Ryan and Rachael: How We Spent Our Summer Vacation

SATURDAY - JUNE 16, 2001

OUR SUMMER Vacation this year again found us traveling to Ohio in the back of a little Hyundai sport coupe. It's a long, long drive, but we have a great time once we get there. As always, vacation started with the annual big Father's Day Cookout at Pop-Pop and Nana's on Saturday, June 16th. Aunt Linda and Grandpa have been hosting this cookout for seven years and it's never rained... until now. It wasn't much of a problem, they just set everything up in the barn and watched the rain fall. And fall. And fall. By the time the last of the guests had gone and everything was cleaned up, the water was beginning to flood the barn. The basement of the house flooded, too. And on television, the news reports were building up. It seems that the last traces of Hurricane Allison had collided with a nasty storm front coming in from the west and they were slugging it out right over our part of Pennsylvania. By morning over nine inches of rain had fallen! The news showed people walking from their stranded vehicles through waist-high water at intersections. The Pennsylvania Turnpike was closed from Willow Grove to Fort Washington due to the flooding.

Most of our family and friends are waterproof, though, and a little rain didn't slow attendance down much at all. Justin and Shawn Kurnik were there, along with their dad, Tom. Jake and Lindsay Detwiler brought their parents, John and Vicki. And Rachael's little shadow, Taylor Walters, came with her brother Karl and her sister Brie, and their parents, Andrea and Tom. The minute Taylor saw Rachael she ran after her and hung out with her a lot. But Taylor's older now, and so's Lindsay Detwiler. Lindsay was such a shy girl last year, but not anymore! Both are now in-your-face outgoing little showoffs, and neither one wants to let the other out-do her. They had a great time time together, acting like twin Shirley Temples. Jake's growing up, too. This year he's discovered how special being adopted is, and he's fascinated by anything that has to do with Ukraine, his native country. He's at the right place for that. Several of Pop-pop's family are Ukrainian, and also others at the picnic. Jake enjoyed talking with them.

Of course, our cousins Steven, Adam, and Megan were there, too. They brought their parents, Aunt Barb and Uncle Joe. But this year Megan brought her boyfriend, Chris, and Adam brought his new girlfriend. Even Steven is going out with girls now, although he's between girlfriends at the moment.

Cousin (great cousin? second cousin?) Michael Fogel was there, with his girlfriend Jo. Taylor and Lindsay immediately fell in love with him and demanded that he play hide 'n' seek and ball-toss with them all afternoon.

Grandpa and Aunt Linda's friends, Jim and Carolyn Shea came. Jim's hat, which looks like an enormous beer mug, was a big hit. Their other friends, Becky and Pete were here, too. They brought Steve and Laura, two grownups who used to be children just like us. Laura (Ms. Noll?) brought her boyfriend, Brandon.

And speaking of Brandon, Aunt Lorraine and Uncle Dave are taking cousin Heather and Brandon camping this weekend, so they weren't able to make it for the cookout. But we do get to see them more often anyway. Hope they aren't getting rained on too badly where they are.

Grandpa's sister, great-aunt Mary and her family aren't here this year, either. They're vacationing in Cancun this week, along with Cousins Jim, Jana and Lizz.

The rain did keep some things from happening, such as badminton and horseshoes, but the adults had a good time talking and us kids had a great time playing in the rain. Especially the little kids. They just splashed through the rain and the mud and got completely crazy.

Rachael in the rain

Rachael plays catch with Taylor

Justin and Sean Kurnik's Dad
Tom and their spiffy new car

Jake and Lindsay's parents,
John & Vicki, talk to Aunt Linda

Jake Detwiler puts a spell on you

Lindsay Detwiler - "Well, gee Mom,
a little mud never hurt anyone"

Brie Walters and her daddy, Tom

Taylor Walters - "Okay, who's
hiding Michael Fogel?"

Karl Underkopfler

Uncle Joe and Aunt Barb

Cousin Megan and Chris

Pop-pop with Jo and Aunt Barb

Aunt Linda & her friend Becky

Pete Noll fishing in the rain

Laura Noll's boyfriend, Brandon
talks with her brother, Steve

Ooooooh, fun! Lindsay and Taylor
examine a slug crawling up the wall

And MORE fun! Brie's daddy shows
her what a mud puddle is for.

And EVIL! Well, not really. Mrs. Shea
is the world's nicest witch, even when
she's pretending to snarl at the camera.

Rachael in the rain	Rachael plays catch with Taylor	Justin and Sean Kurnik's Dad Tom and their spiffy new car
Jake and Lindsay's parents, John & Vicki, talk to Aunt Linda	Jake Detwiler puts a spell on you	Lindsay Detwiler - "Well, gee Mom, a little mud never hurt anyone"
Brie Walters and her daddy, Tom	Taylor Walters - "Okay, who's hiding Michael Fogel?"	Karl Underkopfler
Uncle Joe and Aunt Barb	Cousin Megan and Chris	Pop-pop with Jo and Aunt Barb
Aunt Linda & her friend Becky	Pete Noll fishing in the rain	Laura Noll's boyfriend, Brandon talks with her brother, Steve
Ooooooh, fun! Lindsay and Taylor examine a slug crawling up the wall	And MORE fun! Brie's daddy shows her what a mud puddle is for.	And EVIL! Well, not really. Mrs. Shea is the world's nicest witch, even when she's pretending to snarl at the camera.