A whirlwind review of a whirlwind trip

I feel like I should give a quick review of our trip since all I've talked about is the food. It turned out really well. We had a great time in Philly. We mostly hit historical sites, the Masonic Temple, and their Museum of Art. We got to hold and leaf through a first edition print of the Book of Mormon that Joseph Smith gave to the Masons. (He was a Mason.)

We drove to Reading to see Matt's mission. He was there in the same ward a whole year of his mission. The testimony meeting was cool since their ward is half Spanish speakers and half English speakers. It was nice to be able to understand them both. It was fun getting to meet/visit with 3 of the prominent families of Matt's experience there.

We spent the majority of our trip in Hershey with my sister Julie and her family. We had lots of fun. We went to Hershey world (a huge Hershey candy shop with a little ride talking about how chocolate is made), got to tour a potato chip factory (and taste test some of their delicious chips. yum), went to Gettysburg, celebrated my niece Becca's 4th birthday by getting the afore mentioned Gelati and lighting sparklers, we played Settlers of Catan, and went to Hershey Park. At the beginning of the day at Hershey Park I was a little mad that I couldn't go on the "cool" roller coasters, but I got over it quick enough. It was good when my niece Sarah came after school was out since I could ride her rides with her. It was fun to let Julie ride adult rides with Matt since she never gets to when she has the kids.

When we were in NY I got to go jogging with my brother in the morning before our walking tour of the city. We really enjoyed touring the city below the grid. You can't beat a NY historian as a tour guide. He knows soooo much!!! I was continually astounded by his knowledge. We got to meet up with my brother Nate after his class. After we went to Queens and got the Indonesian food for dinner, we got to hang out and visit at Bryan's while listening to some awesome records (and I mean vinyl) Bry picked up on the street for $1 a piece during our walking tour.

It was really great to see my family. Especially since we don't get to see each other but every couple of years.

The only drawbacks to the trip: spending money and getting a cold from poor little Becca. But I'm over it now. It was worth it!