summer vacation round-up

I've been WAY behind on my blogging, especially with our big summer vacation (which I've been finishing then post-dating them so they're in chronological order). So, I thought you might appreciate a consolidated post where you could find ALL the posts about ALL our fun.

Here you go. My summer vacation posts in one place. :)

Here we go

a ride with Papa

coolin' off at the splash park

where a kid can be a kid

keeping cool

let's bowl

pelican bay water play

this & that

long time, no see

trampoline park

@ the Lake (part 1)

Exploring @ the Lake

@ the Lake (part 2)

Vacation comes to an end

Summer's bounty

Another bounteous, delicious summer. Check it out!

Look at this handsome boy! He loves corn on the cob so when Grandma offered him some he had TWO!

Yummeee! That's some good corn from Pap's field. 

Mmmm. We've also been enjoying some yummy peaches and nectarines from the orchards. So juicy and sweet. Levi digs in and doesn't give up until all that's left is the pit. ;)

Pap gave me some tomatoes from his garden and I decided I'd make some more of my roasted marinara sauce. Here's everything all mixed together ready to bake- tomatoes, oregano, basil, garlic, salt and pepper, olive oil, and chicken broth. 

(Note: I made a double batch of sauce which I ran through a Victorio strainer, the simmered for 5 hours and got 1.5 quarts of sauce. However, it will be heavenly delicious sauce which I'll save for a special occasion, but this might be one of my last ventures in sauce making. Almost 20 pounds of tomatoes, 3 hours of prep and cooking, 1/4 hour of straining, 5 hours of simmering and about 1 hour in the water bath canner for 1.5 quarts of sauce. Not sure if this math adds up.)

{finale} Summer at the parks

Well, we didn't quite get all 30 parks done this year, but we DID do 24/30! I am TOTALLY happy with that considering we actually only had 42 days of the summer to do these rubbings. PRETTY GOOD FOLKS!

A closer look at the rubbings. This year's theme was science experiments, etc.

All 3 kids did them this year,

Alivia and Jackson read 800+ minutes this summer and got these certificates. Levi was read to (which counts too) for about 650 minutes. NICE job kids!

With the completion of these 800 minutes and parks program this kids got certificates to 2 minor league baseball games, and an ice cream party. Unfortunately we were on our vacation for ALL of them, so we gave them to our cousins. :)

Jackson's school prize for reading 800 minutes was popcorn and a movie with the principal after he started 1st grade. (He said they watched an Arthur movie about bullying and being a friend.)

Alivias school prize was a slip and slide party (after 3rd grade started). She had a great time and LOVED it!! I love these summer programs. They are great. They keep us busy and learning and having fun!

info about the state & county parks

Our state & county parks have given us some great summer adventures. You can re-visit our adventures on the park below-

Summer Reading & Park Program
Apollo Park & Indian Steps Museum
Lewis State Park, Spring Valley Park, & Raab Park
Kain County Park, Native Lands County Park, Kid's Kingdom, Codorus State Park, & Spoutwood Farm Center
Trolley Line, & Rail Trail
Codorus State Park, Nixon County Park, Zion's View Park, & Rudy County Park
Pinchot Park
Agricultural & Industrial Museum of York
Rocky Ridge Park


I'm documenting these sites (below) so they're easy to find for our future reference. Feel free to poke around and pick your next adventure!

Pennsylvania State Parks
York County Parks