The New Grandbaby is here!

Sitting here peacefully in the quiet of a Maryland morning.  Tommy's family is all working and Chelsea, Audrey and baby Alyssa all sleeping.  I snuck off for a shower thinking about my people back in PA.  I miss them so much but I know this time with Audrey and Alyssa isn't very long.  So I try not to think about going back to PA right away. 

Alyssa had jaundice but feeding her every two hours and sunlight therapy has brought it down.  Doc still wants her to keep feeding that way to make sure it all gets out of her.  I am so proud of Audrey and Tommy.  They are doing wonderfully with her.  You know I had my doubts with Tommy.  He moved my baby girl to Maryland.  He took her away....but you know as I talk to him this week, he reminds me a lot of my dad.  I smile thinking about him watching all that goes on here and I am sure he is proud of all our accomplishments. 

Here are some photos from this week.

A Glorious Way to Vacation in Central PA

My family and I bought a camper a few years ago.  In the forest we live by we area allowed to use their campsites free of charge.  Now they don't have water or electricity but we have a holding tank for water and a generator for electricity.  We only use that at night for lights and hot water.  It doesn't cost much more for food as we already have to eat anyhow. 

We use this time to teach our children about the plants and animals of the Bald Eagle State Forest.  We like to do this at least three times during the summer as there are different cycles for the plants to be blossoming.  One of our children's favorite times is around July 4th as the wild blueberries and teaberries are ripe and ever so yummy.  Around the same time our state flower the Mountain Laurel is blooming.  Oh our hikes are so pretty. 

Our food menu consists of all of our camping favorites.  Along with smores and hot dogs on the fire we love packet cooking.  I'll take mixed veggies, rice and a cooked meat (be it ham, chicken, steak, etc.) wrap it in foil and lay them in the fire.  Mmmmmm, what a treat.  One of our traditional desserts is pumpkin pie.  I freeze my veggies from my garden the year before and save a few cups of our pumpkin for our 4th of July meal.  Pumpkin pie on the 4th of July!  I love our traditions. 

There is a "beach" we like to go to during our camping trips.  It is Raymond B. Winter State Park.  Lovely spot.  The water is frest mountain water 38 degrees all year round.  Picnic tables, a beach, and many trails to explore make for a wonderful beach trip. 

Being a one income family we find many ways to keep the children stimulated all summer and not lose the learning aspect of being out of school.  And to do it on a small budget which having the camper has saved us a lot of money vacationing and going to visit family in neighboring states.