16 June 2014

Father's Day Weekend

Let me start from the beginning, and go back to Friday. Something absolutely insane (I mean, batshit crazy insane) happened at work on Friday night. I blame the fact that it was Friday the 13th AND a Full Moon (note to self: next time this occurs, take the day off!). I can't get into details of what actually happened, because a legal case is about to ensue, and I'm not sure that I should blog about anything about this point. Let me just say that when backed into a corner, I fought back. Fear will make you do some crazy things, and I am proud that for the first time in my life, I really stood up for myself.

On Saturday, I drove up to my dad's (about a four hour drive) in northeastern Pennsylvania. My brother Joe knew I was coming up, but I didn't tell anyone else. It was nice to walk into the house and have my nephew, Dominick, and niece, Lily, excited to see me. I walked upstairs and saw my little niece Scarlett, gave her a hug, and whispered that Pop Pop (my dad) didn't know I was there, so we had to be quiet. I sneaked into the living room and surprised him - and extra-surprised him when I showed him that I had brought him cheesecake for Father's Day from the best cheesecake place ever (check them out online - Pocono Cheesecake Factory - apparently they do mail orders now! WHAT?!).

Delicious! Wish I'd thought to take a picture of the actual cheesecake!

Dad is a man of fairly few words, but seemed excited that I had made it home for the weekend.

It was just after lunch time, and the kids hadn't eaten yet, so I took them out to lunch. On the way to the Chinese buffet, we saw a craft fair in town, so we stopped there. Dominick said his grandmother had a booth there, so we walked around checking stuff out plus stopped to visit his grandmother and aunt at their booth (Dominick and the girls have different moms, so it was his grandmother and aunt, not the girls'). Then the four of us went and got lunch. On the way home, Lily asked if we could stop for ice cream at the Dairy Twist. I told her absolutely not - if we were going to stop for ice cream, we were going to Gresham's. Dominick said that we should go to Coutts' instead, and get maple bacon ice cream (Who thought of such a weird thing?!). So, we opted for that, so he could get his bizarre ice cream.

Scarlett
Lily
 
Dominick
Maple Bacon ice cream
Dominick

Scarlett
Lily

On Sunday, my brother Joe and I made breakfast for the family - Belgian waffles with the new waffle iron that he bought for Dad for Father's Day, plus bacon and scrambled eggs. Scarlett and I went on the trampoline for a little bit - my first time ever getting on one - but I did nothing on it. Just walked around a little, bounced a bit, and then realized that lying down relaxing was all of the fun that I needed! Madden ran around the trampoline barking her little head off, so we let her come on with us. She enjoyed it, I think!



 Joe's girlfriend, Rachel, came over around lunchtime, and brought her little girl. The three little girls played on the trampoline, and explored in the woods. We ordered pizza from my favorite pizza place (I always try to go there when I go home - the guy who owns it is a really decent guy, too. He used to send us pizzas when my mom was sick, and the neighbors had set up a sort of meals-on-wheels for my family. Really good guy. I try to stop in and get pizza when I'm home to support him like he supported us). Then Joe built a fire in his homemade firepit, and we roasted marshmallows. Then the kids, Joe, Rachel, and I went for a walk to a pond not too far from my dad's house.

Going home makes me miss it. Not that I think I'm at all ready to move back home or anything, but I do miss getting to see my nieces grow up. And I miss being a part of the family, really. Going home is nice, though. Hopefully I'll get back up there next month some time!

6 comments:

  1. I can't believe how big your nieces are! I remember you talking about them when they were itty bitty!

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    1. It's crazy, right?! Dominick will be 18 in September. Lily is 11 1/2 (her birthday is January) and Scarlett will be 8 in September. Lily would have been less than a year old when I was first on Livejournal and posting pictures of her and stuff. So crazy. My sweet little babies are all grown up!

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  2. Sounds like you had a great time! I still have never made it to that cheesecake place. I need to next time I'm home. Glad you got to see everyone and I agree with Sara,, the kids are so grown up!

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    1. You should! It's about 45 minutes from my dad's house, so probably right around the same distance from where your family is. It's pretty close to that Great Wolf Lodge place. I think it's the best cheesecake I've ever had in my life (and being as it's one of my favorite desserts, I think I'm kind of an expert, lol). I highly recommend the plain cheesecake with fruit toppings - pineapple is the favorite in my house, but they also have strawberry, cherry, and blueberry. We tried some other kind another time that I was up... like turtle or some sort of chocolate something... and I wasn't as impressed as I am with the plain ones.

      Yeah. The kids are crazy grownup now. Dominick is like an adult. It's so crazy, lol.

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  3. Same as Sara, I totally remember seeing pictures of your nieces/nephew when they were little...its crazy how big they are now! lol

    Mmm cheesecake is my absolute favorite dessert food :)

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    1. Right?! They're like little adults now! I miss having a baby in the family, though... but I love what cool little people these three have turned into! <3

      Cheesecake is AMAZING! You guys should take a ride up to the Poconos one day and get some of this cheesecake. ;) Or, go to Great Wolf Lodge, and get some while you're up there (it's right near there). :D

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