The Poconos

Our friends, Braden, Holly and Lydia (she's a baby, so I'm not sure if she cared much about our presence), invited us to a cabin that Braden's colleague owns in the Poconos. We arrived at the house at bedtime so I made Abby a quick bite to eat before putting her down for the night. As soon as she got to the house, she said she wanted to go home to go potty. She has a recent aversion to public restrooms thanks to a terrifying experience with an automatic-flushing toilet. I told her we wouldn't be going home for a while so she better just go, but she claimed she didn't have to anymore. However, while she was sitting at the table eating, she told me her pants were wet. This was pretty much her fist accident. After that episode, I was worried that we were in for a rocky weekend. (Thanks to a shameless bribe of candy, she went potty the next morning and was fine for the rest of the trip.)


We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs out on the beautiful wrap-around porch. It was a gorgeous home--four bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths--definitely not what I would consider a cabin.

The boys got up bright and early to fish. The lake was a hop, skip and a jump for the back of the house. They caught several fish, but only one big enough to take home.

Sam took Abby out on the lake. They caught two fish and saw a beaver. Abby told Sam not to hurt her fish after they reeled it in. I'm not sure he obeyed her orders exactly, but what she doesn't know can't hurt her, right?

Abby loved walking around and exploring outside the house. She found the perfect walking stick.

Around lunchtime, it started to rain and didn't stop for the rest of the day. It was still a beautiful day outside so we took advantage of the fresh air.

Braden and Holly set up some poles just as the rain started. Braden took an umbrella and checked on them a few times. He caught another fish and a turtle.

Abby loved playing with Lydia. I think she is what Abby was picturing when we told her she would have a baby sister--someone who crawls and interacts more.

While Sam and Braden were checking the lines, Abby and I went out on the porch. I went inside to go to the bathroom and came back to find her splashing and dancing in the rain.

She was totally soaked but she had a blast.

After dinner, we made smores in the toaster oven. I'm not usually a big smores fan but these were delicious.

We put the girls to bed for a few hours and then drove home (Sam had to be back for meetings Sunday morning.) They were perfect angels and stayed asleep the whole drive home--even when we stopped for gas and tolls.

It was the perfect little getaway. It was so relaxing and fun. We just wish we could have stayed longer.