Trip to PA

Two weeks ago Lucas and I headed off to West Middlesex, PA with my dad to visit family and go to the annual Bateman family reunion. Todd had already made plans months back to go to a concert with good friends so unfortunately we had to leave him behind. Both of my parents are from this quaint little town about an hour north of Pittsburgh. Growing up we travelled up there several times a year to visit and spend holidays with family from far and near. John and I used to spend a few weeks up there in the summertime when we got a older and really loved it! Well, we don't make it back up as often anymore do too our growing families, work, etc. So when we got the opportunity to go I was excited! Especially since our lives will be pretty hectic next year. Can you imagine travelling 7 + hours with THREE under THREE and then staying in a hotel....I can't....So we jumped on the trip this year!

We had a great time visiting with Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and even Great Aunts and Uncles! Lucas loved seeing everyone just as much as I did and was thoroughly enjoying his extra time with Pa-Pa (Grandpa), Ge-Ge (Uncle Gary), Jean(Aunt Jean), Yess-e ( Jessi), my seat (Aunt Wendy), and Ann-e (Danielle). The my seat name was actually really cute! Wendy played games with Lucas "stealing" a chair, after which he would quickly respond, "no, my seat!" and therefore I guess "my seat" was easier than Wendy.... They are too funny! ;)

As always we were sad to go and wish we could do this more often and for a longer time period. But we were ecstatic to get the time that we did :) We love you all!!!!

Lucas coloring with some of his distant cousins at the family reunion:Cousins - All those pictured here are my mom's first cousins- well except for her hubby(Dad in the middle) and her sisters- Wendy and Jean(they are on either side of my dad) ;) Don't you think the lady all the way to the right looks like mom with lighter hair? That is Jo....;)

This one adds in the previous generation- my Great Uncle John and Great Aunt Janet. They are my Grandmother's siblings.
We had an adventurous day at a zoo/petting zoo. It is a great place with TONS of animals nearby- Deerpark...
Here are some pics from that excursion:

A donkey/zebra blend, very strange but cool, none-the-less:

Feeding the mountain goats:

Lucas found a familiar friend, a sweet little kitten!

Aunt Jean feeding a silly goat, obviously it had figured out this was a great ploy for getting treats! Really sweet baby (twins I might add ;) ) goats. They were super soft too...

Feeding the deer (these are Asian deer)

Lucas pointing out the ducklings he wanted to see, he was willing to get close but wanted NO part in actually holding one!

Jess and I were brave enough to pick up and cuddle the ducklings, they were so cute! But, there was some serious hand washing afterwards...

These guys had some pretty crazy hair! They didn't mind at all if we touched it, it felt like really soft down...

A really pretty leopard:
Who is this scary creature ;)???? It is the paci lion!!!!We had a blast watching this guy swing all over his cage. That was great entertainment!

Jean and I made crafting part of our weekend adventure as well. We both made flower pieces for mom's grave. They turned out pretty good I think...I know she would love them!