Columbus and Pennsylvania

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It’s been awhile since the last update but we have been living in civilization quite normally which isn’t as bloggable as the rest of the summer has been. I am not sure that anyone cares as much as we are taking regular showers, eating at tables in kitchens, and shopping in places that actually have stuff. In fact, it has been two weeks of semi normal living (if you count the frequent trips out to the RV to get something we need that we forgot to bring in). We started this stretch in Columbus Ohio visiting with my cousin and her family (3 kids and one spouse who spent the week playing in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas). I also have another cousin (2 kids and a spouse who was not at the WSOP) as well as my Aunt and Uncle there. It was a time of relaxing and getting caught up (on laundry, on my scrap book, on my showers, on my TV, on my internet, etc.). The kids have a blast with their cousins so they were happy. I got some time to myself so I was happy and Ed got to call on some of his larger accounts so he was happy (but probably not as much as the rest of us). Aside from sleeping late and eating too much, we took a side trip to Paramount Kings Island Amusement Park and rode all of the same rides we have at Paramount Carowinds in Charlotte (go figure).

From there we traveled to Pennsylvania a little southeast of Pittsburgh to stay at the Seven Springs Mountain Resort for the Ives/Canowitz/Gilbert/Godwin family reunion (25 or so of us). We do this every year and this year we moved from Hilton Head to this resort. I can honestly say the week went by in a huge blur but here are a few highlights. We rode the alpine slide (a lot), we played indoor mini golf, we played lots of games, we got tickets for cheap prizes at the arcade (a lot), we bowled, we walked/strolled/hiked most mornings on fern covered wooded trails, we never missed a meal, we got massages (a lot of us did including me), we slept late (often), we did crafts, the kids went to full day camp (3 times), we kayaked once, and we talked (a lot) (Did I mention never missing a meal?) It was a nice resort and we spent some great time together. The kids get along great and we all had a nice balance of together and separate time.

And so I am back in the RV after a two week hiatus and we are driving back to NC. When Ed and I got ready to roll this time we looked at each other because it feels really weird. We still have one more stop on the way home as we wanted to end the summer in the RV not in a condo but it is our last stop on the way back to Davidson. School starts at the end of next week and life goes back to ‘normal’ which feels sad. One more blog to go and then I can pack up my blogging until next time (I could hear your sigh of relief from here).

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