We’ve survived 5 weeks!

Wow, can’t believe we’ve been on the road for 5 weeks! We have settled into Philly, and Kaden has finished his first “semester” at Temple. This past week was the 4th of July, and you must experience it in Philly at least once in your life. We spent the week of the 4th in a hotel in the old city, so that we could enjoy all the goings on and not have to trek back to Temple’s campus late at night. If you ever want to do Philly for any of the holidays, or just anywhere that has a large convention space, check the hotels near the convention areas. Typically they don’t have conventions around major holidays, so there are a lot of empty rooms, therefore there are some good deals.

Walker got to go to sailing camp for 3 days last week, and had a blast. It was at the Seaport center in Philly and they sailed on the Delaware river. He also got to go on a submarine, and an old battleship where he fired the cannons.

Kaden had another great week of camp, he is making so much progress. Jen and I are also learning ways to ensure he is successful in the classroom. Ms. Tiller better be ready for us!

Jen and I enjoyed a few hours just the two of us, we explored some of the more “boring” museums and other things the boys wouldn’t have enjoyed. We also had a family from SSI come up and visit, as they have family in the area. That was awesome.

We spent the weekend in West Amwell, NJ with the local celebrity Betty Jane Hunt. Betty Jane is the mother of our friend Sarah Callaway (you must go get a Bacon, Egg, and Pepperjack on Asiago at Sandy Bottom Bagels; I call it the Dan, though I’m the only one.) Betty Jane is the epitome of a hard-working woman. She keeps a few head of cattle on her property, is the head of the 4-H Dairy association in town, is her churches secretary, was the City Clerk, and wrote some for the paper, and published a book! I had to discern all this from conversations, as she is too humble to brag on herself. We had a great time exploring rural NJ with Betty Jane, and everywhere we went we were greeted as family. The boys loved playing with the cows, but the highlight of the trip was when we had fresh Jersey corn and tomatoes for dinner. I may have eaten the over, with the line set at 3! On Sunday morning we joined Betty Jane at her wonderful church. It’s so old, there is still the stable adjacent to the sanctuary to tie up your horses while you are worshiping. The pastor invited Jennifer to share our story from the pulpit!! How cool is that. When church was over, we were greeted in the parking lot by our friends Jeff and Mary Parker from SSI! They were on their way home from a cruise out of NYC, and just so happened to be 15 miles from us. We all went to lunch together, and it was wonderful to fellowship with friends; new and old. We bid Jeff and Mary adieu, and headed back to the farm to load up the bus. It was hard to tell Ms. Betty Jane bye, as we had inherited a grandmother. And I think Kaden would have stayed with those cows if we gave him the choice. I promised some of y’all to dig up some dirt on Sarah, all I found out was…She was a major Tom-Boy, “when all the girls were wearing skin tight clothes, Sarah was in the baggiest thing she could find.” Sarah can play the trumpet, and can SING. Betty Jane stated she would love for Sarah to sing again, so I’m going to make that a mission of mine to see if we can find a venue! Maybe Miss Christina’s show next year? I’ll dance, she sings.

This post is going to get posted late, as we just pulled up to the train station in NYC!

Quick thoughts

…fresh corn and fresh tomatoes is about as good as food gets…

…people who protest parades are stupid…

…I fell out of a hammock…

…People in PA just swim in the fountains, is that sanitary?…

…staying out of the bus for a week was weird…

…Kaden is crushing his therapy…

…Reading Terminal Market is a must…

…I took Kaden to school on a bike last week, 2 miles through downtown traffic. Felt like Puck…

…If you got that reference you are old, but you were once cool…

…Parallel parking a 40’ bus is exhilarating, but double parking in the middle of the street is easier and less stressful, if you can tune out the horns…