Family Visit Day 7

It was hard to believe that we had already reached the last real day of vacation when Wednesday came along. The time went by way too fast. Originally we had planned to do Washington DC, but we’d been doing so much long-distance traveling that I don’t think any of us were really up to another long drive and full day trip. Plus, the van we rented had an 800-mile limit, after that it was 30 cents a mile, which adding that to tolls and gas would have been an expensive trip. (We had about 650 miles already). So as much as we would have loved to see DC, we decided to pass and did Valley Forge instead- which we had all really wanted to see as well so it ended up working out well.

We spent part of the morning getting things rounded up and organized. Dad, Mom, Lacey and Cole did part of their packing just to make it quicker later on. Jeff actually got off early, so he was able to join us on the trip up to Valley Forge. It was a lot of fun as well-definitely a good choice, and a much shorter drive. We started off by seeing a documentary film that gave a pretty good overview of all the events leading up to, during, and after the encampment at Valley Forge. Following the film, we spent some time in the visitor’s center looking at all the exhibits, reading more about the people, and various facts, as well as having some fun with hands-on displays.

(Jeff with the surgical tools display- don't those look fun)

Jacob and Caleb had fun in the store section where they tried on the hats and played with the toys guns. Aunt Lacey even bought them a really neat solider set which they were pretty excited about.

The last thing we picked up from the store was an audio-tour cd so we all went back out to the car and did a tour around the whole Valley Forge park. It was really fun and I admit, sometimes I love those kinds of tours where all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride! We did make stops and enjoyed getting out to see the cabins, statues, monuments, houses, etc. That was a nice break for the boys who don’t love the ‘sit back and enjoy the ride in your carseat’ kinds of tours as much.

It was such a lovely day, and we loved the beautiful scenery. We saw lots of deer throughout the park- the boys loved that. One of my favorite things about Valley Forge is that there is really a sacred spirit throughout the entire park. It was humbling to be there and know we were standing in the same place where General Washington and so many faithful soldiers had been before. It really is a place to renew your gratitude for the sacrifices made by so many for the freedom of our country, and towards Heavenly Father who guided and blessed the leaders and forefathers of the country.

We spent most of our day there at Valley Forge and didn’t even start to head home until after 7:00pm. We stopped for some dinner along the way (KFC-Mom’s request) and had dinner together at home. Although it was a fun evening to spend together, it was also a little sad because I knew everyone would be leaving in the morning. Originally I had planned to go to Boston with the family for Kristie’s reception, but the more and more we worked things out, it was just clear that it wasn’t the best option for me. At first we thought Mom & Dad would be driving up as well, and we figured we would caravan together. However, we found it was much cheaper for them to take a bus (the awesome Chinatown bus from Philly to NYC, and NYC to Boston). So that would have left me driving up in the car alone (Dad would have come with me). But we would have gotten to Boston on Thursday afternoon, the reception would have been Thursday night, and then my family was flying out Friday morning. So I would have had to drive back from Boston all the way home by myself the next morning. We thought that Cole might stay out with us longer, and he would have been able to ride back with me-but his flight hadn’t been changed. And frankly, at the end of the week I was so tired and another 7 hour car ride with three tired little boys, and only me driving was starting to sound less and less appealing. The other option of doing it the Chinatown bus way by myself with the kids didn’t sound like much fun either. So as hard as it was to not go up with the family- and especially be able to see Kristie and Tom, we thought that it was probably the best decision not to make the trip. I was really sad, but I knew it was the best choice. So we enjoyed our last night together and tried not to think about it too much.

It was sad to see the boys saying goodnight to Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Lacey and Uncle Cole knowing that this would be the last time they would see them for a long time. Although I told them that everyone would be leaving, I don’t think it really sunk in until the next morning when they came running into the living room to see everyone, and no one was there. It brought tears to my eyes when Caleb asked with a sad, concerned look on his face, “Where did Grandma Go?” Both of them were pretty sad, they cried a few tears themselves and told me they wished that everyone could come back. Caleb even added, “But my Grandma loves me!” It’s funny, I don’t think goodbyes get any easier as you get older, in fact sometimes they seem to get harder. We had so much fun with the family here. I don’t think our little apartment has ever seemed more quiet, empty, and just plain lonely as it did when everyone left. I didn’t want to put away all the sheets, pillows, and other little reminders that family had been here. This was definitely a trip that all of us will remember for a very long time. I don’t know if my family will ever have another chance to come out and visit us while we’re here. (This was the first time in 6 years) But I’m so grateful for all the fun times, and the wonderful memories that we’ll always have. It really was one of the best weeks ever and I wouldn’t change it for anything. Thanks Mom & Dad (and Lacey & Cole) for coming out to see us- we miss you and love you!!

Family Visit Day 6

On Tuesday we decided that we had all had so much fun at the beach on Friday that we’d go again. First off in the morning, I had to stop by the dentist’s office to have an adjustment made, but I was done by 9:30 and after we were all packed up we headed off to the beach again.

While we did have a good time, it wasn’t quite as awesome as it had been on Friday. First off, there were a ton of people there! Why there would be that many on a Tuesday versus a Friday is beyond me, but there was quite a crowd. The waves also weren’t quite as big as they had been a few days previously. So the boogie boarding was fun, but not quite like it was. Dad still spent quite a bit of time out in the water though. He and Cole had fun. That was fine- we found some other things to do too. Lacey, Matthew and I were sitting near the water when we found a huge crab! (Okay, not huge-huge, but pretty big for a sand crab) So Lacey grabbed a bucket and caught it. Well Jacob, Caleb, and Cole thought that was just about the coolest thing ever so they immediately started in with their shovels and buckets trying to find more. Grandma was a pretty big help too; those boys are lucky to have a grandma who is so brave! They didn’t ever find another big crab, but they did find all sorts of other little weird bugs and animals that apparently live in the sand. They had quite an assortment of live creatures in their bucket by the end of the afternoon.

Matthew was a little more grumpy this afternoon and I had a hard time getting him to fall asleep- I know he’s getting a couple more teeth and I think that was the main issue. He finally fell asleep and I was able to lay on my towel while watching the boys searching through the sand for crabs with Grandma and Uncle Cole. I ended up falling asleep for about a half hour- and that nap felt so good!

We spent more time playing in the water and building sandcastles. Jacob and Caleb thought it was fun to bury someone else in the sand this time and luckily Grandma was a willing participant- so they covered her in sand while she was sitting on the beach. (I love the pointed toes/feet they made) By the time it was 3:30, everyone was ready to head home. It’s amazing how tired you can be after spending time at the beach.
When we got home we had dinner and put the boys to bed. Then Mom, Lacey, and I figured we hadn't had much "Girls" time, so we headed off to Kohl's to do a little shopping. It was 9:00 when we left, so we only had an hour before the store closed. It was fun though looking around trying to find some fun things for Mom to wear to her 25th class reunion. We were having a little too much fun laughing and joking around in that dressing room. We ended up finding her some really cute shirts and a few other things. It's amazing how you think you'll have so much time during a week vacation, but really it doesn't last that long. It would have been fun to have a whole day to go out together, but we were busy enough that we only had time for an hour. It was sure fun though!
When we got home, everyone was still feeling pretty good- so we brought out everything for ice cream sundaes and watched a movie together, and once again went to bed way too late, but had lots of fun.

Family Visit Day 5

On Monday we headed downtown to do a little sight-seeing around the great city of Philadelphia! I was definitely feeling more confident in my skills as a tour guide in Philly vs. New York. It took us a while to find parking, usually we always park on the street, but we ended up having to park in a lot which ended up being more expensive, but was probably good because we didn’t have to keep running back to put money in a meter.

Our first stop was the Independence Visitor’s Center to browse through some of the neat things and get information about tickets for some of the other sites. Our next stop was at the liberty bell, which was great as always, even considering how busy it was. Everyone enjoyed reading all the information and facts about he bell, and then of course, posing for a picture. From the Liberty Bell site, we walked over to tour Old City Hall, Independence Hall, and Congress Hall. We missed the tickets for Independence Hall so we weren’t able to go inside until 5 when it opened up for more visitors. These places are amazing and so full of history. We spent a lot of time going through the buildings, taking tours, listening to stories, and of course having fun during all of it. It’s quick to write about everything, but actually going through everything takes up quite a bit of time. In fact, I wish we would have had a lot more time because we didn’t even come close to seeing everything that we would have like to.

Once again, the boys did great with everything. We all took turns pushing the stroller and walking with Jacob and Caleb, who were having a blast! They loved walking around and looking at everything- at one point there was a woman selling real live little turtles. I definitely was not bringing home a turtle- but they were sure fun to watch.

Our next stop was at Washington Square and the Tomb of the Unknown Solider. It was a neat place as well, but I spent most of my time trying to keep Jacob and Caleb from falling into the nearby fountain- so although I enjoyed it, I was also happy when it was time to leave.

One place that I had really wanted to take the family was the US Mint. It has actually been one of my favorite places to tour - very interesting and also entertaining even for the younger ones. (The air conditioning doesn’t hurt either) When we got over to the building, I was so disappointed to see that they had closed at 3 that day, we just missed it. It was alright though, plus I had forgotten that you’re not allowed to bring cameras, video cameras, or even cell phones with cameras into the building- and you have to have your photo ID’s –it’s pretty controlled; so one of us (me) would’ve had to stay outside with all the baggage anyway.

We still had a little time before Independence Hall opened up for tours, so we headed back to the visitor’s center and watched a great documentary film on the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. I was actually glad we had been able to see it because it really gives some extra details that you might miss during some of the tours. We also met another nice LDS family from Utah who was out touring with four of their ten children. Even though we didn’t know each other, we spent about a half an hour visiting together. During this time, Cole also entertained us with his huge jaw breaker sucker- at one point we didn’t think it was going to come out of his mouth! Grandma spoiled the boys, they each got a Sprite- which they were feeling pretty cool about, and a couple suckers.

We finally headed over to Independence Hall and waited in line for a tour. We met a very friendly lady from Boston and had fun chatting with her while we waited in line. Jacob and Caleb also entertained themselves by chasing the birds & squirrels.

We finally made it into Independence Hall and really enjoyed the brief tour, especially Dad- he loved hearing all the stories and the great history.

At the end of the day we were all pretty tired and grateful it was time to head home. We decided to finish off with a fun Philly experience so we stopped for cheesesteaks on the way home. Then we decided it might be nice to have a variety so Lacey and I went out to pick up a pizza and a few other things, including more water ice- yum! We all had dinner together, then put the boys to bed and stayed up to watch a movie together.

Family Visit Day 4

Ah Sunday, sweet day-of-rest Sunday. It was a day that everyone was looking forward to! First of all, it was so nice not to have to worry about packing up and traveling, but also it was Mom & Dad’s 25^th wedding anniversary!

(These pictures aren’t necessarily from Sunday…they were more just random ones taken throughout the week that I might not have posted otherwise. We didn’t do much with the camera on Sunday)

It was nice to have a day where we could sleep in and not feel guilty- church doesn’t start until 1:00. Jeff had to leave at 9:30 for meetings, but the rest of us enjoyed the morning. I made a big batch of crepes and had all the fixings: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, bananas, whipped cream, pudding, etc. Yum. Afterwards we cleaned up and took our time getting ready for church. We made it there 10 minutes early and had fun introducing the family to members in our ward. The sacrament meeting was great- even with the loud thunderstorm that struck right in the middle of the meeting. After church we headed home for a big dinner, complete with a special cake for Mom & Dad. Originally we had planned to visit Valley Forge, but by the time we were finished with dinner we all wanted to just stay home and spend time together. I think it was a good choice, and definitely a more relaxing one. This was one of my favorite days and I think it’s because there weren’t any distractions; we just sat around talking and laughing, and being entertained by the boys. That’s what I love, just being with family, soaking up the moment. Even then the time went by much too quickly. I can’t help but feel so grateful for my wonderful parents- it was so neat to be able to celebrate their 25^th anniversary. We took them to the musical on Thursday, but the actual day of their anniversary was pretty simple. And yet, that’s what Mom & Dad had asked for and really wanted- just to be together with everyone talking, laughing, and spending time together. We missed having Kristie & Tom, and Houston with us but we felt grateful for where they’re at. It will sure be a wonderful reunion when our whole family is reunited together once again.

Family Visit Day 3

Saturday was definitely the craziest day of the trip. My family really wanted to see New York City, and we figured since Saturday was the day that Jeff would be off; that was the day we’d head to NYC.(Waiting for the Staten Island Ferry)

We got off a little later than expected, but still made pretty good time. The ride up was a little squishy, but we managed and had a pretty fun time with everyone all together. We figured that rather than park in the city, we’d just drive to Staten Island and take the ferry across to Manhattan. (On the Staten Island Ferry)

The ferry was great, the boys loved being on such a big boat and it was nice to sit back and enjoy the ride. We got a great view of the Statue of Liberty and the city skyline as we were coming in. It was another busy day in NYC, and we had a good time doing some sight-seeing around the city. (Sweet boys at the end of the night)

We did a ton of walking and I just have to say how great our little boys are. We had Matthew in the stroller, but Caleb and Jacob walked almost the entire way and we never heard even one complaint. There’s so much to see and not even close to enough time to see everything, but we got to see a lot and had a great time. We got to see Wall Street and the NY Stock Exchange, we saw the Twin Towers memorial, the Empire State Building, Broadway, Chinatown, Times Square, and a bunch of other things. Of course we found time to stop and do a little shopping with some of the street vendors. Actually we only spent about 25 minutes, we were pretty busy with other things-well, either that or the men in the group didn’t appreciate the great deals on all the purses. We found the best deals in the Chinatown; Dad got a new pair of medicine balls. Lacey & Mom found a couple purses they really liked. Cole picked up a few miscellaneous things and I finally decided to get a couple necklaces. I’m more of a 1-purse kind of girl; I’ve had the same one for almost 6 years. It was funny though, seeing all those purses almost convinced me to buy another one….almost. There was a cute white one that I really liked, then I started to think about when I would actually use it and how it would stand up to my boys, and I figured my well-loved purse and diaper bag serve just fine. Oh well, maybe next time we’re in New York I’ll break down and get one. If anything, it was fun to watch the reactions of the Chinese girls while we were looking at their purses- they thought Matthew was adorable and were laughing at him pulling on Jeff’s ears. Of course everyone also had to pick up some I (heart) NY shirts, and I’m sure we looked like typical NYC tourists with our shirts, purses, and bags.

For lunch we couldn’t make up our minds what everyone wanted. We finally decided that we’d stop in Chinatown and started looking around for a place. There was this awesome little Chinese guy that told us where we could get good, cheap food and even took us over a couple blocks to it. It was a big buffet style place where you got a big tray and a choice of 5 entrees and soup, all for $4.50. We ordered only a few to share, and even that was too much to finish. I think we enjoyed having a place to sit and rest for a while more than anything.

(The good subway ride)

We took the subway from Chinatown up to see the Empire State Building, Broadway, and Times Square. At this point it was starting to get dark and we knew that the last subway to the Staten Island Ferry left at 8:50, so we didn’t have a lot of time in Times Square, but it was enough for us.

I still have a hard time talking -or even thinking about the last part of our trip. (No pictures of this part) Like I said before, we were going to take the subway back down to the ferry. First of all, our dumb metro cards were having issues so a few of us had to double up through the gates because there wasn’t enough money on the cards (we bought enough rides, but sometimes the card didn’t work, then it would deduct fares) Secondly, somehow we didn’t know when getting onto the subway that in order to be let off at the Staten Island Ferry stop, you have to be in the first five cars of the subway. To make a long story short, we were NOT in one of the first five cars; in fact, we were pretty much near the back, and the cars weren’t labeled, so you wouldn’t have even known . So the rest of the story involves jumping off our car at the stops and attempting to madly dash to the next one in less than 10 seconds, all while hauling luggage and three children. Many of us(Dad, Jeff, Me & Matthew) were slammed in doors and almost left behind. We became experts at prying open the doors to save the endangered victim. After too many bouts of that, we took the prohibited, unlawful route and would go up through the center doors between the cars. We did this as long as we could, until there were no more doors. Finally there was just one more stop and we had about 2 cars to go. We met a very friendly & helpful young man who was from Staten Island who reassured us that we would be okay, and he would stall the subway (by holding the doors open) to help us make it up to the necessary car. So we made one more mad dash (only Jeff was shut in the door on this one) and finally made it to the darn Staten Island Ferry stop. Yes, now you see why this is still painful to talk or even think about. It’s the black cloud of the trip and I’m still looking forward to the day when I can look back and laugh about it…not for a while yet.

(Trying to appear happy as we show off our Subway 'battle' wounds. These are some of the marks left by the doors. I had some pretty good bruises the next day too.)

Anyway, we made it and after a 30 minute wait for the ferry, we were so happy to see the boat. It was a nice, Uneventful, ride back. It was beautiful to see the buildings all lit up. (And yes, I was waving a happy goodbye at this point) We made it back to the car, and headed home. Somehow we ended up missing a turn-off, so our ride home ended up being about an extra hour & a half. But hey, who’s counting when you get home at 2am anyway. Plus, we were together and that’s all that mattered!

Even though we had a few rough times (bonding moments) on the trip, all in all, we had a really fun time in New York.. We did come back with some fun souvenirs, and some long-lasting memories. I was sure grateful to have Jeff with us, I couldn’t have done it without him.