The Zooks have visitors!

My MOM!!!!! She come to visit me for her 50th birthday. I'll tell ya what.... it felt like it was MY birthday. Having been best friends with this amazing woman for all my life it was extremely difficult when it came time to move the the US with Nat. She cared for me as a mother, inspired me when I was a teenager, and she has been my comfort and spiritual helper as an adult. So you can imagine that I was THRILLED when mom told me that she was coming to PA the day after her birthday! And to top it off we were meeting in NEW YORK!!! hello!!!! how could ask for anything more?
We had a great time seeing the sights, watching the broadway Grease, and shopping for purses. Honestly purse shopping was our favorite part and it wasn't about getting a new hand bag. It was the process of it all. There was one guy selling bags for $10. To get everyones attention to this amazing bargain he enthusiastically yelled "LOOK, LOOK, LOOK ...$10.. I can hardly believe it myself!" 
Along on the trip were my two aunts. This was the nice man who convinced us to by a ticket for a tour bus. It sounded like a great deal since we could us it for 48 hours and there were five different tours we could go on. Plus you can get off at any stop to see the sights and then get back on when you were done.  He said the busses come around every ten minutes but what he failed to mention was that if they are full they don't pick you up. After an hour and a half in the cold rain, when our feet were getting cold, and we were running out of stories to keep us entertained, we finally got smart and walked to a different bus stop; along the way passing five other city bus tour workers trying to sell us tickets we already had! At this bus stop most the people were at the end of their tour so there was LOTS of room!

We got free ponchos to keep us dry from the rain on the top level of the bus. It reminded me of the days Nat and I would catch the shoppa into town in Mozambique. Cold and wet! and the open air breeze didn't help much. Luckily the sun came out and we were happy to have the best seats in the house for photos! 

Mom and I got caught up in the New York moment! Look aunty Helen! there is the olive garden! When the four of us couldn't agree on what direction a store was that we were at the day before I would try to remember where it was in connection to the olive garden. For some reason we were always passing it and I thought I could remember but my tactic never worked.... all it got me were jokes from the girls every time we pasted it. I may be hearing "hey look Salena, there's the Olive Garden!" for the next few years.

Now isn't that the cutest thing you have ever seen!!!! Now back in PA, I was taking mom around to show her the sights of Lancaster County. Usually you see a normal sized horse carrying a gray buggy. (see four photo's down) but on our way home from the beautiful town of Intercourse (ya, I said that right) we saw four large working horses pulling some large machinery. We passed it too fast so I told mom this was worth chasing down since you don't see these horses as often due to their effectiveness in the fields rather than the easier job of transporting people. So that's what we did. We passed him and took photo's. The horses were so beautiful. It was an amazing sight to see. I know I am teasing you with the image and not showing a photo but that is because I regrettably lost that photo. I have no idea how!! Anyway, we were satisfied with our day when all the sudden I noticed these two young lads with a pony!!! This was my first time spotting anyone traveling in this fashion. So, there we went, chasing down photo's again!
You can't come to the Zook house and not play a game of Settlers, which is kind of like Monopoly but way cooler! Mom won the first game.... beginners luck....

I think mom is hooked cause she was asking me if they had an on line game when she got home. Hopefully we will be playing it around the Parkhouse table in the next few months!!!!

I also had my dear sweet grandma come to visit..... and we made BUNS!!!!! hahaha.... most the cousins wrote me on facebook and were just a little jealous. I think I may need a little practice; my hands were way stickier than grandmas and we had the same recipe in our hands. Must just be a grandma's touch!
Grandma Jean, my grandma's sister, was also along on the trip. We had lunch aboard the train that ran from Strasburg.
I think Grandma's favorite part of the trip was getting to ride in a buggy! Nat's has some family from his mothers side who are Amish and she was trilled to have us over for some scrumptious spaghetti soup she had just made and canned! It may sound strange but it was some great tasting soup! Before lunch we watched as aunt Malinda saddled up the horse. Next thing you know Grandma Jean is getting her hand in there and even showing Malinda that she did something backwards!! ( this is hilarious to those who know Grandma Jean) Malinda laughed and said " I think we could use you around here!" Then both grandma's helped hook up the buggy :) ....... hhhmmm, I wonder if they have done this before? 

I just LOVE how young these two sisters are; they crammed themselves into the back seat and each took a child in their laps! (Nat's sister Karen was along with her four year old son and three foster children) I hope I am still kick'n it as energetically as these two hip ladies when I reach their glorious age! 

So Malinda and I each took a kid as well and we were off. Our short trip around the block which happened to be about four miles wasn't as quick as I am used to. But much more peaceful.