30 days of vacation – when we extended in Spain for another year and they thanked us with a paid 30 days of vacation.  Not a bad deal.  We’ll take it!

Tripp and I flew home to PA a week ahead of Joe so we could spend some extra time with family, namely my brother who was home from teaching in English in Korea for a few weeks.

It didn’t take Tripp long to warm up to his uncle Alex and by the end of our 2 weeks in State College he was reaching for Alex constantly.

Tripp took full advantage of having a bathtub since our house in Spain only has shower stalls.

Tripp also had a blast dancing around and exploring Mimi and Papi’s house.  This is one of my all-time favorite photos of him.  This face totally depicts his personality when he’s feeling goofy.

We got to enjoy a nice Easter brunch on top of Mt. Nittany, although we were missing Joe back in Spain.

I got to go out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, American Ale House with two of my best girlfriends from home.

We also had another night out at one of my other favorite restaurants in town, Spats Cafe and Speakeasy.  This was the 2nd Annual Real Housewives of Happy Valley Girls Night Out.  It’s always such a blast to catch up with old friends.

Everyone wants to see Tripp so we had a mini family reunion with cousins and aunts and uncles who came in for the weekend.  BBQ, ribs, pool, touch football and dancing were enjoyed by all.

From left to right: Cousin Lee, Aunt Stacy & Uncle Ivan (my Dad’s brother), Tripp and Joe, Alex (my brother), my Dad, Cousin Sammy (in front), Uncle James and Cousin Spencer.
(Missing is my mom, Aunt Janet (Uncle James’ wife and my mother’s sister) and myself.

It was so great to see all of them, we wish we could have seen everyone.

It was a great 2 weeks visiting State College and went WAY too fast.  We’re so glad Tripp got to spend so much time with everyone and that I got to see my brother who I hadn’t seen in 2.5 years.