Hidden Valley Holiday, Part 1

Again Doug is officiating a wedding slightly out of town (Ligonier, PA), so we decided the kids and I should tag along and we could make it a long weekend out in the woods.  We found an amazing off-season deal at Hidden Valley and were excited for a few nights in the rural landscape.  Well, we had an interesting departure day.  First of all, the day before we left Koen came down with whatever odd virus Penn had that gave him high fevers for days.  Thankfully, Koen did seem to be on the up-tick on Wednesday morning, but still no appetite and low energy, but fever was gone.  Penn was still not 100% that morning either, not to mention he woke with an intense rash all over the place, but primarily on his head.  After a call to a friend pediatrician, it seems like perhaps this whole virus has been roseola.  Anyways, then, just as we were finishing packing up the van to leave there as a major accident at our intersection.  Not only that, the woman driving one of the cars was definitely a mess about the incident, but also about some illegal drugs she had in her purse and didn't want to be found with.  Doug witnessed her dumping them into the trash can.  Just another peaceful day on the front porch in Pittsburgh!  The boys thought it was very exciting and the police cars, tow trucks and re-routed traffic definitely kept them preoccupied while we finished closing up the house, etc.  After that unsettling event we were definitely excited for some peace and quiet and fresh air in the mountains!  Here's a picture of the view from the back deck.  Ah, refreshing!

The boys got right into vacation mode upon arrival. Here they are playing ball the first evening.

Penn was in relatively good spirits, but looked pathetic.  

After a good night's rest, Koen has been much more himself today.  His appetite is returning and therefore his energy level is improving.  Tavin continues to just be in a fantastic mood lately (although he developed some severe snot due to allergies yesterday!) and just makes Doug and I laugh all day.  Here are the three boys at breakfast.

Doug ran a quick errand after breakfast with Tavin and Koen and I took Penn on a walk to a playground.  Here's rash man in the BabyBjorn.

Penn sat happily in the swing the whole time.  He loves it!

Koen got very adventurous after I pointed out some monkey bars.  I was really impressed that he even attempted it as they are quite far off the ground.  He wanted me to take a video for Tav and Daddy.

We returned home after that accomplishment to get Penn a morning nap.  After that we got the boys over to the pool.  They all loved it.  The big pool was a little chilly, but the baby pool was very comfortable.  Penn was in it for 30 minutes without a whimper.  Such a water baby!

We had a yummy grill out lunch and then it was quickly naptime for the little guys.  That's it for now.  It'll probably be a lot of the same routine the rest of the few days we are here, which is fine by me (although I am hoping for continued improvement in the health department!).