Fun, Food and……Wait, We Can’t Go to Knoebels?!

By: Vanessa Walker

Every year during the 2^nd week of August, my husband and I get to go camping with his family at the all-famous Knoebels Amusment Resort located in Elysburg, Pennsylvania.  It’s a family tradition that has been going on with the “Walkers” for over 30 years.  (Let’s just say that one of their original campsites used to be where the Pheonix roller coaster now stands, and that’s been around for as long as I can remember.) It’s really a lot of fun, and I’m actually excited that we now get to share this “family tradition” with our 2-year-old son. In fact, our little guy gets to enjoy his four day Knoebels vacation with not only us, his aunt and uncle, and his one set of grandparents, but ALSO four great-grandparents, two great-aunts, one great-uncle, and a second cousin! —- Did I mention it’s a FAMILY tradition?

So, there you have it: 4 generations crammed onto three camp sites and sleeping in a camper, 2 tents, and a nearby cottage.  There’s nothing like spending quality time with the family, cooking food over the campfire, walking the park and riding the rides whenever you want (during the park’s operating hours of course), and just hanging out on our campsite, relaxing. It’s the major event of the year, other than Christmas, for us Walkers!!

And then, it happened……  the phone call that would change the Walker Knoebels vacation as we know it!!

My sister-in-law and her husband are parents-to-be! Very exciting moment, as I’m sure it is in every family! Truly a blessing!! And her due date is………….. in AUGUST!!! Yep, that’s right!!

So, now what do we do? The phone calls and questions started rolling!

“Do we cancel Knoebels’ this year? What if we went a different week?”

“No, we can’t go a different week, because Ma and Pa leave Knoebels in their camper and drive to Texas every year to spend some time there.”

“What if we went the week before?”

“We don’t know if the dates are available. We might not all get that time off from work.”

Yep!! That’s how important this family tradition is! Haha!  It was the major topic of discussion for a long while! It nearly put us all into a panic! “What if we can’t go to Knoebels this year?!”

But don’t worry, we managed to fix things! Ma and Pa (that’s what we call my husband’s one set of grandparents) either rescheduled or cancelled their trip, we found campsites available for the first week in August, and my sister-in-law is crossing her fingers that their little boy, Christian, will be born either before or after our mini vacation!

And no matter what happens, despite all of the original panic, discussion, and anxiousness, ALL of us are VERY excited and anxious to meet the little guy, with or without Knoebel’s this year! I think he’ll pass as a good excuse to miss our family camping trip, don’t you?

Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from Him. — Psalm 127:3 (NIV)

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*MariLee took the Sun Travel set on her 3 week trip! Here’s what she thought: “I loved the Sun Travel set! When we were at Dollywood and Splash Country, I used the sunscreen on my face and it didn’t feel greasy or heavy. I wore it under my makeup. I wish I would have put some on my chest and shoulders! Oops! Those areas were pretty pink the next day. But that’s where the After-Sun Replenishing Gel came in handy. It felt great on my crispy skin and moisturized the dry areas. The products were small and came in a little travel bag that fit perfect in my luggage. I highly recommend contacting Vanessa to purchase these products. She’ll have your order to you quickly and can answer any questions you may have about the products.”