Days 25 & 26: Philadelphia Pt. 1

Yesterday we made the trek across Pennsylvania from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia.  We thought it was a short drive, but the kids had other ideas.  Their crankiness made the drive feel much longer than it was, even despite our early departure.  We made our stop for lunch in Hershey.  The town that makes delicious treats and smells like chocolate was fun to drive through, though we didn’t stop for anything except a run into Aldi’s for some lunch-type snacks.  Matthew, who ran into the store with Amelia, did come out with a pack of Reese’s for me…since we drove past the Reese’s-specific factory immediately prior.

We began the last leg of the trip to Philly after a brief stop at a local park (that was otherwise deserted!) for some running around.  Even after all that, the kids still didn’t nap, but oh well.

We arrived at our host’s house in the mid-afternoon and were super grateful the kids had four new friends to keep them busy.  We met our hosts in Kinshasa in December while they were there to pick up their two girls.  They even joined us for Christmas dinner at the Christmas House!  It is so wonderful to see how much their girls have grown and their English skills are incredible!  They decided on the plane to forgo Lingala, so they immediately began to work on their English.  It has paid off, but I scolded Amelia today (we tend to do this in Lingala…I don’t know why) and it got their attention too.  I asked them if they knew what it meant…and they still translated it accurately!

We got the Cranky Ones to bed early (and they actually fell asleep) and turned in soon after – sitting on the porch, watching the lightening bugs and a few crazy neighbors until it was dark.

Levi slept for 12 hours and it felt like we were back in DRC (the kids slept 12 hours straight every night…I miss that…a lot), even though Amelia (and Matthew) got up at 6am.  We had a fantastic breakfast and prepared for the shin dig for today.  Four adopting families, three of whom have traveled, and two who I had taken shopping, were here and it was a great time of sharing and comparing stories of life in DRC.

This evening it is WARM and dinner is served, so I’m signing off…Levi has a lobster-style back from spending ALL day in the kiddy pool with his friends (we applied sunscreen often, but he’s super pasty).  I think they’ll sleep quite soundly tonight! Tomorrow we get to speak for a few minutes at Hope Community Church in New Jersey, about an hour from here.  Really excited to meet this community of believers and SHARE on DRC’s Independence Day!