the robinaughs

After Lake Powell, we flew back to New Jersey. We spent one more day with Dave and Angela, and then we drove up to New York to pick up Dave and Tiff!! We haven't seen them in almost a year, and they were out east visiting with Dave's family so we made it work!! It was SO fun to see them again - it was as if we never were away! Don't you just love those kind of friendships? Where you pick up right where you left off? Even if one of you had a kid? Amazing! :)

So we first made the drive from NYC to upperstate NY to a place called Letchworth State Park. It's considered the Grand Canyon of the east - and we'd heard good things about it! Sadly, the drive took a lot longer than we expected, so we ended up making camp in the dark. How does this always happen? Oh well - more memories, right?

I am proud to report that L loved his first camping/hiking experience! Ry and I were worried about it, but we came extra prepared for any kind of weather for him (not for us however - we totally forgot any and all warm clothing including raincoats - hence the picture of us in emergency ponchos later), and we prayed for the best! He slept in the tent in between us swaddled nice and warm - and he did great! He loved being outside - and was generally only fussy whenever he was hungry or tired - or it was between the hours of 7 and 9pm while we were driving in the car. I think he was just tired of the whole traveling experience by this point! His favorite part of camping though was meeting Dave and Tiff - for sure!!

We got to try out our kid backpack that we got from Jordan and Cassie for Christmas last year, and it is awesome!! Surprisingly, L is still a little small for it. But it was perfect! We hiked along a trail that fallowed the river and had three waterfalls. It was about three miles, and then we turned around and covered our tracks on the way back. Ry carried L the whole way in, and then I carried him almost the whole way out. Ry helped out by taking him the last uphill part, because I am far from being in shape! Thank goodness for caring husbands. :)
The second night we camped, we decided to go to one of the pavilions that had an outlet to watch a movie! :) Ry had his laptop in the car, so we sat on a picnic table in our sleeping bags watching Frequency! Cool, huh? Not bad for roughing it!! Yeah, who wants to go camping with us now? :)On Saturday morning we left the camp ground and got back in the car to drive up to Niagara Falls to meet up with Dave's family. We've never been there, so it was pretty exciting for Ry and me! It was beautiful and so majestic to see. Even though it was crowded, there is still no escaping the natural beauty of God's creations. It was breath-taking!
For those of you who don't recognize this - it's the classic O-H-I-O picture. It's a classic pose for Buckeyes to make in pictures all over the world with this pose. Dave, as you can see, is one of the least excited "i"s ever. But we couldn't really ask for more, considering he's from Michigan. :) Thanks for being such a good sport Dave!
We ended up staying one more day with the Robinaughs - thanks to their wonderful family friends who let us crash at their place last minute! So we got to go to church with them and take one last group picture. Four days was not enough with these guys - we miss them already! Honestly - these really are the greatest people we've ever met. I always come away from being with them rejuvenated and energized for life. I feel like I learn from them every time we're together, and I feel better about myself. Thanks so much guys for bringing out the best in life, each other, and us! You're amazing!!