Bit of our Weekend

 

 

For fourth of July weekend, I took an extra day off and made it a four day weekend. We went out to the Poconos, where my parents live, Wednesday evening. Our original plan for Thursday was to go to a waterpark, but there was a 90% chance of thunderstorms beginning in the afternoon. The morning and early afternoon were gorgeous though, so we went to a nearby pool. It's a little secluded and actually part of a resort, so we had it to ourselves for almost two hours. A friend came with us, so Audrey had us taking turns pretending to be sharks. This involved pretending to capture who ever wasn't the shark, and drag them out to the "sea" (the deep end of the pool). She had a blast, and then took a nice long nap afterwards. The rest of the day was spent hanging around my moms house, because the thunderstorms came as promised.

 

 

 

This is my 15 year old brother, Ian. Ian was always "the baby" to me, till Audrey was born. It's amazing how much kids grow up when juxtaposed with a much smaller child. He turned into a teenager overnight in my eyes. And he certainly is a stereotypical teenager now - he shuts himself up in his room most of the time. I can tell he loves Audrey though, and she loves hanging out with him. On Thursday evening, he came downstairs for a couple hours and the two of them got into trouble for a while (setting up pranks for my mom to find when she got home - silly stuff), then they relaxed and played with iPads.

 

On Friday afternoon, we ran some errands in town, including Target - I admit I am one of the Target obsessed. I stopped in to grab a sweater for Audrey - it was supposed to get down to the 50s that night, and we were going to watch Fireworks. Of course, there's that lovely little $1 section right when you walk in, and we got sucked in. When we got home we made these cookies - I initially was going to go the super Pinterest-y route and attempt American Flag cookies, but I lost my patience pretty quickly and just did stars. I used this recipe and added some red food coloring. The frosting was just a basic vanilla buttercream.

 

On Friday evening, we went to a little festival and watched Fireworks in town. The Fireworks show was nice but the Festival was packed - and I was a little disappointed to be honest. The area I'm from has changed a lot since I was a kid. There were a lot of obnoxious teenagers trying to act cool - the cursing, the fighting, etc., girls in barely there, way too small outfits, and the smoking - omg. Seriously, people? It's inconsiderate enough to smoke in a public park (it isn't illegal in Pennsylvania, at least not in my old town anyway). But I couldn't even tell you how many parents were smoking a cigarette with one hand, holding their small child with the other. Gross. We might still leave the city next year as the Fourth will fall on a weekend again, but I'll be skipping this particular event in the future. Audrey had fun, which is the important part, but I'm sure we can find something else. Does this make me soon like an ornery old woman? "Those gosh darn kids!" Rant over.

 

On Saturday, we picked up the newest addition to the Ryan household: a 9 week old Corgi. We named her Madelyn, Maddie for short. Audrey is so excited. She's been asking for a puppy for awhile (encouraged by my brother), and I finally gave in. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about the puppy too. I wouldn't give in to a three year old's demands if I was against the idea :). Audrey refers to Maddie as "my puppy." "Mommy, my puppy is hungry." "Mommy, my puppy is sleeping." "Mommy, can my puppy sleep in my room?"

 

 

We spent one more night at my parents' house. I made dinner Saturday night, and my brother and his friend went and got fireworks. By the time they got back, it was dark out, so we all sat outside in our sweatpants and sweatshirts, because for some reason it was 55 degrees out, and set off fireworks and played with sparklers. I thought Audrey might be scared of the sparklers, but she loved them.

 

 

 

We planned to go home on Sunday, but my sister, who was driving us, had to work till 4. So while we were waiting for her, we went out and got ice cream. The tiara and wand were $1 purchases from Target. I swear I didn't purposely color coordinate her outfit with them!

 

It was an inexpensive trip - we had family pick us up and take us home, and we stayed at my parents. Our only expenses were food and the gas I put in my parents' cars whenever I used them. The puppy wasn't free, of course, but I don't count that as part of the expense of the weekend, as picking up a puppy is obviously not a normal long weekend activity. It was still a nice break from the city though. We spent a lot of time outdoors, went swimming, and remembered how nice it is to have a car at your disposal, rather enjoying good old public transportation. I didn't get it growing up, but after a decade in New York, I do see the appeal of the Poconos. Or the idea of the Poconos anyway, because apparently, so do a lot of other people. The area has grown exponentially over the years, especially the New York transplants. In some ways, it's good - when I was growing up there, it was a big deal when the Target & Walmart were built. There was one small mall and a shopping outlet about 30 minutes away. Now all of the big chain stores are out there - Best Buy, PetSmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc. So there's more for locals - more shopping, more jobs. But more also means more "bad apples", more traffic. My parents have been talking about moving away for a while, and I wouldn't be upset if they did. It's not the hometown of my childhood, I've lost touch with most of my childhood friends, so I don't feel a strong sense of loyalty for the area. Anywhere with a yard and a pool nearby would do as a little retreat from the city.