Fun Weekend....

We are on the last of a four day weekend and it's been awesome. Friday night, as soon as we finished with work, Linda left to go join her son and his family at her brother's house....a short drive from here. She took them to Halo Farm for ice cream and was hoping to see some bottling going on in the plant but they were done for the day. They all got a pint of their favorite flavor of ice cream and dove in. Their homemade ice cream is cheap and super yummy so everyone enjoyed it.

The next morning they drove to Easton, PA to the Crayola factory. This is a wonderfully creative place for kids (and adults alike), with tons of fun activities. Here are some pics of the things they participated in.

While Linda was hanging out with her family, I was having fun with my daughter. She took the train up from Philly and got in about 9 p.m. Friday night. We went to the local farmer market where she bought a bunch of veggies....then we went to a park in nearby Somerset and sat on a blanket, taking in the warm temps, blossomed trees and people frolicking in the vicinity. Saturday morning, we went to the Omega Diner and had veggie omelets....yum !

On Saturday evening Linda returned home so the three of us spent Sunday together. It was pretty quiet around....most all of the stores were closed for Easter but we did find a K-Mart open and went there to do some shopping. Went back to the house and watched a couple movies...one on Oscar Wilde and one on another poet (was really weird so don't remember much about it). I kind of lost interest when the poet guy set his wife's hair on fire....yikes ! It's a movie that Leonardo Dicaprio was in, back before he was in Titanic....strange movie ! On Sunday afternoon, Linda and I drove Becky back to Philly....it was a great day for a drive !

Monday morning Linda and I left for the Berkshires...near Lenox, Mass. Spent the night there and returned this afternoon. Much cooler up there than it was here. When we left there this morning, it was very cool and rainy. We got back to NJ and it was in the upper 70's and sunny. Funny how different a few hundred miles can make in the weather. Tomorrow we head back to work. The managers here have moved out so the apartment will need cleaning and getting ready for a new couple. Lots of things to do in the next couple weeks....

Crayola

On Sunday Linda's brother and sister in law came down, as we were finishing up work, and we went out to dinner at Shannon Rose....an Irish pub in nearby Woodbridge. We told them as we entered that we were interested in watching the Eagles football game and after checking their TV chart, we were seated right under a big flat screen so we could watch the game while we ate. We had a great time and as usual the food was awesome. It was fun to chat and hang out with Roy and Kathie for a while.

Today we went to Easton, Pa to the Crayola factory. It was a fun time ! The picture at the top of this post is of the world's largest crayon. The World’s Largest Crayon is located at The Crayola Store. It took 123,000 blue crayons to make this 1500–pound one–of–a–kind crayon, which is 15 feet long and 16 inches in circumference. A sign posted near the crayon states that this crayon could draw a continuous line for 10 miles....Wow !! The crayons to make it were donated by children from all over the country in an effort to beat the previous record for the world's largest crayon.

On the 3rd and 4th floor of the building, where the Crayola factory is located, is the National Canal Museum. The last time I was here this part was pretty boring. I recall pictures on the walls but boy has it changed. Now, when you enter you are given your own barge that you have to navigate through a series of locks to get to the end of your journey. What a great interactive way to learn ! The whole canal museum was really neat...you get to learn about locks, pulleys, building systems, etc. I enjoyed this part of the day as much as the Crayola factory. The canal museum and the Crayola factory are both part of the entry fee. After we finished with the museum we went to the Crayola store which is always fun. There are always neat things to see. This is the 50th anniversary of the 64 pack of crayons with the built in sharpener so they have a commemorative tin. Remember what a big deal it was when the boxes came out with their own sharpener...cool, huh ? I learned two neat things about the labels on crayons. First, that up until 1943 the crayons were rolled by hand by people in their own homes. There was a picture of a woman, sitting rolling crayons at her kitchen table....a bucket of glue on one hand and a bin of crayons at the other hand. These "employees" weren't known by their names but they were known by the color they rolled..."The Red Farm", etc. Second thing I learned is that the "glue" used to put the label on the crayons is edible....it's cornstarch and water. So if you find your grandkids licking the labels on the crayon...not too worry.

One of my favorite items, on display at the Crayola factory, is Mister Rogers' sweater that he wore when he made the 1 billionth crayon. That crayon, as part of a Crayola promotion, was won by a Colorado grandmother but she sold it back to Crayola for a $100,000 savings bond. The crayon is on display there too.

What a great place to take the youngsters and the "young at heart". Take yourself back to a simpler time in your life when all you had to worry about was what color to use in your coloring book. We certainly enjoyed our "day of play"....