20 Child-Free Days

Only July 1 Ashley left us to spend 20 days in Europe with People to People. She went to England, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and a bonus stop in Lithuania. The bonus stop meant they visited 5 countries in one day (France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Lichtenstein). I know I can't profess to have ever done that.

While she was gone, we made it our mission to do things she would not enjoy doing. From the mundane, such as watching fireworks (this picture taken over Stacy's house), to the Kennedy Space Center, our days were nearly as busy as hers, plus Don worked much of the time, and I covered stories for the paper.

Here are links to our adventures in one place:



As soon as we dropped her off at the bus for the flight, we visited with the Thomas Side of the family post Great Aunt Lee's funeral (she would have enjoyed seeing everyone, I just wanted to include the picture).

That weekend we went for a 16 mile bike ride in NYC to see the new High Bridge Park.

On Fourth of July we went on a shorter bike ride / tour of the NJ State House.

The following weekend we went to Music in the Park in the new rain location on Thursday (the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville). a barn dance at Howell (it was nice not

having to share a partner), and celebrated Bastille Day in Frenchtown (something that has been on Don's recurring calendar for six years) on Saturday. On Sunday we returned to NYC for Manhattanhenge and a bonus viewing of Seward Johnson sculptures (which we will return to NYC for Ashley to see), after eating at a new restaurant in Trenton that supports legalizing marijuana.

In between days I had lunch with friends Nancy and (a different) Stacy and worked on projects around the house. I tried to see the Magna Carta on display in Trenton, but the 800 year old document did not make its way to Trenton, only the display.

We end our child-free days with a trip to Florida to see friends. While in the area we went to Universal Studios, had lunch at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and nearly went to outer space.

We finished our adventures just in time to pick Ashley up from the airport and to learn about her experiences.

It was a lot of fun and very exhausting at the same time. It is also a lot of fun having Ashley home with us, even if she is jet lagged and sleeping a lot, allowing me plenty of time to write blog posts. I hope I can convince her to share some of her stories with my loyal Pillsbury Press readers.

Night all!

We think Kitty Lucy was happy to see Ashley