Just What We Needed!!

We booked a house for the Poconos way back in November as our summer vacation this year.  As we began to see how the schedule of our rebuild was going to shake out we realized we were going to get back into the house 2 days before we left for a week.  This definitely added to the stress.  We had to get unpacked before we could again packed up to leave again.  Last week was rough!!!
 We officially got back into the house last Thursday.  Full coverage to come in a blog in the near future!!  We were pretty successful in getting almost all of the boxes opened and things put away and are very grateful to the people who helped out with the twins and also helped out with unpacking.  We were able to get unpacked enough to find our stuff in order to pack up and head north!
 Once we got situated in the lake house and had a minute to breathe, Mike and I both agreed that it was pretty wonderful to be on vacation after the stress of last week.  In fact, I highly recommend if anyone goes through a move to schedule some time off soon after!!!
 Much to share - here we go!
 So the reason we headed to the Poconos instead of the shore is because the twinjas just don't like the ocean.  They like calm water and they like sand.  So -- a lake in the Poconos fit the bill.  It's also MUCH closer (only an hour!) and MUCH cheaper.  We had a 4 bedroom house and were very excited to have different friends and family visit us throughout the week.

Upon arrival - first trip the beach (which was a 20 second walk from the house!!!)

Pay attention to the progression of the twinjas swimming throughout the week.  Day 1 = Allie needing to be held and Cam not wanting to get very far away from me.

Allie preferred to stay in the "little end".

And she LOVED doing this!

Pretty excited boy right here!

Gettin' some air!

  Day 2 - Eva, Chip, Riley and Carter joined us!!

"Hmmm...how does the water feel today?"

Allie says, "This is pretty awesome!"

Getting braver!  Allie still wanted to hold onto me as we got into deeper water. Cam was pretty much on his own at this point!

We made it to the dock!!!!!!!!

After yelling "DADDY!!!" over and over again,we finally convinced him to come out to the dock with us.

The Rocc Flock at the dock!

Snack tent!

Allie was really into playing frisbee...

.....and beach yoga!

Carter and Eva joined us!

The guys were into trying to catch fish and snakes!  Yes, Michael stole that pink net from a little girl.

We loved having a playground right next to the water!

Paw Patrol was a big hit all week!

Riley and Cam splashing in the lake!

 We LOVED going down to the beach for some sunset swimming.  So beautiful!

Allie still needing to hold onto my hand....Cam a bit braver.

Cam liked to use his hoe to measure the water.  "I can still touch!" he'd say as he made his way out into the water.

There's Allie's favorite move again!

"Maybe tomorrow will be the day I swim out to the dock with NO help..."

  Day 3:  We decided to check out the Boulder Field at Hickory Run State Park.

 

Cam was a little disappointed because he wanted BOULDERS!!  "These rocks are too small!"

I was terrified and kept trying to get him to hold my hand.  No way!

Allie preferred to sunbathe for a bit...

Go, Cam!  GO!

Allie was a bit more timid and allowed Daddy to hold onto her hand!

  We then checked out the Shadows of Death Trail (what an awful name!!!)

But it was beautiful!

 

Gammy and Poppy came down for Tuesday and Wednesday.  The twins were VERY excited to see them!!

Notice Allie in the distance -- she wanted to go to the dock so off we went - this time with very little help from me!

Wasn't going to put this picture in but check out that orb right around Cam's face!

Beach bums!

Allie is definitely a Rocchi -- bowl full of olives and she ate almost all of them!

Yeah Rocchis!

Gorgeous sunset!

  Poppy made us laugh the next morning by getting "stuck" in the kid's chair....

I wasn't going to put this in either but Cam took it and I think I look young and relaxed!!  I guess it's that fresh mountain air???

Another pic by Cam!

We took a little stroll with Gammy...

....to play on a playground at a nearby lake.

 Back to the lake!!   Daddy needed to get some exercise....

 Gammy and Poppy headed out Wednesday night and we checked out the local Pocono Mountain Volunteer Fire Department carnival.  We then got geared up for part 2 of this blog which shall be called PSU Pocono Getaway (thanks to Tiff for the name!!)  Two of my college friends and their families along with Dave and Lisa Quell came to the house for a few days and it was lots of fun.  We've all known each other for a long time because of being together at Penn State as classmates or being involved in the Dance Marathon supporting the Quell's.  

Dave brought his canoe!!  Super fun!

More attempts at fishing....this time Mike borrowed Dave's net!

Snuggle time is the best time!

The Scarlatos and Rocchis!

  Back to the lake house for some R and R....or Paw Patrol and Blaze!

Nice hat!

  Tiff is going to do some photoshop magic to combine these 2 pics....

 

I told everyone to act like they were having lots of fun because it looked so festive with the lights....here's what the 2 Mikes thought was lots of fun to do.  Ha!

 Time for a fire!

Always a great helper!

They found a frog!

Ribbit

Not the best pic but LOVED the glow sticks.  Thanks, Lisa and Dave!  What a great idea!

Boys loved playing air hockey!

 The next day was a HUGE amount of fun!!!

Lisa brought a long a game that Jared used to play as a little boy.  All the kids LOVED it and all the kids LOVED Lisa!

Time for more boating!

Dave in the kayak!

DUCKS!

Allie got buried...

Mason buried Cam!

The kids fell in love with Lisa....

Just an update on the twins' swimming in the lake.  By this point in the week they were both swimming out to the dock on their own and jumping off of the ladder!!  Whoo hoo!

Tiff, the professional photographer, took some amazing pictures!

Some football was played....

Some bubbles were blown....

Lots of dinosaurs were played with...

 And we of course had to pose for some pictures!!

What an adorable group of kids!!

The ladies!

The ladies + Dave!

All of our friends left Friday morning but we were lucky enough to have Dave and Lisa stay one more night.  That meant the twins had her all to themselves!

Quick photo shoot on the beach....

Cam behind the camera again...Allie and I decided to do a jumping picture....she obviously is much better at this than I!

I told them to act like lifeguards -- this is what they did!

Just beautiful....

Little light reading around the campfire....

More glow sticks!

Thanks, Dave,for the cool ball!!

   So we are back in Coopersburg and back in the midst of organizing our lives.  We are however much more relaxed (and tanned/burned!!) than a week ago and feeling ready to tackle the next stage of this house!