The Palmer Tale

Favorite Toy

I am good at collecting cheap toys via yard sales, thrift stores etc. This happens to be her favorite toy this week. Guess I will be dumpster diving from now on instead of buying toys.

Shawn got a two week break in between his first and second year of PA school. My family was here for a few of those days and then the rest of the two weeks was crammed full of adventures. We wanted to do as much as we could. We went camping with the Pages, which was soo awesome! We haven't been camping in forever. It felt nice to be away from the world and get dirty. We went to French Creek State Park which was very pretty and also next door to the Hope Well Furnace site. Here they made iron back in the 1600's. It was a beautiful place. They show you how it was done and even did a demonstration for us. They had animals there and an apple orchard too.

That same week Shawn and I went to an amusement park by ourselves! No Kanyin (thanks to Sarah). It was called Dorney Park. It was cheaper then six flags and we were worried it was going to be a small park, but it was actually really big. I was sooo nervous, because I am NOT a roller coaster person, but Shawn is and I was determined to become one. Usually I start with the swings making my way up to the biggest, scariest, your gonna die roller coaster. This time I decided to jump in with both fee and start with the biggest, scariest, your gonna die roller coaster. Let me tell you I was TERRIFIED. My heart was beating the fastest it has ever beat, and I was shaking so bad. I literally thought I was going to have a heart attack. Shawn kept trying to reassure me that it was going to be okay. I held onto him so tight and screamed like I have never screamed before. Each roller coaster after that got a little easier, but still very scared. On another scary one, as we were inclining a billion feet slowly till we dropped, I was holding onto Shawn with dear life saying over and over "oh my gosh, oh my gosh." Right then one of the little 8 year old boys in front of us, turned around and said to Shawn, "Is this her first time?" Shawn just chuckled and said "yes yes it is." After that I thought, I have to be braver then this. I need to be like these 8 year old boys. So the next coaster I didn't hold onto Shawn and I actually opened my eyes and turns out I had a blast! Next roller coaster...nothing, had it in the bag. I can officially say I am over my fear of roller coasters. :) It was so fun being there and with just Shawn. We felt like we were dating again. We realized how important it is to get "us time." We ended the day at their HUGE water park. I was in heaven. I love water parks. I hope we get to go back.

To end our 2 week adventure, we went to Boston for two days. I loved Boston. Such a neat city full of history. We got a Go Boston pass which included a lot of things to do. So much you can't do it all. The sail ship was probably my favorite. It was a pretty big ship and I had never been sailing before. It was a cold day, but still awesome. The Boston Harbor is really pretty. They also have the freedom trail, which is a 2 mile long red brick trail you follow through the city which takes you past lots of historical places. We ended at Plymouth MA where the Pilgrims came to. They have a village set up just like the 1600's and they have a remake of the Mayflower.

our attempt to hike

Demonstration of the making of a door to an iron furnance

Boston LDS Temple

Boston Aquarium

sailing. The crew felt bad for Kanyin and gave her a coat and one of their blankets. Needless to say, she stayed warm

Mayflower remake

Love my family

My sister Raveen and her new husband Dave and my brother Rydge and his wife Lenore all came out here to Philadelphia to visit us, and of course, all the cool places we live by. It was so fun to have them here. It makes me miss my family even more. We had a blast while they were here. Shawn had finals week so he was left out a lot. We did everything from New York, Philly, baseball game, beach, art sculpture park and of course late night talks. I love my family.

Love the Beach

So we were able to go to the beach a few times this summer. We went on a couple Saturdays when it was pretty busy and traffic was terrible getting there!! It was worth it. I just remember how I have never lived this close to the beach before. It's been so fun for us being beach bums when we can. My boogie boarding skills have kind of improved ha ha. It's amazing what kind of little sea creatures we have seen just on the beach. Makes you wonder what is really touching you when you feel those pokes on your legs in the water. Whenever we go to the beach I am so amazed at how much water there is. It helps me see that it is true that the oceans make up 71% of the earths surface.

Kanyin is not so fond of the beach unfortunately. She is so funny. As soon as she sees the beach she starts to fuss and cry. It takes her a good couple hours to get warmed up to it. Until then, she sits on a chair or a towel and I am assuming dreams of sitting on her safe couch watching Dora. Hopefully next summer it will be a different story with Kanyin and the beach.

Pictures from our adventures to New Jersey beaches this summer:

Mandy doing her thing

"Are we really going to the beach?!? nnoo"

these things were swimming all over like crazy. Not sure what they are.

1st Year Down!

Shawn finished his first year of PA school! He was nervous about making it, but he passed :) No more classroom for him, and hopefully no more all nighters of studying. Now he does rotations for a year. He has around 10 rotations that are a little over a month long. He started his first rotation last week, which is at a family practice office in New Jersey. It has been long hours especially with the commute, but he sure is learning.
We are just a 10 minute walk to his school, so Kanyin and I are going to miss walking up to the school to visit him. That would be the highlight of our day. I guess now we'll just have to go visit the ducks at the school's pond :)
There is progress and Shawn is that much closer to getting a real job. I wonder what that will be like? No more school, no more taking about student loans, and getting a real income! Exciting times. Until then we will enjoy this time.
Here are images to document what a visit to daddy's school was like.

Aunt Meysa comes to town

I brought my littlest sister Meysa back with me from our trip to Colorado. She stayed with us for two weeks and oh boy it was hard to send her back. We had so much fun and she was such a big help. I could run to do an errand and not have to worry about trucking along a toddler that hates her car seat! Shawn and I even got to go on a few dates.

the first four days Meysa was here, was also a break from school for Shawn. So we went crazy on our adventuring.

Day one....... we decided to be beach bums. The water was cold and it was a chiller day, but it was still a blast! Shawn trying to teach Meysa to buggy board was by far my favorite.

Day two...... New York City!!! We took the Staten Island Ferry in and experienced Time Square, ate pizza and toured the Intrepid, which is an old WWII air craft carrier. It was so awesome to see. It really made me have a greater appreciation for those that serve our country. We didn't get home till late and we so tired, but thought let's go all out and go to Gettysburg!

Day three...... Gettysburg! We took a guided tour of the battle field from one of the park rangers. It was neat and humbling to hear the stories and sacrifice of this Civil War battle. I learned so much and have high respects for those that sacrificed so much. Shawn could be in Gettysburg for days, but we dragged him out of there eventually. We stayed in a hotel close to Gettysburg that night.

Day four...... Hershey Chocolate Factory. We took the free tour of the famous chocolate world. You ride on this little train as you go through a tour of how they make chocolate. Kanyin LOVED it. I don't know if it was the dancing cows or the actual chocolate, but she was in heaven. We even got to package some hershey kisses. The trip to the chocolate factory confirmed my belief that I am in LOVE with chocolate. We got home late afternoon, and that night I had a photo shoot to do, but while Shawn was feeding Kanyin spaghetti that night she fell fast asleep in her spaghetti. She even started snorring she was so out of it, which is so strange for her because she has to be a dark room with her blanket to fall asleep.

Sunday was day 5 and we crashed!! The next week Meysa and I went to Amish country and our friends the Wooleys Watched Kanyin so we wouldn't have to worry about her. I love Amish country. Something about seeing these guys plow their fields with six ponies, and seeing how they dry their laundry. So cool!

We were sad to see Meysa go, but so glad she came!