Friends from Philly (and South Jersey, too)

This past Saturday, we were thrilled to have a visit from some of our good friends from our Philly days. When people ask us how we like our move to Harrisburg, we are all enthusiasm, except for the loss of so many good friends we had in Philadelphia. Sara and Sebastien Demoiny and Jamin, Angie and Lily Ferner came to our neck of the woods and let us show off Harrisburg a bit. It was wonderful to see their faces and catch up with them for hours on end.

After lunch, we first took a tour of a local brewery called Troegs. Two local brothers own and started this brewery and they always give the tour themselves--which is kind of quaint (in a good way). The kids were pretty tired at this point in the afternoon, so they slept through most of the tour. It was a little too much hops and barley talk for me, too...but someone who enjoyed beer might appreciate the details a bit more. Someone who enjoys beer would also appreciate the samples given out more than I did. We then headed off to see more of Harrisburg.

Our next stop was at the capitol building. When we host out of town company, we plan our tours according to our guests' tastes, what we think they might enjoy most. But, no matter who it is, we always include the capitol building. It is just so awe inspiring...especially when you realize it was built in 1904, not 1504. The details and grandeur of the building remind me of places I have seen in cities in Europe. I love going to it every time we're there, so I'm always ready to assume that those who have never seen it will love it, too. Unfortunately, a slightly vain bride was about to be married in the rotunda section of the building, so we were unable to see most of the building. But, we did get to catch a quick glimpse in the main part of the rotunda, which is the best part to show.

After the capital, we couldn't resist taking our guests to Hershey and letting them visit Chocolate World. The kids, of course, could not contain their excitement over this leg of the journey. We are pretty sure that the anticipation of having that as the last stop was what gave them the ability to happily take part in the rest of the day.

We all came back to our house ready for dinner. Sadly, after a few hours, the Ferners and the Demoinys had to head home. It was great to see them and we hated to see the day come to an end. We are hoping that we can see them again soon. I have to note that I feel very blessed to have been able to see so many good, loyal friends over the past two weekends. We thank God that our friendships with the Ferners, Demoinys and the Wimberlys (and many others) have not been forgotten because of the distance between our homes.

(I should mention, too, that the pictures in this post are all from Jamin's camera. I had mine along, but he was snapping faster and better pictures than I, so I just decided to use his. Thanks, Jamin, for letting me have copies of them.)