Hello, fine readers! I apologize profusely for my lack of posts. I'm sure you can imagine I'm either very behind on my news and pictures or absolutely nothing has happened in our lives.
It's definitely that I'm simply behind in my posting.
More than a month and a half behind!
So hang on, here we go!
Back in March, we came across a ministry that partners with Wyndham resorts and hotels to offer Pastors and their families vacations for a discounted price. At first it seemed to good to be true...but we went ahead and purchased the certificate. As soon as we did that, we were able to choose from many locations in the US to go to for a week. Since I wanted to go somewhere within a five hour drive, our options were much smaller. We settled on going to the Pocono mountains.
Of course part of this deal is that if you don't want to pay any more than the certificate amount, you have to go in the off-season (understandably).
I searched for a place in the Poconos with a full kitchen, at least two bedrooms, and had a playground. Those were my stipulations.
This is the place! We stayed at Shawnee Village, Depuy. It is a (huge) resort with hundreds of units. Because we went at the end of September, there were not many guests there.
Similar to our honeymoon package we got four years ago, this resort had a preview session where they try to sell you a timeshare. We weren't required to go to it because we were simply guests using the resort like a hotel. However, we were told that if we went, it was a free breakfast for the family.
Embarrassingly enough, we woke the girls up, dressed them and took them to this "free breakfast" intending to not spend a dime or sign our lives away.
After being seated to wait for our rep to come whisk us away to a table where we'd be put thru the ringer, the lady at the head desk came over and asked us to fill out a form.
On the form, they asked for our income...Dan left it blank.
A man came up and said we had to fill that out, so Dan wrote in our income.
That man asked if the number was correct, and Dan said "Yes"
That man looked embarrassed, left, and then came back with his supervisor who told us in hushed tones that she was sorry, we were not rich enough to have a timeshare with their resort.
Dan and I, with our two babies, said sweetly, "Oh...well can we still have the free breakfast? We were told it was free if we came and our daughter hasn't eaten yet."
We were given breakfast, but were asked to eat outside.
Looking back, it's super funny and we'll always laugh about it now. At the moment, surrounded by scads of wealthy retired people, it was humiliating to be called out for being too poor and asked to eat in a segregated area.
Anyway, all that to say, "Don't ever go to those preview things for a free breakfast." There's no such thing as a free lunch! :D haha!
This was our living room area.
Thinking that our vacation week was going to be crisp fall weather like we'd been having in upstate NY, I packed mostly long sleeve outfits and warm tights for the girls. The first part of the week it was in the 80's and 90's though! In the mornings, Gwen would wear her little sweater and walk in the yard.
She loved the flashlight too.
Because we were staying with the resort, we could rent games and movies, and we were given a list of activities going on in the week as well. We participated in a couples game to see which couple knew each other the best. I went into that game really thinking we'd totally win. Unfortunately, all of the questions were either inappropriate ones or ones about favorite TV shows and channels...neither of which apply to our marriage or relationship. So we bombed that game! :D
Gwendolyn loved playing with connect four.
We explored the Delaware-Water gap.
And played on every playground we could find!
There was a "petting zoo" (even though you really couldn't pet any animals except a rabbit)
Saying "hi" to the bear
We drove up to a lookout spot and enjoyed eating a picnic lunch up there.
We went on many hikes.
We walked the short walk to see Dingmans falls (2nd largest fall in PA)
They even had steps that took you the whole way to the top of the falls. I enjoyed going to the top. Gwen got tired of climbing after one or two flights.
We enjoyed visiting three different churches while we vacationed. It's always encouraging to see other small ministries doing the same thing we do each week.
On the day before our last day, we went to a corn maze. We were the only people there (because it was a weekday)
Everything was military helicopter themed.
After completing the map, there was a puzzle to unscramble.
After that, we went to eat at Cici's pizza. I love Cici's, but we don't have anything like it near us in NY.
On our last day, the resort had a campfire with s'mores. It was fun to get to talk to a few other people with little kids at the resort.
And that was our 2019 vacation! I am already looking forward to planning next years! Even if a lot of the seasonal things weren't open, it was fun to get away for a week and spend time together not being rushed by daily life. Gwendolyn was especially VERY happy to get home though. When she got out of the van, she ran up to the front door and shouted "House house!"
Hope you all are doing well. I will try to post about our next adventure sooner rather than later. It seems that the only time I can make posts is early in the morning before the children wake up. Have a fabulous weekend!
