Day 8 of our trip

We started our day by packing the car early and just heading out to the beach. We went and got lunch at subway and had a little picnic on the beach. The kids really enjoyed Ocean City Beach and Garron said that they had the best waves. They weren't too excited when we decided that we needed to get back on the road.

Having fun on the beach!!
This was the expensive hotel that we stayed at. You would think that it would be reasonably priced since it was a Holiday Inn. Well guess again!!

Garron looking for the perfect wave to body surf on.

I saw this restaurant as we were driving out of town. I had to take a picture of it. Interesting Name!!

We decided to take the ferry from Maryland to Delaware thinking it wouldn't cost too much. When all was said and done our final cost to cross on the ferry was $65.00. A little more than what we had expected. But now that we had gotten this far, it would have cost us more to back track and go around. So we ended up just paying and crossing on the ferry.

While we were crossing, Lacey came up to me and asked me how long are we going to be on "Charlie"? I didn't quite understand what she was talking about. She said, "Mom, Duh- Charlie the boat, How long are we going to be on it?" Kids can say the funniest things sometimes.

Lacey on the "Charlie"
Trenton with another one of his great faces!!!

After we crossed the 'Charlie' we drove up to the beautiful town of Cape May, New Jersey and got a quaint little hotel just off the coast.

Yep! That the kids posing in the Cape May boat.
We got out to the beach around 5pm and the kids just had a blast. We couldn't get them to leave. I couldn't believe that they were getting in the water. I went and just put my feet in and couldn't believe how cold it was. I thought it was colder than San Diego.

Kaylie and Garron got pretty beat up from the waves. They were getting knocked around and they would just keep doing it over and over again. This was Garron's new favorite "Wave" beach.
Don't worry! These are well trained life guards!!
The beautiful houses that lined the coast line. It was just a picture perfect town. This is on my list for a repeat vacation spot.
That evening a nasty storm came in. We went and ate at a small dinner. We had hamburgers and hot dogs. Afterwards, we went next door to a small theatre and watched Hancock while it stormed outside. We then took the kids back to the hotel and got them ready for bed. Max and I decided to take a evening walk and went down to the boardwalk and visited all the small coastal shops and had ice cream. Cape May was such a beautiful place. I wish I was rich and had summer home there.

Day 7 of our trip

Today we spent all day at Busch Gardens in Virginia. It was a beautiful day. Most of the day was sunny, but yet with all the trees covering us, it made for a great amusement park day. I would have to say that this was one of my favorite parks. When the roller coasters would dive down into the trees made the ride more intense.

Max "posing" in front of the roller coaster.


Waiting in line for the ride "Dark Castle".




Max and Trenton in the people mover.

Trenton loved to make the best faces. If you haven't noticed by now, he could not just give me a normal smile. He was either doing a pouting face, crazy face, mouth open, etc. That's Trenton!!

Lacey, unfortunately, wasn't tall enough to ride on a few of the roller coasters. So we would go and find different rides or go exploring. As we were walking around, we found an "Eagle Family" that was staying at the park. Lacey thought it was amazing that they just stayed there and she wanted a picture to prove that there were really eagles there.

Trenton, Garron, and Lacey are standing with two of the performers for the nightly show that was performed every night in the park. What made it an even more exciting show for me was the fireflies that buzzed around the stage. Man, those little bugs are neat!

At the end of the day, we decided to let the kids sleep in the car awhile and we would drive a bit. As we were driving up the Virginia Coast, we pasted a Semi-Truck. For some reason it made him mad and he must have seen the Hitcher movie or something, because he went crazy on us. He was driving right on our tale, revving his engine, and just being creepy. Soon another car passed him, which mad him even more mad. He was swerving back and forth trying to get around that car to get back to us. So, needless to say, we were a little freaked out. It was in the middle of the night and if any of you have driven that coastal road...there is nothing there. We drove for 2 hours with only 2 hotels (I think they were both Bates Motels though). We lost sight of the trucker, but we kept psyching ourselves out by saying things like, "What if his Headlights all of a sudden turned on behind us" or "He's watching to see where we stay". So we drove clear to Ocean City, MD around 2AM and got a hotel there. We paid good money for that room, because the Beach Boys had just ended their concert as we pulled up.

Day 6 of our trip

After 5 days of none stop adventures, we were a little worn out. We decided to divert from our original plan of going to Six Flags and just have a relaxing day at the beach. We got an ocean front hotel on Virginia Beach and just played on the beach all day. Later in the day, Max and I went and did the laundry, while the kids stayed in the hotel and watched a movie. There was quite a wicked rain storm when we left to do laundry. The lightening was quite close and it was pouring. So Max and I were soaked by the time we got to the car. But in the end we were able to get the laundry done and the kids survived while we were out.

That evening we ate at Planet Pizza, where we got a free shirt that said on the back "Planet Pizza- You Bet Uranus it's Good". Garron loves wearing the shirt and making sure people read it- to get the shock factor (especially from Nan's).

Day 5 of our trip

Today we decided to see the sites of Washington DC. We really weren't thinking about what day it was (the day after the 4th of July). So it was very crowded.

Our first stop was the Holocaust Museum. This stop was mostly for my benefit. I've always wanted to see the museum. Walking through each of the rooms and seeing everything that happened to the Jews and those under Hitler was heart wrenching. When we walked into the rooms with shoes everywhere and the piles of hair were the most memorable for me. I would love to go back someday (without the kids) so I can see and read everything.
Lacey and Trenton at the Air and Space Smithsonian.

We went to the Air and Space Smithsonian. We had lunch there and walked through a "rocket". Unfortunately, we didn't stay very long. Max was a little disappointed because he wanted to stay longer, but the kids were getting tired and anxious to leave.
Max and the kids with the White House behind them.
Museum of Natural History, where we saw the Hope Diamond. It was beautiful- but wasn't half as big as we were expecting. The kids enjoyed looking at all the different animals that they had on display here.
Garron holding up the Washington Monument.

Trenton, Garron, Lacey, and Kaylie in front of "ARIZONA" at the WWII Memorial
We were amazed at all the people sitting around the WWII memorial, soaking their feet in the water. It was a very muggy, hot day and I'm sure they were relieved to have their feet cooled off.
The reflecting pool was closed off. But you can see that the ducks didn't follow those rules. They were messes everywhere from those "Cute Ducks".
Garron in front of the Vietnam Memorial. Trenton was curious why people were scribbling over peoples names with paper. When we explained to him what they were doing (penciling over the engraved names) he thought that was cool and wished he knew someone that he could get a pencil scribble of.
In fron of the Lincoln memorial. Did you know that the sculpturer, put his profile in Lincoln's hair? (I don't know how true that is. But if you look at Lincoln's hair, you are able to see a man's profile.)

Garron holding the "Flaming Sword"

We ended our day by driving down to Viriginia and stopped at a BBQ restaurant called Red, Hot, and Blue- Very good BBQ!!!

Day 4 of our trip

Happy 4th of July! For the 4th we decided our children would understand liberty better by watching the Gettysburg reenactment in Gettysburg, PA. It was such a neat experience. The kids were enlisted into the army. Garron was shocked how heavy the uniform and gun were.
It was amazing how they made you feel like you were really there. All the soldiers had their own tents. Many of the wives were their to help their husbands by feeding them and cleaning their clothes. They had a church service and different demonstrations like the cannon shooting and band concerts.
We were right in the front so we were able to see everything. The cannons were so amazing and loud. The kids liked how they made rings of smoke after they were fired.

After leaving Pennsylvania, we came to our first covered bridge. So, of course, we had to get out and take pictures. They are so beautiful and old fashion.

Kaylie, Dawn, and Lacey in front of a covered bridge near PA. That night we stopped in Washington DC (well, just outside of it, in Virginia). We watched the fireworks on the lawn near the Key Bridge. We were going to go over to the national mall, but thank goodness Max talked us out of it. Just being on the Key Bridge was crowded. What made it even funner for us were all the fireflies that were out. They were so fun to watch. I think that I was more mesmerized with the fireflies then the fireworks.
Kaylie, Max, and Garron watching the DC fireworks.


I did make a comment about chiggers being in the grass. Garron thought that I was talking about a couple next to us, not the actual bugs, and he was shocked that I would say that. After I explained what I was talking about he couldn't stop laughing. So throughout the rest of the trip we heard the word chigger from Garron quite a bit. Washington DC fireworks!!!
Trenton, Kaylie, and Lacey watching the fireworks on the lawn near the Key Bridge.

Day 3 of our trip

On our 3rd day of our trip, we went to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania. It was such a nice day. There were no long lines (except the water ride that we waited in line for over an hour and as we sat down on the ride it began to rain and they shut the ride down). The park had a nice waterpark inside that the kids really enjoyed. When you enter the park they measure your height, Kaylie and Garron were Jolly Ranchers, Trenton was a Twizzler, and Lacey was a Hershey.
Lacey and Trenton at the waterpark.
Kaylie and Lacey before lift-off. Lacey took me on this ride earlier in the day. I didn't realize that I went so high up in the air. As I began rising (quite high) and was saying under my breath down look down- just look at the trees. Lacey thought was so funny and kept telling me, "it's not that far just look". What a nice, sweet daughter.
Garron and Trenton before lift-off also.
In front of the factory, where we went through a tour of the factory and got free chocolate..... mmmm it was good.
The kids posing with one of their favorite candy bars...

This was Kaylie and Garron's favorite park on our trip. I would love coming back to this park, very clean, shady, and tons of fun things to do.

Day 2 1/2 of our trip

We traveled thru Amish Country and the town of Intercourse. How could you not go thru a town that has a name like that. The kids were quite amazed by how the people lived there. Garron said he would like that kind of life (until he heard how much work they had to do compared to what he does now!) The country side was beautiful and we saw a lot of horse and buggies.

I think that we wore the kids out today. I looked back in the car and all of them were asleep. They looked so uncomfortable- couldn't resist taking a picture though.

We all had our first taste of homemade "Shoo Fly Pie" that we purchased from an Amish Market in Intercourse, PA. We all really enjoyed it. Max said it reminded him of pecan pie without the nuts.
Kaylie eating Shoo Fly Pie- Yeah she liked it!