Grandparents, Golf, and Good Chocolate

Life is busy. Like crazy busy! Can we get an amen?! We know how hard it is to try to balance marriage, personal time, work, and still keep your sanity. And we don’t know if we’re ever going to achieve that balance, but we’re a work in progress.

One of the areas we prioritized at the beginning of this year was being intentional about the time we spend with family. And when Ryan’s grandma passed away at the end of July, it was just another reminder that life is short, time is invaluable, and family is everything. We planned an extended weekend getaway to West Virginia and Pennsylvania last weekend to visit Alyssa’s grandparents and spend some time away!

West Virginia

Our first stop was Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. A small city home to Cacapon State Park, dirt roads, and abundant wildlife. Oh and Alyssa’s grandparents (Gaga & PawPaw)! Alyssa spent her summers there visiting her Mom’s parents in a little cabin nestled in the woods less than a mile from Cacapon State Park. She remembers lake days, nature hikes, making homemade ice cream, and riding around in the back of a red pickup truck all too well! Since then, her grandparents have built a beautiful home not too far from that little cabin, and they enjoy their summer stay in the mountains of West Virginia.

Our time in West Virginia included late night card games, shopping trips, buffets, and 45 holes of golf! Ryan was in golf heaven at the greens in Capacon. Ryan and the grandparents played, while Alyssa drove the golf cart, took some pictures, and even putted a few shots! Ryan’s still working on Alyssa to pick up the game.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

After our time there, we jumped back in the car and headed up to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, home of the Amish and their buggies, smorgasbords, and Sight and Sound. We met Alyssa’s Dad’s parents (MomMom & PopPop) at Sight and Sound to watch a production of Joseph! What an incredible show! Much like Broadway, these productions have an incredible cast with great vocals, jaw dropping scenes, and a wonderful storyline. And even live animals! Sight and Sound specializes in bringing Biblical stories to life, and Joseph was a fantastic story to see. It was such a blessing to see the story of Joseph and be reminded of the fact that God has an incredible plan for our lives, and all we need to do is trust and follow him! We finished up the evening at an all you can eat buffet; we did not leave Amish country hungry!

We saw more of Alyssa’s family the next day for lunch at her grandparents’ house in Lansdale Pennsylvania, where Alyssa grew up, and then we met up with some dear friends, Mike & Brittney, for frozen yogurt! We met these two at Connect earlier this year, and it was wonderful catching up with them, swapping stories, and having some sweet time of fellowship and encouragement.

Hershey, Pennsylvania

Monday morning we said goodbye to family and headed off to the sweetest place on earth, Hershey Pennsylvania. Home of all the great things in this world, chocolate. And not just any chocolate. The BEST chocolate ever. We stopped at the Hershey Hotel and had lunch, toured the Hershey gardens, then headed downtown Hershey. We toured Chocolate World, which is a ride through the Hershey factory to see how their chocolate is made. The smells, friends. Chocolate everywhere! We even got some free chocolate on our way out. We then stopped to pose with some of our favorite candy by the park, and then made our way into The Hershey Story museum, where we learned all about how Milton Hershey, his company, his fortune, and chocolate. We even went through an exhibit trying out the different jobs people had in the factory. We were hired at the end of our tour! Vacation doesn’t end any better than with chocolate, friends.

Time away is good. Time away with family, even better.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy Ryan’s Mint Chip Addiction or Family Lake Day 2015!