Emily Trip Update

Greetings, everyone. I am borrowing Dad’s "sign on." I haven’t been able to blog in months.

We are having a wonderful time with Emily. Listening to her giving the reports to her parents and friends on the cell phone is simply delightful. We are not always impressed by the same things—i.e. she was most impressed in Amish country that sometimes an Amish man might use rollerblades to go to work. She was also quite impressed when she got to ride a camel at the Philadelphia Zoo.

Of course for me there are memories toying with my emotions just below the surface. Last summer we were doing the very same things with Connor. The Philadelphia Zoo was one of Connor’s “special requests.” We were running short of time so Grandpa went to take care of a rental car problem while Connor and I did the zoo by ourselves. I am now the only one to cherish those memories as they belonged to just the two of us. Tod is so right when he says that everything goes through “Connor lens” these days.

I won’t say more on that subject. We are stuffing most of that down so we don’t miss a moment of joy with Emily. Truly she has been delightful. I am learning wonderful new things about my special granddaughter. She is full of curiosity with a neat quest for learning. Today we had a hard time dragging her out of the kids’ science museum; she didn’t want to miss a single hands on experience available to her. We had our Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches for lunch complete with green peppers which she loves. She just finished her third book about the Amish. We have also discovered that she is quite a talker. She is just a fun girl.

We thoroughly enjoyed Amish country—always a reminder of simplicity and faith. The history of Independence Hall always amazes me—just being in the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the founding fathers took a vow of secrecy to pound out the details of our constitution and sign it. The King Tut exhibit is fascinating—viewing gorgeous, intricately designed artifacts that are quite intact and 3500 years old. Their obsession with finding their way to the “next life” is something to ponder.

Tomorrow we take a train to NYC to finish our adventure. Marty and Terry will meet us tomorrow afternoon in time to go to Joe’s Pizza for supper and then to Mary Poppins.

We miss everyone, but we are SOOO glad to be taking this time with precious Emily. Can’t wait to hear how the rest of the trips are going. Love, Grandma