Our trip had two main purposes: One: celebrate Grandma's 80th birthday, Two: The annual Hike. Although we did have a good time celebrating with Grandma (she is very proud of her age by the way), this post is going to focus mostly on the hiking aspect. We did A LOT of hiking on this trip. We went on three hikes actually. We hiked Taughannock Falls, Watkins Glen and then did our annual family hike. Each hike we were accompanied by family. Aunts, Uncles, cousins, you name it! As we got more comfortable with our extended family our girls would tend to roam, often joining groups of people far from us. This got me to thinking about Jesus when he was a boy. I always gave his parents a hard time for not keeping up with him on that infamous journey where he stopped at the temple to teach. How could they not know where he was?? Now I know... It was such a fun time walking with our family. We would spread out in to groups and chat and then mix into different groups along the way. We all got to spend a lot of good quality time together just relaxing and enjoying the view as we walked. It was such a nice feeling knowing that our girls were safe and with family and enjoying their time too. It was then that I starting understanding the situation with Jesus a little more. Of course, none of our girls took a side trip to share the Good News, but they did have a great time with family. It was so nice to Josh and the girls to finally meet my moms side of the family on their turf. We had a wonderful visit!
Taughannock Falls
It looked absolutely beautiful when we visited because it had just rained the day before and the fall was VERY full!
My Mom, Uncle Dannie and Aunt Debbie
The above three pictures were actually taken at the beginning of the hike. In the background is just a mini falls, but made for a great photo op!
Watkins Glen Hike
Annual Family Memory Hike
If you look closely in the girls hands is ice cream. My Aunt Sylvia hired an ice cream truck to meet us on our walk and hand out free ice cream!
She also hired a horse drawn carriage to carry my Grandma (the birthday girl) and Grandpa the rest of the way down the road.
My Grandma and Grandpa
Caroline and Me after making a "pit" stop in the field
Proof that Sydney did actually come on this trip with us!
All the 2nd and 3rd cousins
The Bradley Family, New York, October 2010