Reunion

A great mystery surrounded Larry Sousa, my husband's grandfather. As far as anyone knew, he showed up in Conneaut Lake around 1930 and never gave any clues about his past. My mother-in-law grew up never meeting a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or cousin. This kind of thing drives me nuts and occupies my thoughts. When Kate came home this past winter with a family history assignment, we decided it was the perfect time to play detective. With only one bit on information to go on, and lots of help from Ancestry.com, we were quickly in contact with newly found relatives!

While we will never know the true reason for Larry Sousa's estrangement from the family, it's all in the past now. We were invited to yesterday's annual family reunion at Erie's Waldameer Park and were welcomed with open arms.  The above photo was taken just moments after we arrived.  My mother-in-law met her first cousin for the first time in her life and immediately took a stroll to get acquainted. (You can see pictures of our visits to Waldameer in 2011 here, and 2010 here.)

Since this is all so new and we're still adjusting, I won't give too much away. I will say that Larry Sousa was 100% Italian, something unknown to us until a few months ago. In honor of this new-found heritage, Will had the face painter paint the Italian flag on his arm.

We feasted on homemade meatballs, sausages, and pasta and drank homemade wine. We even won a gift basket in the raffle drawing. Bob and Kate check their tickets below.

Surfing? In Erie?

We didn't believe it. And after visiting, we still not sure we believe it.



We're told that people actually surf here, between Beach 10 and Beach 11 on Presque Isle. The kids have been anxious to visit for weeks. The water really couldn't have been calmer, yet we're told waves can get as high as 10 feet.



We visited the local board shop and found out that the larger waves are mostly in the fall and spring. Since the 'waves' are wind driven, they're not nearly as powerful as ocean waves. But, people do really surf.



Without waves large enough to even body surf, the kids played in the water a bit before we made it out ahead of the storm.

A Good Day!

We drove up to Erie earlier this week for a back-to-school shopping marathon at the mall. Why was it such a good day?
1) 3G all day!
2) No sales tax on clothes.
3) Done getting kids clothes, shoes, cleats and shin guards.
4) Found a pair of my discontinued running shoes (that I have been unable to find at any other store or online).
5) Tart frozen yogurt.
6) Starbucks.
I definitely felt like I stepped off the farm and found myself back in civilization.

Waldameer and Erie

We spent a full day in Erie earlier this week. The kids did ride after ride at Waldameer, a hundred-plus year old amusement park. The adults, meanwhile, parked ourselves in the outdoor theater and watched Waldameer's cast of four dance and sing their way through three musical variety shows.






















My mom, cousin and aunts.




Will and Tessa with their carnival prizes.



As if that wasn't enough, we drove through Presque Isle State Park, where the kids took an impromptu dip in Lake Erie. Waldameer sits on the edge of Presque Isle and Lake Erie, and some rides give a beautiful view of the lake.









We drove back to the lake, stopped at Eddie's Footlong, then arrived home to discover our baby birds.

At Eddie's.

Waldameer Park in Erie

We finally made it to Waldameer Park in Erie. Waldameer translates to Woods by the Sea in German. It sits on the shores of Lake Erie, at the entrance to Presque Isle. After suffering through our local run-down Conneaut Lake Park for years, we weren't sure what to expect. Like Conneaut Lake Park, Waldameer is a century-plus year old park. Unlike CLP, however, Waldameer is well-maintained, well-staffed, and a true, old-time amusement and water park.

The kids in the lazy river

The park, opened in 1896, is the 4th oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania and the 10th oldest in the US.

The boys on the train ride

Fun house mirrors

Presque Isle, Erie

We spent a beautiful day in Presque Isle in Erie. We also made our first visit to the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, which sits at the entrance to Presque Isle.

Presque Isle, meaning almost an island, juts out into Lake Erie and is covered with beaches and hiking and biking trails.

William insisted on wearing these fake glasses most of the day (and much of the summer, actually). He got a lot of double takes.

William in the Tom Ridge Environmental Center.

A tree in Presque Isle.

The kids looking for stones to skip on the lake. Lake Erie is so massive that you'd think you were at the ocean.

Riding a Surrey in Presque Isle, Erie

Until today, my time in Erie was limited to two trips - Home Depot and Splash Lagoon - and, neither was representative of what Erie has to offer. Erie is only 30 minutes from Conneaut Lake, and I have no idea why I have managed to avoid it each summer. Today, however, we went to Presque Isle, and it was absolutely beautiful. Presque Isle, 'almost and island' in French, juts out into Lake Erie. Bikers, hikers and roller bladers covered the paved trails winding through the park. We rented a surrey this visit - next time it will be a canoe!

The kids on the surrey. My son in front looks like he's nodding off, but I don't know why. He's the only one who didn't have to do any work!

Me and the kids on the surrey..

One of the many beaches. Lake Erie is so huge that you feel like you're at the ocean.

After an exhausting surrey ride, we stopped for a water ice (Italian Ice). My cousin had asked if we'd ever had one, and I had no idea what she was talking about. When we saw the water ice store, we had to stop. This one has water ice and frozen custard.