Philly Visit - Pictures

It is finally quiet here at our house for a few minutes. A storm is gathering outside, the boys are finally napping, and I am fighting off the desire for a nap in order to finally get a post up about our trip last weekend. I am not quite ready to give a run down of our thoughts, perceptions, ideas for the future etc. so this post will just have some of the fun pictures. These were all taken with Ben's camera because I was so busy I didn't even get mine out of our bag. I think these are great but there are some that I wish I had thought to get like: Bob & Grace together with the boys, Will & Mariana together with the boys, the Haymes house, us with our cousins on Sunday afternoon....
Oh well, enjoy these.

Emily was such a gem and spent so much time playing with the boys. Jeremiah loved her and was calling her his best friend by the end of our weekend.

The doggie door was a source of play and amusement for Jeremiah.

Bob & Grace were awesome hosts! They showed such love and care for us and our children. It was so special to be in their home again chatting and hanging out. They were so gracious and let our whole family (us, my brothers & sisters-in-law, and my cousins) descend on their home. They were invaluable to us in terms of giving us information on the different areas and neighborhoods in Philly. Jeremiah especially seemed to build a special bond with Bob & Grace and enjoyed playing with and talking to them.

It was hot hot hot in Philly! We gave Nathaniel a bucket of water and some little measuring cups and stuff to play with. He loved it!

Ben helped grill hot dogs and wings on the grill. In this picture he is peeved with me because he thought I was picking up the camera to take a picture of him - but I took pictures of Nathaniel instead. :-)
Below: Nathaniel enjoyed playing with Abby.

My beautiful sisters enjoying the delicious dinner we had at the Haymes house.



Saturday we spent the day out at the Viss homestead (that is what I have decided to call the house that both my brothers and their wives now live in) in Collingswood, NJ just across the river. It was so great to see where they live.

Nathaniel meets Juno - Will & Mariana's husky.

Me & my bro.

Collingswood has an awesome farmers market every Saturday morning. They have produce, flowers, fresh baked goods, live music, a place to get fresh made crepe's, and all kinds of other goodies. I loved it.

This man is telling us about how he makes his fresh canolies. They looked so good! I still don't know why I didn't eat one.

Jeremiah enjoys a chocolate muffin that is almost as large as his head!


Collingswood has a very quaint main shopping street with cute shops and restaurants. We had fun walking and looking in the windows.

An alleyway was painted this bright, beautiful yellow! A great background for a fun picture.


Nathaniel enjoys pizza crust.


Jeremiah and Ramona smile (and make funny faces) for the camera.

I am not sure what they are looking at here but Nathaniel is really interested. I just love their 2 round heads together and that they have the exact same ears!

Papa fooling around with Nathaniel. He was a little water bug again, insisting on being out of the floaty I bought him so that he could kick and splash and play. What a silly boy he is.

Jeremiah loved swimming all over the pool. He did a great job. He still won't put his head under water though.

So, it was a good weekend and we now have a lot to process and pray about. The boys again were great travelers and we had no real problems during the drive. They even stayed on the same sleeping and napping schedule with no trouble while we were gone.