Family Vacation for the 4th

This year Dave and I went back East for 10 days, it has been several years since we've visited my mom's sisters and my cousins in West Virginia. As a surprise, Dave bought an airline ticket for my grandson Ian to accompany us. We left early on Friday morning, (6/26/09 @ 6:00am), with a 3 hour lay over in Dallas, and arrived in Pittsburgh at 4:00pm. Everyone was surprised to see Ian and loved the idea that we brought him along. They were amazed that he grew so much since the last time they saw him.


And of course Ian's favorite part of the trip was Aunt Judy's new kitten, 11 week old Billy. Aunt Judy thought Ian was going to rub the fur off Billy.



On Saturday afternoon Dave, Ian, Aunt Judy, my cousin Russell and I went to town did some Wally World shopping, (Wal Mart), then had lunch at Applebee's. My Aunt and cousin have never had French Onion soup, so Dave made sure that they ordered it, and sure enough they LOVED it.



As a special surprise to my Aunt Judy, (she's 62), Dave and I purchased her a new stove and it was delivered by Lowes on Saturday. Her old stove was purchased in 1972, and only 1 burner was working on it. She was so surprised, we told her "Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Every Holiday". She kissed and hugged us - I thought she was going to cry. Dave and I cooked lots, and gave the stove quite a workout while we were there. They LOVE Mexican food, so on Sunday night we made up a batch of chicken and a batch of beef enchiladas. Then we made up another batch of each and froze them - so they could have them after we left. All kinds of cooking was done on that new stove that week.

On Tuesday morning; Dave, Ian, Judy, and I went on a little mini vacation to Morgantown. Dave and I used one of our timeshare weeks to reserve a 2 bedroom condo at Lakeview Golf Resort. On Tuesday night we went to Pittsburgh, (1 1/2 hour away), and had dinner at The Melting Pot. My Aunt and Ian both were mesmerized and loved it.

Here's Ian's video at Pittsburgh: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6DlOWB6K9c



On Wednesday Dave surprised Judy and I with a day spa treatment at Roma Spa located at the resort. When they found out Judy had never ever been to a spa, they treated her like royalty, as you can see from the photo :). We both got hot wax pedicures, and hour long massages. My Aunt was born with spina bifada and her back gives her a lot of pain, and after the massage, for the first time in months she was pain free, and has been pain free now for over 2 weeks. She wants to try to start getting massages every month now. I told her to get her doctor to write a prescription so her medical card would help pay for it as a therapeutic message. While we were being pampered, Dave and Ian swam in the pool. On Thursday, it poured the rain, but we played cards, talked and enjoyed the day inside. On Friday we went back to Judy's house.


On Saturday we celebrated the 4th of July and my cousin Russell's birthday, (which is on the 6th), with a picnic. My 86 year old Aunt Mae, my 2nd cousin Violet Grace, her husband Bob, Dave, Ian, Russell, and I ate until we were stuffed. There was so much food. A neighbor of my Aunt's stopped by and visited and we all told jokes and laughed. Then about 5:00 it was time to head into town for the 4th of July show.


AND GUESS WHAT ???? Along with more food, fireworks, and entertainment, we found out that Elvis is actually alive and well and living in of all places Gassaway, West Virginia. Go Figure !!


We arrived home on Sunday, July 5th around 11:15 pm, and got to our front door around midnight. So tired....

Anyways, it was great to see everyone, but when I think of family vacations I remember what Johnny Carson once said about Thanksgiving: "It's the one time of year you travel hundreds of miles to see everyone, and thank God, it's only 1 day a year".... AMEN Johnny. It's always good to be back home.