Family Reunions…

by Not Well Versed

This weekend my daughter and I had the opportunity to vacation AGAIN! If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’re already aware that in April I had an accidental, last minute birthday weekend in Puerto Rico (I was invited by my aunt and cousins who rented a beach house there). The flight and travel time ‘alone’ was my husband’s birthday gift for me. Then we had our regular planned family vacation in Puerto Rico in early May.  This time, I bit the bullet, despite all of my guilt and booked a trip to the Poconos, PA. This time, it was justified by the big family reunion weekend barbecue event hosted by my dad’s sister & family. It’s a great and rare opportunity to see and spend time with my dad’s side of the family; grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, their families & friends all of whom we see only once a year (if that). 
Now, another deciding factor to taking this trip was the other major events that were coincidentally incorporated into this escapade. One being my recent reconnection (via Facebook) with my godparents who just happened to live in Pennsylvania, just 45 minutes from the Family Reunion. So, naturally, I thought it’d be great to spend a couple of days with them reconnecting and introducing my daughter to them. They had never met my daughter before, so it was important to me to have her there and spend quality time with them.

Sam & My Godmother Alida

They were such gracious hosts, since Wednesday they fed us day and night, delicious home cooked meals! We did some fun shopping during the day… ’Discount’ shopping that is… like dollar stores and the new “Five Below” store we discovered (everything in the department store was under $5.00… Sort of like a dollar store on STEROIDS!) We had fun, bonding with my godmother Alida. She’s so much fun and such a great story-teller. I loved hearing her memories of my mom & dad from the old days (she was a childhood friend of theirs).

So, now it’s Friday night, we’re at a bed and breakfast here in the Pocono Mountains and just enjoyed a wonderful dinner with the whole family. It was nice mingling and catching up with my aunts and cousins. The Jonas Hotel is my first experience at a bed and breakfast and I LOVE it! It’s just how I imagined it would be, so cozy and cute (in a tacky, old grandma’s house kinda way). I love that my daughter Samantha is getting to experience all of this too. I love getting to share new experiences with her, showing her new places and things. It’s great that she’s enjoying this whole experience as much as I am. We’re bonding so much and that is probably the best part of the whole trip!

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