars. Which is pretty good for a potato.