a walk near dawn, and a family outing.

Bonnie, Megan and I walked in Salisbury Township at 6:30 this morning. Close enough to dawn for me.

We walked together for a bit and then Megan went off on her own.

At the end, we met up with each other and finished the walk together. We even manged to get a selfie right by Bonnie's house.

Then this afternoon we went to Kutztown to ride the steam train.  I spend a lot of time with Frances doing girl stuff, and girl scout stuff. It's hard to find boy-interesting stuff to that also appeals to aunt Gayle.  I saw this in the paper a week or two ago and thought it would be great.

Kool-J thought it was a terrific idea and knew his brother would like it. I told him stories of how his grandfather, uncle, great grandfather, plus the rest of the family, would chase trains on weekends when we were growing up. My dad even has a train on his tombstone.

His twin, my niece said, can I come? Okay. I'm a push-over.

Then my brother (the uncle) discovered this train and posted pictures on FB. Lydia is obsessed with trains and wanted to go. Then my sister Pat wanted to go. She rarely leaves the house.

The kids would be with their grandmother today so I had to ask her, not their mom. Sure, she said. Can I come? At this point we needed two cars. The last person to join the party was my sister Sharon.

 Kool J,  Bug, me, Dawn, Sharon

A total off eight people went. Eating out was not an option. I channeled my inner-Frances and decided to pack a picnic. It would save me a ton of money. Not knowing what the kids would eat I told Dawn to bring kid food. Then I bought ham and cheese, rye, chips, pretzels, cherry tomatoes, and grapes. Plus water and tiny cans of soda. Lydia brought paper products and red solo cups. (Well, generic ones.) The children knew the chorus of the song! We had a sing along. Thankfully 13 is not to old to sing with relatives.

Dawn brought Lunchables and Yoo Hoo. And other snacks and beverages. But the best was that pre-made bright yellow really salty popcorn. Let's just say I'm not taking my BP tomorrow. But it was worth it.

It was nice to see we were not the only ones picnicking. It took three blankets to fit us and the food. We had a lot.

Bubba ate and then started running around, stuffing acorns everywhere. At one point he said "Mimi, help me get the nuts out of my pants." It was nearly impossible not to laugh. Even the 13-year-olds got the double meaning. And he kept saying it.

He wanted to ride in the rusty caboose so Aunt Pat rode with him. It took three grown men to get her out.  We opted for the open air car. It was cooler than inside the cars, but we got hit with ash and smoke. And the sun. I took off my hat and held it at the back of my neck. (Yes, I had sunscreen on.) We all decided that railroad workers must have all died of lung disease.

I was stressed about today. All those people. All those personalities clashing. But it actually worked out okay. I remembered why I liked family activities.

It was such a good day that both boys fell asleep in the car coming home. And they were in different cars.