WV and snowshoe

WV and Snowshoe were amazing! First and foremost thanks to everyone that was there and helped me with the girls. You made my time much more relaxing than it would have been!

We drove to Pitt with John on Thursday night. It was an uneventful drive and we arrived at a hotel close to the airport at about 11. One funny thing was that Av complained the whole way there that she didn’t want to go and stay in a “hospital” she wanted to go straight to G&PP’s house. Kept trying to tell her it was a hotel we were staying in but she just could not get it right. Hehehhe We all slept but only for like 6 hours or so. Camille was up bright and early. I guess she wanted to spend more time with John before he took off.

Friday the girls and I dropped J off at the airport and started the 1.5-hour drive to my parent’s house. After a Starbucks I was feeling better and the girls were good. My dad had set the pool up for the girls so they were excited to enjoy that when we got there. My dad worked the night before so he went to bed and my mom had to work for a bit so we headed to Aunt Anne’s house. AA had like a wonderland of crafts planned for the girls. It was the best ever!! Camille took a nap and didn’t want to get up when it was time, as usual. When she finally did get up she tackled my mom so hard she knocked her right off the bed. After knowing my mom was pretty okay from her fall we all laughed pretty hard about it. Av also took a bath in AA’s big bathtub and then we headed back to G&PP’s house for dinner.

Saturday was the Welsh fam reunion. My grandfather was one of 17 so my mom had over 100 cousins! It is a BIG family. There were over 200 people at the reunion. It was in Pittsburgh so we drove to my Aunt Jenny’s house where we met up with the rest of my mom’s sisters and families that were going. From there we headed to the park for the reunion. The girls had the most fun. Av collected and ate more candy than she has ever had in her life! They made friends, played with bubbles, helped crack a piñata and got pretty darn dirty. After that we headed back to my Aunt’s house where Av sat with the “big girls” aka my cousins or now known as “my cousins” to Avery. She didn’t even want me outside with them. It was my first taste of what my week would be like with all my aunts and cousins playing with the girls. It was great. We left about 8:30 and headed back to my parents. We didn’t sleep so well that night. Av was over tired and woke up about 2:30 and was just a mess. She came to get me and woke Camille in the process. Camille never wakes up in the middle of the night so I didn’t know what to do. Then Camille was awake again at 6 am. As soon as I got her back down Av woke up again. Ugh!

Sunday we had to get ready for Snowshoe. Or really I should say Matt, Suzanne and my dad got us ready for Snowshoe. There was not really a grocery store within an hour and since we were 2 hours away we thought we would do the grocery shopping for the week before hand. Those 3 went and did an amazing job!! I am so glad I didn’t have to do it. $800 later we had food for the week for almost 20 people. Not sure how it all got packed in many many different coolers and tubs but it did somehow (Matt) and made it to the house. Wow that was a big job. Camille of course got sick again! She woke up with a fever. Every time my kids are with G&PP one of them gets sick. Double Ugh

Monday we left for Snowshoe. My mom and I drove up first with the girls and most of the food in the mini van. We got to the house and got to explore all 4 levels, 7 bedrooms, 5.5 baths, and 2 kitchens first. It was fun. Very nice house. My Aunt Rosie, her two girls Emily and Rebbeca, cousin Mike, my dad and sister all joined us that first night. By the time we got there and got settled it was time to make dinner and hang out. The girls got in the “cool tub” with their cousins and loved that.

Tuesday we just kind of hung around. Walked to the village but the whole time Camille was throwing a fit bc she didn’t want to be in her stroller and she just wanted me to carry her. She was very tired. Her and I stayed at the village for about 2 minutes before I took her back to the house for a nap. The rest of the group stayed there for a while and had fun. After that we just hung around the house playing and waiting for more of our group to arrive. That night Aunt Sally, Aunt Jenny and Danny all joined us. On Wednesday it was a rainy, over cast, and kind of a cold day. We still decided we wanted to go hiking. We went on one hike to see some waterfalls. The girls and I with my parents didn’t make it to the very bottom but had fun throwing rocks in the stream waiting on them. We had hiked down many many steps and both girls walked up every step on their own on the way back. It was pretty neat. We picked a lot of wildflowers. Camille is now obsessed with wildflowers and wants to pick every flower she ever sees. On top of picking them she still has her hording tendencies so she holds onto them forever. I find dried flowers all over my house. After that we went to check out some cranberry bogs. All of this was kind of a long drive and I rode in the back of our van with my Aunt Rosie. It was really nice to get some one on one time with her and pick her brain about good teaching strategies (she is a first grade teacher) for Av. That night the last of our group arrived. John(!!!!!), my cousin Katie and her boyfriend. It was great to see them.

Thursday we decided to take the girls to the pool. They had been dying to go. It was a pool at the resort at the top of the mountain at the village. It was an indoor-outdoor pool. Very nice pool. Both inside and outside had a water slide for the kids that Av and C did at least a 100 times. They loved it. The pool inside was like a splash part with very shallow water and jets and sprays. We went before nap and then again before dinner time that day. I forgot my camera so I was not able to capture any of the big slide smiles. So sad. The rest of the group took the chair lift to the bottom of the mountain to the lake. My poor sis came down with Camille’s flu and spent all day in bed.

Friday it was my turn to join the flu crowd. Ugh it was not fun. I was not totally horrible. I kept debating on if I was just over tired or did I have the flu so I went with the rest of the group on the train ride. We went on a real coal burning train into the mountains. The girls really thought it was pretty neat. After that I went home to nap with Camille while my dad and John took Av on the chair lift down to the lake. She was so excited to go on the chair lift and to be with PP and Dada! It was neat for her.

Saturday it was time for us all to say bye. It was very sad to leave everyone. We had such a blast. The girls just loved being with “my cousins” as Av calls them. We headed back to KY on Sat. I was still not feeling well so the car ride was long for me. Luckily the girls were good and I actually slept a lot of it.

On a side note the AC in the house did not work all week. It was pretty frustrating. Most of the week was very hot so sleeping was pretty hard. All and all the week was great but I don’t think I got one good night sleep the entire trip.