Family and Fun

The highlights from today are the "field trip" to the coal mines and the big family dinner.

We just hung out this morning and got moving kind of late.  CoCo brought us some much needed coffee.  And donuts!  It was kind of a dreary, rainy, overcast morning so it was hard to get motivated. 

The kids, hubby and CoCo went to the grocery store and I hung back and got a little organized.  When they got back we went and picked up my niece and we went and took a tour of the Pennsylvania coal mine.   It was really cool.  Literally and figuratively.  We went way, way down into the earth and got a close up tour of how coal is mined in the area.

When the pictures get uploaded, I will tell more about what we learned.  If I remember.  It was hard life mining coal.  And very dangerous.  Boys as young as 5 were given jobs.  The young man who gave us the tour is currently a minor and he has said not much has changed in the industry in the last 50 years.  Crazy!

We went back to my sister-in-law's for a family dinner.   The groom and 5 of his siblings were home.  One all the way from med school in Grenada.  That is one of the coolest things about a wedding, how it  brings family from all over back together for a little while.  It is even cooler when such a large family is involved.  Not to mention my brother-in-law's family has been in the area for generations.  So lots and lots of family around town.

We enjoyed doing a little catching up with our nieces and nephews.  We talked a little about the wedding and what is going to be happening with EG and Boop.  Trolleys and pictures and hair and nail appointments.

Right now I am awaiting the arrival of my brother and sister-in-law and their two kids.  The big girls, including my youngest niece are crashed on the floor watching House Hunters International on the TV.  Boop is asleep on one couch, EG is asleep in a big bed, hubby is at the airport and I am blogging.

Tomorrow the festivities begin.  We will go over and help my sister-in-law.  I might take the big girls for manicures.  Then it is the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, more family and then Friday the wedding.  I might be done blogging for a day or two.  I am sure it will get a little crazy. . .