Of Food And Love: The drive up to Chautauqua

*Pronounced Sha-ta-qua*

The pictures in this blog post will be solely comprised of photos take by my children.  It really couldn’t be any other way…

This our first time ever doing something like this.  We are in upstate New York, lake side, in a resort community.  Our good friends have come here every year for almost 20 years and invited us to join them.  What a blessing!  The drive up was pretty and I caught myself trying to compare New York nature to Pennsylvania nature.  Somewhere along the way I felt like I was looking at California nature.  Whatever, who knows.

The drive took us 4 hours, almost to the minute, and we were famished.  Letting the kids out of the car was almost like a category 4 hurricane.  Only, this hurricane was concentrated around my ankles, the length of my shopping cart and IN my shopping cart.  I don’t know where I go mentally when my children get crazy embarrassing like that, but it’s almost like my mind shuts off and I don’t even see them anymore.  Then, I snap out of it just in the nick of time, like, just in time to watch my kid try and jump off the playhouse in the kid’s corner of the store!!  Horrible mother of the year award.

Cylas was obsessed with the trees, trying to figure out how they live, what their lives were like, “do they get cold?”, “can they feel how hot it is right now?”.  Because, well, he was “melting” and really wanted a pop-the-skull *Popsicle* and he was sure they wanted one too.

“Mom, they’re like a city, huh.  They have their own city.”
Me:”Yeah, you’re right, it’s like they have their own city of trees down there.  It’s like they’re a community.”

Day one, a success.  Completely pooped and so eager for day two!  Beach play, sun bathing, book reading, running and just basic summer fun is on the books.