Author: Amy Kline

The Kline Family Reunion ended as all the Midwest families headed off in different directions to continue their vacations. We headed out about 10:30 with only about 2.5 hours of driving to do for the day.

We made the short drive, dropped off the camper at the campground and then went to our friend’s house for lunch. It was great to catch up with Chris and meet Jordan. Our boys had a blast playing Transformers on the Sony PlayStation 4 while we talked and toured their house. It is breathtaking both inside and out!

Jordan is an amazing cook and we had one of the most delicious luncheons ever. Salmon and chicken with a home made BBQ sauce, corn on the cob smothered in maple butter, with an Israeli cold cucumber salad on the side and then finished off with rhubarb crumble and home made olive oil basil ice cream made from goat’s milk. It was wonderful!!

They also have a great dog named Kenji. He is huge and was very interested in the boys and followed them around the second they walked anywhere in the house.

After we said our good-byes, we headed over to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park. We learned a lot about FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt going through the museum and then walked around the property to look at his house and gardens and stopped to pay respect at both Eleanor and Franklin’s burial site.

Then back to the campsite for showers and bedtime. Tomorrow is our day in New York and we have to leave for the train at 6:00am!

Such a fun weekend of memory-making!

On Friday, as everyone woke up and got moving, we all had a wonderful breakfast with pancakes, eggs, muffins, and bacon. Jeff was very excited because he got to help in the kitchen, one of his very favorite things to do. Everyone was able to eat at the same time at the two large tables, one on the deck, and one in the kitchen. It was loud and boisterous and awesome!

The boys were very excited that their cousins were into video games too, especially Terraria, so they all joined the same game and collaborated on building stuff. Terraria is a game similiar to Minecraft, but has more options and tools, I am told.

Once screen time was over, the kids all piled in the boat to go tubing and cliff jumping. It’s amazing that all the kids got along so well. No arguing, or bickering happened and not even any jostling for leader of the group. They helped each other and cheered each other on as kids tried something new in the water or new in their video games (at night or early mornings). It was great to watch!

Later on Friday, the rains came, and it rained and rained. Adults and kids sat around and visited, read books, played board games or video games, and some even got a nap in, I think.

The weather was much better on Saturday, which was great because our hosts rented a large pontoon boat so there would be enough room to take the whole gang of 20 to an island in the lake for a picnic cookout and swimming.  On the way to the island, both Jeff and I took our chance and went tubing. As you can see, we even went airborn! Jeff may have gotten a little sea sick after his tubing time as you can see from the look on his face. Muscles that I didn’t even know existed are sore today, but we both thought it was worth it! So much fun!

At the picnic, we were able to get all the grandkids in one spot, facing the correct direction and mostly looking at the camera.

After the picnic, both boats went back to the cliff jumping site to watch the kids (and a few adults) jump off the “cliff” which is about 10 ft above the water.

The pontoon had to go back to the marina, but the speed boat stayed at the cliffs for a bit longer, then took the kids tubing on the way back. The lake was really busy with boats so it was very choppy and so a lot of fun for the kids.

We got back just in time for dinner and relaxing a bit and more visiting before we all collapsed into bed, exhausted but happy.

Thank you to all the Kline’s and Hoffmann’s for their hospitality for the weekend. We had so much fun and and it was great getting to know everyone better and to watch all the kids have fun and make memories together too!

We left about 10 am from the campsite at Minuteman Campground. One thing that we didn’t foresee with our air conditioner is that it would cause condensation on the outside of the camper. Since it was very humid outside, we wanted to keep the camper up as long as we could.

Once we got going, Carson realized that he did not have his glasses. He left them, he thought, in the netting above his bed. The poor kid felt so bad and actually gave me his phone and said he didn’t deserve to play in it today.

We made one stop at Jeff Kinney’s bookstore, An Unlikely Story (Jeff Kinney is the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books in case you didn’t know). I, um I mean the boys were hoping to meet him if he was there. Jeff stayed out by the camper to see if he could pop it up a little and find Carson’s glasses. We all had our fingers crossed that the glasses didn’t get squished when the camper went down earlier.

Unfortunately, the bookstore’s AC was out and they had decided to close because it was already near 90 degrees out and very humid.I caught the worker just as she was locking the doors and she graciously said we could do a quick walk through. Jeff Kinney wasn’t there at the time, so we each bought a book and got out of there. I didn’t even have my phone on me so no pictures, but it was a cool children’s bookstore and I would love to go back someday.

The rest of the drive was uneventful. Lots of trees and very hilly.

We got to the Kline’s lake house about 4 pm. It is gorgeous and has enough room for all 20 people.

The boys immediately went for a boat ride. Then they went swimming and played with their second cousins that they just met like they have known them forever. 8 kids total, 7 of them are boys. Also 3 of the kids are 12 and 4 of them are 10 and then a seven year old. It’s a hoot listening to them play together.

I was able to go for a tour of the north half of the lake on a boat ride before dinner. I could boat all day long! Love it! There is a dam that holds back the water that forms Lake Wallenpaupack so I had to take a picture of it for Jeff.

As I was leaving the water to go back to the house, this mink crossed my path.

We sang Happy Birthday to Carson and Larry/Grandpa and had “upcakes” (just the top of the cupcake with frosting on the top and sides). Delicious!