My family vacation was a blast............................we've been to Ricketts Glen many times and always enjoyed the variety of things in the campground and area for us all. Before my brother and sisters started having kids we'd meet here and sometimes all hang out together and sometimes we split into separate activities throughout the day. We were always back at the picnic table to share stories over mealtime and for campfires. This trip was all about hanging out with the young Quigley kids......twins Aidan and Grace, their baby sister Madelyn and their older cousin Emily.
Here are some pics from the trip.
Even though Rose and I traveled together we actually packed for the Quigley's so they could just concentrate on getting their rental RV and themselves to camp. The td packing didn't change....just the extra stuff in the bed of the truck!
First stop Black Moshannon for a night. Cool place. Had a pull through site that made it convenient getting in later in the eveing plus electric to enjoy two fans and the dvd player. Muggy day but comfortable evening with no rain.
Ricketts Glen camp setup. We had one night to ourselves and it poured, plus lightening and thunder, from 11pm to 4am. The lightening provided a neat light show!
The kids enjoyed a nice day at the beach for swimming and then another day at the beach for kayaking.
The girls swimming.
Madelyn loves the water............
The youngest kids enjoying roasting marshmallows and making smores for the first time.
Gracie looks like she's having a great time with her marshmallow experience.
Aidan had a hard time saying "cheese" while polishing off his first smore.
Older cousin Emily is a pro at this............
Aunt Barb created coloring book pages with my Kodak program. You can take a photo and change it into a cool coloring book look. I found some pics from the twins first Ricketts Glen campout when they were 4 months old and then added some td pictures. Let me tell you this came in real handy on our rainy day.
Couple of new boxes of crayons + coloring book pages= Plenty of fun at the RV kitchen table.
Aunt Rose cooked some mighty fine meals for us in camp. One of my sister's favorites is pasta with chicken and breaded cauliflower. MMMM...MMMM GOOD!
Aunt Barb cooked some great breakfasts plus surprised everyone with her newest purchase: the new Coleman Oven. Cooked everything in it 25 degrees less and it was the bomb!!!!!!! We had choc chip cookies, cinnamon rolls from scratch, and I even found "bear" shaped silicone cake pans that each one of the kids could have. I wanted them to understand that we were in a park that had a lot of black bear and we had to be good neighbors to the bears so in honor of them we baked choc bear cakes with white frosting.
We took advantage of another nice day and split it up between an easy hike along a creek and then an afternoon of swimming and kayaking. Once the kids saw Aunt Rose with her hiking stick they quickly found their own for their morning hike. Here the kids pause at the first bridge. We kept the hike easy................and flat. Once it started to climb and had cliffs to worry about we turned back.
The Quigley's left late Saturday after a full day of activities and dinner. While mom and dad packed the van Aunt Barb and Aunt Rose made them cheese quesadillas for dinner. We used Saturday as a leftover night. Rose and I had tacos and Kevin and Lynn had the pasta! Before they pulled out we walked the shelter out in the open and after they left Rose and I had it taken apart in 10 minutes. The last night was clear skies so we didn't feel we needed it. All we had left in the morning was to hitch the td and go!
When the Quigley's left it was too quiet but this was the first time I put my feet up since they arrived.
Passing by Lake Jean on the way out of the park.
I hate to say it but I leave Wed night for a 4 day kayaking trip.............it's turning out to be an awesome td summer!
Barb