The Persson Post: Our Vacation

Hey Everyone!

So sorry for the long delay in getting this posted. I've either been busy or lazy or the day just goes by so fast and I'm too tired by evening to write anything.

It's amazing how much you look forward to something and in the blink of an eye it's done and over with. Well, now that I'm home, I'm happy to be here and I suppose that's because the weather is sunny and warm and finally Spring is in full swing.

So, about our vacation...

We, Mark, Ashley, Cora and I, left for Virginia Beach late Saturday morning. We rented a mini van which was a great idea because it made for a much more comfortable ride with lots more storage space than if we took one of our cars. Our first destination on this vacation was the Amish country in Pennsylvania. We've been there several times before and it's one of our favorite places to go to. We made a couple of stops along the way for diaper changes, food and to let Cora get out and run around a bit. This was her first vacation and long ride (besides going to Maine) and she did absolutely great. When we weren't entertaining her, she was entertaining us with her baby talk, laughing and pointing to things out the window. Because of the van, she could see out the windows better than if we were in our car so she loved telling us all the different things she saw. She pointed to every kuck (truck) mooed at cows, saluted the American flag and tweet tweeted every bird she saw flying. She waved to horses and barns and clouds and anything else she thought she should say hello to. As I said, she really kept us entertained.

Our first night was uneventful. We stayed in a motel, ordered pizza and went to sleep. The next day was pretty chilly outside. We took Cora for a horse and buggy ride which was more like a covered hay wagon with bench seats than a buggy. It had a bunch of nice big blankets but even with all the blankets, we were still cold. Cora loved the horses and now she gets a big kick out of it when I pretend I'm a horse and say, "clip clop clip clop" all over the house, LOL. Unfortunately, I accidentally deleted the pictures from the Amish country so I won't be able to show you how cute she was with her little red cowgirl boots on.

After the wagon ride we headed for Richmond Virginia to visit Mark's cousins, Jerry and Lu, and two of their kids, Richie and his fiance' Angela and Mailon and her boyfriend Rob. It was really really great to see them all and to spend a little time with them. Too little time to be honest with you. We ended up spending the night at Jerry and Lu's and it was great not to have to stay in a motel again. Lu made her "famous" egg rolls and fried rice which are to die for and when it was time to leave the next day, she packed us up with all kinds of snacks and goodies for the trip home. I can't thank Jerry and Lu enough for taking us in for the night and making sure we were well fed for the last leg of our trip.

The rest of our vacation was spent in Virginia Beach at my sister in-law's brother, Rob's house. Actually, he shares it with his wife Michelle and their four children, Alex, Sarah, Abby and Meghan. Finally we had reached our destination and boy were we glad of that. We had spent too many hours in the car and it was time to plant our feet for a few days.

We had a great week at their house with nice weather and good food. Mark got to golf in a charity tournament and Rob planned a spectacular fishing trip in North Carolina off the outer banks of Cape Hatteras, for Mark and a couple of his friends. They caught Yellowfin tuna, Blackfin tuna and Mahi Mahi. In all, over 200 lbs. of fish. that's a lot sushi baby, LOL. Although it was too cold to actually spend a day on the beach, we did go down to the water and spent a day going into the tourist shops. Rob took us to a great Zoo one afternoon and Michelle took Ashley, Cora and I to Williamsburg to go outlet shopping. Now that was fun.

Rob and Michelle just moved into this house in January and are still in the process of getting it to their liking. To say the least, their house is enormous and absolutely gorgeous. I felt as if I were staying at a 5 star resort. Each day we woke up to someone new at the house, whether it was the painters, the electrician, the pool guy or the designer. It didn't matter to us, we were just so grateful they wanted us to be their guests for the week. I would also like to mention Joan, their awesome nanny who is more like a member of the family. I had heard so many nice things about Joan and all of them were true. HI Joan!

There is really so much more to tell, but I'd be here all day if I were to mention all the things we did. Here are a few pictures of our trip. Enjoy!