Adventure Aquarium

We had a blast at the Adventure Aquarium today! So many amazing creatures God has created!

The girls watching the diver swimming around with all sorts of sea creatures.

We got to enjoy a 4D movie about sharks!

The girls standing in front of a large tank watching all the fish.

Jelly fish!!

The girls really enjoyed watching and petting the sting rays!

The shark tunnel was so cool!!!! We were completely surrounded by sharks!

The girls trying to look terrified in front of the scary shark :-)

Touching starfish

Sea turtle fun!

My girls and I in front of the Philadelphia skyline

More Snow Fun!

48 long hours...

Oh, it's been an adventurous weekend! I woke up on Saturday to this.....

A few hours later of heavy snow falling on trees, which were still heavy laden with autumn-colored leaves...

...and we were soon out of power!

At first I wasn't too bothered because this has happened before, and it always seemed to pop back within a few hours. Not so this time....

Our supper on Saturday night was provided for by our gas grill on the back porch. Here is my Mom trying to boil water to make noodles. Grilling and winter attire don't seem to mix...

We survived fine Saturday night, lighting candles around the house and bundling in our fleece blankets, using flashlights to read books to pass the time. It was kinda like an adventure...

Although there was no power at church on Sunday, we still had a morning service. They used generators to give us some lighting in the auditorium. For the afternoon, we headed to my grandparents' house to keep warm and stopped at a diner along the way to get a hot meal.

We came back for church at 6 pm, and the power was still out at church. We had another chilly service, and then headed home to a really chilly house! Temperatures were steadily declining in the house. Mom heated some chicken noodle soup on the grill, and it sure felt good going down, let me tell you! Another evening of candles lit, fleece blanket bundling, flashlights, and tap lights. It wasn't quite as adventurous the second night...

Alayna slept down in my room so we could keep each other company in the dark and keep warm. Actually my room wasn't *that* bad because there wasn't any cold air coming in from doors opening etc. I kept waking up throughout the night though, hoping to see that the power was back on...I kept being disappointed....

This morning I bundled in multiple layers knowing it was going to be COLD. When I got upstairs I could literally see my breath as I walked about the house. The adventurous spirit inside of me was completely gone at this point! :-)

Andy came up with a unique way to heat water this morning. (I am sure we were breaking some fire code somewhere...oh well!)

For lunch, we drove to a McDonald's in a nearby town that had power, so we could enjoy some hot coffee and a lunch with some substance - other than granola bars & pretzels! On the way home, my Dad calls to inform us that the estimated time for power to go back on was 11 pm on November 3...which was another 3 full days away! He was trying to come up with some alternative plans so we wouldn't have to stay in a cold house that length of time. My spirit wasn't exactly what I would call "positive" anymore. My "secure lil' world" was feeling out of control and I didn't like it! As we continued home, I tried to get a healthy dose of perspective. I was reminded of all the devastation that earthquakes, tornadoes and tsunamis have caused to countless people around the world in recent months/years, and I felt ashamed that such a "little inconvenience" got me into such an insecure, despondent state of mind. Yes, I was quite chilled...yes, my hair was quite greasy at this point...but what was that compared to losing all your possessions and even some loved ones??? By the time we pulled in our driveway, I had given myself enough mental lectures and felt somewhat prepared to brace all the "little unknowns" that lay ahead for the rest of the week.

We walk in the door, and as Alayna walked in the kitchen, I stood there, gazing in utter disbelief. What looked different about the kitchen?? Suddenly, it clicked.....the light was on!! I literally started bouncing up and down with giddiness..."Our power is back! Our power is back!" I kept shouting. (I wasn't acting like a mature 26 year old at this point, let me tell you!) Never before have I been so glad to see that kitchen light shining bright!

Oh yes, my pioneer ancestors would be ashamed of me for being such a sissy throughout this 48 hour ordeal! But then again, they never had all these modern conveniences to begin with, so they wouldn't know what it was like to have it all taken away. Hmmm...perhaps they were lucky to not have as much to begin with??? Now there's a thought! You never realize how much you depend on electricity and modern conveniences until something like this happens. :-) How easy it is to take them for granted! Perhaps the Lord allowed this to happen to give me some new perspective on how blessed I really am! :-)

Hopefully, everyone else's power turns back on soon!

A Birthday Memory I'll Never Forget

A few months ago, I was browsing through the family email when I came across Beverly Lewis' newsletter. She is definitely one of my favorite authors, so when I see her newsletter I always quickly scan it to see when her new book is coming out. However, this particular newsletter captured my attention when I saw -much to my amazement- that one of her book series was being put to a musical! I LOVE musicals, and just the thought that it would be based on my favorite author's book made it even more intriguing. I looked for the location and discovered that it was going to be taking place near Lancaster, which is only about 2 hours away. Then I noticed that in October, Beverly Lewis herself would actually be coming to the musical, and there would be a special dinner with her before the show. When I discovered that it "just so happened" to be the same week as my birthday, I subtly mentioned to my Mom that it would be a perfect birthday present! Well, my Mom picked up rather quickly to my subtleness, and booked tickets for the two of us to go the day after my birthday!

So my Mom and I were off to Bird-in-Hand Family Restaurant yesterday to enjoy a yummy meal with Beverly Lewis, and later on, enjoy an Amish musical! This family restaurant was like a mini Shady Maple, with the same delicious Pennsylvania Dutch food served. I was quite happy to eat my pork & sour kraut with fluffy mashed potatoes!

We soon discovered that Beverly Lewis is a very sweet and personable lady. She came around to each table to greet all the guests personally and chat with them. It was one of those moments that I couldn't believe was actually happening! I have seen her smiling face on the back of many of my favorite books, so to actually carry on a conversation with her was pretty amazing! My Mom thanked her for always having a clear Gospel message in her books, and she replied that was the reason she wrote. Without the Gospel, there would be no reason to write. Beverly then gave a short talk before she began signing books. She was quite inspiring!

Book signing time!

I just did a quick scan through the bookshelves in our house, and between all her Amish series I currently have on my shelf, her teen series I read when I was younger, and her children series Alayna collected, we have a total of 56 books written by Beverly Lewis!! She is quite the amazing author, and if that number doesn't prove that to you, nothing will! :-)

There are certain moments in your life you want captured, and this was definitely one of those moments!

After dinner and the book signing was over, we then went downstairs to the area where the Amish musical was taking place. Although it wasn't the grandeur of a Sight & Sound production, the cast did an AMAZING job with both their acting and singing!! It was obviously a condensed version of this particular book series, but they captured the emotions of the story quite well. There were moments where we were dying of laughter, and moments where we were wiping away tears. By the time the musical was over, it was rather late, and we still had about a 2 hour drive home. My Mom bought me the soundtrack to the musical, so we played it all the way home to keep me awake as I drove. :-) Oh yes, it was definitely a birthday memory I will never forget!!!

While the Parents are Away...

Last night Andy and I hosted a singles party at our house. My parents and Alayna were away for the weekend in Washington DC on a school civics trip, so the house was ours to do with as we pleased...hehehe. :-)

It had been awhile since the singles from church had gotten together, so we thought it was the perfect opportunity to have a group over. We couldn't of asked for a better night! The chill of autumn was in the air, but it felt refreshing as the house got quite stuffy with 24 people crowded about!

A mixture of aromas filled our house throughout the evening ~ a sugar cookie candle burning, Italian sausage simmering, pizza pockets baking, apple cider bubbling, coffee percolating.

Sounds of laughter were heard all around from the competitive ping-pong games on the back porch, the crazy nonsense words of Bible Mad Gab, the debating creativity of the game "In a Pickle", the shouts of "Blitz!!" during the fast-paced games of Dutch Blitz, and the quick grabbing of spoons during a new variation of the game "Pit".

My camera was in Washington DC this weekend, so I wasn't able to take any pictures of the evening, but Andy got a few during one of the many rounds of Pit & Dutch Blitz. It definitely was a fun night with our friends!

Phantom of the Opera

Today was our "remake day" to go to see Phantom of the Opera in New York City after the hurricane ruined our previous plans. Oh my, what a day!!! Definitely worth all the aggravation it may have caused. :-) An experience none of us will forget any time soon!

Alayna and her fellow Phantom of the Opera buddy, Noreen, on the bus heading to NYC...

We had pizza for lunch once we got to NYC. Alayna was taking this picture of the two of them, but I figured I would be somewhere in the background, so I'd better smile :-)

Majestic Theater! I love how "old" this picture looks after editing it to look black & white. It is like a reflection of how old the theater really is. :-) And yes, the show was phenomenal, as the sign says.

Posing time! Making memories....

Waiting for the show to begin...

I took a picture of the stage during intermission. This was the view we had from our seats. We were pretty far back, but it still was a good "overhead" view of everything.

Seeing Phantom of the Opera on Broadway was an amazing experience to be sure! After all the planning and anticipation, I felt rather sad as we walked out the theater though. I want to go back and see it again!!! Who wants to come along with me? :D

When Plans Change....

I had it all planned out. Ever since June I knew what I wanted to do for Alayna's 16th birthday. She listened to the music, played the music on the piano, and sang the music constantly! She even had watched the movie with friends many, many times. It was perfect. I researched all the information, and asked others who had gone if they had any special advice for me. I was so excited. Ironically, when I was considering when would be the best time to go, I remember thinking that if we went in August we wouldn't have to worry about the weather. Ha!

Earlier this week, I know I "tortured" some of my blog readers when I left them hanging with this picture, wondering what I was inviting Alayna to...

Well, here is what the card revealed...

When she read that, her mouth dropped open (as you saw), and she was *slightly* excited. She texted her friend, Noreen, right away and she was *slightly* excited as well. Needless to say, we were all *slightly* excited. :-) So this past month we have finalized plans, figuring out all the details of our upcoming NYC adventure.

All was well until.....Hurricane Irene decided to show up.

I really didn't think too much about it. I knew there was a hurricane coming, but I didn't think that would really affect us other than perhaps we should bring a couple of umbrellas along.

I was wrong.

Sitting in the office yesterday at work, I was trying to stay focused, all the while just getting really excited about the next day's adventures.

Then my cell phone rang. It was my Mom. When she asked me if I was sitting down, I knew that it couldn't be good news. A horrible feeling of dread washed over me.

"New York City is completely shutting down all means of transportation tomorrow in preparation for Hurricane Irene. We have no way of getting there to see the show."

Pause....

"Becky?"

I just sat there, stunned...and numb. I just couldn't believe that this was happening! You know how it is when you have looked forward to something for SO long only to have it swiped away from you at the last minute?! I really didn't know what to expect now. The tickets clearly stated that there were no exchanges or refunds, so I basically thought that I had spent lots of $$$ for nothing, and poor Alayna would have no special birthday memories.

THANKFULLY after about 30 minutes of being on hold for customer service, I finally got through to someone to discover that since the shows were being cancelled, everyone was going to be reimbursed for their tickets!! Also, I was able to reorder tickets right away for a later date. It was QUITE the relief!

Oh yes...the disappointments of life! I kept asking myself WHY would this hurricane have to come on THIS weekend? The weekend I had planned for months! But as I blinked back tears of disappointment, I was reminded of the fact that God is in control of everything, and He knew this was going to happen from the very beginning. Why did it happen? Maybe we would have gotten into an accident, or maybe the actor playing the Phantom would have gotten a sore throat and wouldn't have sung as good??? Who knows?! God does. And although I have complained a lot more than I should have (shame on me), ultimately I have to trust that "all things work together for good."

So yes, hopefully everything will work out for us to go see Phantom of the Opera in New York City on Saturday, September 10! But, as I am discovering more and more in life...plans change whether you want them to or not! I've got to learn to be flexible and let God be in control. :-)

Friday Vacation Adventures

After pulling an all-nighter, needless to say, we had a late start on Friday. It was around noon by the time we got started with our day! We played some games, ate mac n' cheese for breakfast/lunch, and then headed out. Our first stop was to Sweet Melodies to enjoy some gelatos - really churned, delicious ice cream! We then went miniature golfing....

Afterwards we went to Dunkin Donuts to get some refreshing drinks after being in the scorching heat. We did some shopping, and then by that time it was time for supper. We picked up a pizza on our way to Shakespeare in Delaware Park. This organization puts on outdoor theater performances of different Shakespeare plays throughout the summer. People bring lawn chairs or blankets and just spread out on the grass to watch the play. The particular play we saw was "As You Like It." We weren't familiar with the storyline, but thankfully they had a synopsis in the program they handed out! It took us a little while to fully understand what was going on because of all the flowery Shakespearean language, but we soon got caught up in the story. It was a romantic comedy that had us laughing quite often! The actors and actresses did an awesome job! The play started at 7:30 and lasted till 10:30 with a short intermission in between.

Thus ends my vacation adventure blog posts. Saturday was a long day of travel again, and neither Alayna or I were in the picture-taking mood. :-) It's been fun doing all these blog posts, remembering all the fun we had on vacation. We definitely had a great time!

Thursday Vacation Adventures

On Thursday we headed to Niagara Falls. We got a special Discovery Pass, which included Cave of the Winds, Maid of the Mist, the Aquarium of Niagara, and a movie about Niagara Falls.

Our first adventure was Cave of the Winds. We put on the yellow ponchos they gave us, but it was SOOO hot out that they were literally sticking to us. We basically kept them on long enough to take a picture of how ridiculous we looked, and then took them off again. The mist from the waterfall felt so good on such a hot day!

Alayna went up to the "Hurricane Deck" to get soaked... :-)

Because it was later in the day, our next stop was to be the Aquarium of Niagara as that was the attraction that closed earlier than the rest. So we got out our handy-dandy tourist guide, and let's just say that the map should have had an FYI that said "Locations on map are farther than they appear." None of us had ever been to the aquarium so we had no clue where we are going. We started heading off in the general direction that it told us to go. We walked, and walked, and walked. We finally stopped at this welcome center near the border of Canada to ask for directions. Well, let's just say, the guy gave us the longest route possible to get to this aquarium. So we walked, and walked, and walked some more. Eventually Elizabeth got on the phone with her Mom so she could mapquest our location from her laptop at home. She gave us the street name where the aquarium was on, and we were very close. In fact, if we had just walked straight at one point we would have been there 15 minutes sooner! We were literally dripping in sweat by the time we got to the aquarium. The air conditioning never felt so good! So we walked around for a bit, went to the gift shop, took some pictures, and then went to our 2nd sea lion show of the week.

We took pictures with the scary fake shark...this was shortly after we arrived, and we were still slightly deranged from the heat. :-)

Once the sea lion show was over, we headed back to the Falls. Thankfully, we caught a trolley this time, and saved ourselves from the long walk. Our next adventure was going on the Maid of the Mist - by far, the best part of the day!!!!

Feeling stylish in our ponchos...

It was so neat to be so close to the falls!

We were on the boat as the sun was setting and shining directly on the falls. So pretty! There were rainbows everywhere! At one point, there was a full rainbow over the falls. Unfortunately, just something you can't quite capture on camera!

On the Observation Tower...

We then went to the Visitor Center, where we watched "Niagara Legends of Adventure" in the theater. It was quite an amazing movie about all the legends and history associated with Niagara Falls. I particularly liked the story of a teacher who went over the falls in a barrel filled with pillows and her little kitten. She wanted to be remembered by her students for doing something daring, I guess!! Nope, sorry...I don't have to be remembered THAT much by my students. :-)

After the movie was over, we went back to the Observation Tower to watch the colored lights shine on the falls at night. The show started later than it was supposed to, so we didn't stay too long. On the way home, we picked up 2 movies at a redbox and some Code Red Mountain Dew for the all-nighter we were planning. We ended up staying up till 5:30 watching chick flicks, playing games on the Wii and just being completely immature. It was a blast :P