Summer 2016 New York Trip

Zack... a boy from Georgia that has stolen our hearts!  He's a grown up Ty-Ty and Casey's best friend.  His family participated in the Hill Cumorah pageant. Leaving from Rochester, NY he flew to the Mexico MTC on July 12th.  Casey begged and pleaded to go see him in NY before he left on his mission.  We decided to make it a family vacation.  First stop: Nashport, Ohio.  We spent the 4th of July with the Furhiman's.  It's so peaceful watching them fall back into the relationships they built with cousins.  It's as if time stood still and they were never apart.  The boys shot each other with air soft guns and the girls created a number of shows.  It was a fast 2 days.  Next stop: Tonawanda, NY.  It was home from May 1997-May 2000.  We enjoyed stopping by our first home and driving around our old neighborhood.  Niagara Falls is only 20 min. from where we lived.  The kids loved the Falls.  A favorite was the Maid of the Mist.  We camped on Grand Island.  It was beautiful, the weather perfect.  Finally: Palmyra, NY.  We enjoyed the church sites.  Casey could hardly wait to meet up with Zack.  We spent an afternoon hanging out getting to know him a bit.  The next day we stole him away for ice cream at the Chill n Grill.  We loved it so much we went back that evening for more!  We decided to go to the Media showing of the Pageant so we could get Rebekah home in time for her tests and flight to UT.  Casey was able to spend another couple hours hanging with Zack before the pageant began and a little after the show.  Mission Accomplished!! A few of the highlights of the family trip....

• The Furhiman's!
• Opening fruit snacks and seriously almost crashing
• Maid of the Mist
• De Dee's Ice Cream: Porter's was as big as his head!
• Hammocking
• Cube - Casey's play by play was amazing
• Camping
• Playing Monopoly Deal in the park
• Casey & Porter playing Ninja Warrior on the bridge
• Cube - Izy and Casey are a formidable pair
• Chill N' Grill: more Ice Cream!! Twice in 1 day
• Smith Cabin
• Smith Home & Barn
• The Sacred Grove
• Grandin Building
• Hill Cumorah
• The Pageant: We ran into the Klopfer's, it was fun visiting with them.
• Zack - spike ball, ice cream, arm wrestling
• Sumo Wrestling - laughing so hard was quite enjoyable

I need to look at life a lot more like a family trip.  Get over the bumps quickly so I can enjoy the adventure.