Vacation 2009 - part IV - visits with Pap

One day I brought the kids over to my dad's dojang to hang out. There were no classes going on at the time, so we had the whole gym to ourselves and the kids could run around. And run around they did!

Hannah running past what Christopher thought were, "enormous pencils!"

Pap showing Christopher how it's done.

Christopher just doesn't get it...

Pap showing Christopher how to use the nunchucks. Christopher just liked to say the word, "nunchucks".

The last Sunday that we were in PA, we went over to my dad's house (Pap) for a cook-out on the back deck. Pictured here are Alie & Brandon, my dad, Mr. Vu, and Sharon.

Alie and Brandon.

My dad, Mr. Vu and Sharon.

Uncle Brandon teaching Christopher how to play horseshoes.

Brandon, Melanie, Luke and Tim.

Hannah and Mary Grace playing on the deck.

Molly, finding a safe place to sit and watch horseshoes.

Elijah taking a turn on the John Deere tractor.

Vacation 2009 - part III - reunited with friends

One of the greatest things about facebook is that it reconnects you with people with whom you've completely lost touch and otherwise would probably have never found again.

Tricia and I became great friends in junior high and continued our friendship through high school. This is the first time we'd seen each other in about 12 years.

Tricia's 3 kids plus my 4.

Maria, also a junior high and high school friend, always sat behind me in homeroom by virtue of our last names (Vaughn and Viscuso). This is the first time I'd seen Maria in about 14 years!

Kim used to be our neighbor when we lived in Phoenixville. We were in each other's weddings, but the last time I saw her, I was pregnant with Christopher!

Kim's girls, Kaitlyn and Kristyn, were babies and toddlers when I knew them! They are holding their newest little sister, Abbie.

Here is Dave, a good friend from college days, holding his daughter (Mai An) and my daughter, Mary Grace.

All of the kids in this picture are Asian...the two on the outside just happen to look it!

Hien and I were also in each other's weddings and have thankfully kept in touch over the years without the help of facebook.

We met up with the Yohannans at a Chuck E Cheese's in Princeton, NJ. Of all the places to meet up in Princeton!!! - but it was pouring down rain and this place was a good half-way meeting point as well as fun for the kids (albeit too loud and distracting for any meaningful conversation)! Here is Jake with his 3 oldest kids, EJ, Josephine and Jesse.

Here is Jaya with their youngest, Noah.

The mommies with the babies...

The daddies with the babies. John and Jake were good friends throughout seminary, went to Israel together, and then served together at Trinity. Jake and Jaya are now serving in northern NJ, planting an ethnically Indian PCA church.

More high school friends - from left to right, Tricia's mom, Tricia, Janetta and Denise.

This was my first girls' night out in a LONG time!!! I went so crazy that I ordered a coffee at the bar. What's funny is that we graduated from high school 16 years ago and we all got carded that night!

Vacation 2009 - part II - Longwood Gardens

Ever since we discovered how close Longwood Gardens was to my mom's house 3 years ago, we have made a visit there a big priority every time we return to PA.

This time we took my sister, her two boys and a little girl that my sister watches during the week. It was quite a circus keeping track of all 7 kids!

I didn't pack enough cool-weather clothing, so my sister provided my kids with some hats and jackets. Were it not for the pink blankets, some might mistake Mary Grace for a baby boy!

Much to the dismay of my inlaws, Sarah wore Phillly Eagles hat to keep warm.

Cousins, Luke and Sarah, hanging out in the children's garden.

Elijah, checking out the water fountains in the children's garden.

Cousins, Elijah and Hannah, sitting on the bee throne.

Elijah, taking a load off.

Luke, posing for a picture in the conservatory.

John and me inside the conservatory.

3 strollers containing 4 of the 7 kids, and we still found ourselves chasing down kiddos!

Here we are making our way down a hallway in the conservatory...we were quite a noisy bunch!

Beautiful hydrangeas.

Columbine flower.

Dianthus flowers outside.

Foxgloves. I think Beatrix Potter draws and mentions these in her story about Jemima Puddleduck.

Mommy and Hannah in one of the tree houses.

Christopher checking out the Italian water gardens.

Sarah holding up her dried-up, brown, dead leaf that she found by the restrooms...lovely.

The lake by the tree house and Italian Water Gardens - so tranquil.

Mommy and Sarah in front of the Wisteria tree.

Wisteria trees. They smelled so heavenly.

Hannah sitting by the dianthus and yelling, "Pwetty fwow-yers!"

Paw Paw and Mary Grace taking a break from all the walking we did.