Days Six, Seven, Eight, and Nine

Well this will be my last written update of our trip. I will post pictures of these last four days sometime during the week, after we get home. Today was spent mostly just sitting around at the hotel. Zeke and I did hit the fitness room (and it was wonderful, after sitting in the car so much the past few days), and the kids did a lot of swimming. The wedding was at 5 o'clock, and it was a wonderful ceremony. Let me back up a little - the person getting married is my mother's Aunt Terri. She had been married to Larry, who developed cancer and died about 5 years back. I can remember meeting them both, but only briefly. For a few different reasons, that side Mum's family doesn't get together often. Anyways, Aunt Terri married a gentleman named David, who also lost his first spouse. It was beautiful the way that they incorporated the memory of their former spouses into the ceremony. I also felt it very meaningful to see the commitment Terri and David had to each other. Both had been through some rough times with the sickness and passing of their spouses, and yet, both had decided to give marriage another chance. It was an outdoor ceremony, and the sun peeped out, and the rain stopped just long enough for it! Very nice of God to do that for them. Then Mum, Grandma, and Grandpa stayed for the reception and us kids headed back to the hotel for pizza, more swimming, and of course the favorite of all - bedtime!

Tomorrow we plan to have brunch with all the family, visit Niagra Falls in the afternoon, and then drive as far as we can. Monday we will breakfast with our Great-Grandmother (Mom's Grandma), and then drive to Grandma and Grandpa's home in Illinois, where we will spend the night. The Tuesday will be the long stretch home from their house to Rolla. I cannot wait to get back. :) This has been a wonderful trip, but I really miss the peace of our home, and of course, Andy and Dad. Friends in Rolla- Give me a call or shoot me an e-mail when I get back so we can get together, okay? I miss you all. . .

Thanks for bearing with me all this time.
Becky

Day Five

We woke up and drove into Philadelphia for the day. As we came into the city, Zeke said it reminded him of LA, and we all agreed. Lots of tall buildings, cranes, and traffic. :) We took a trolley into the city, and walked around. Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and many old, historic buildings. . . very interesting. We also toured the US Mint (which Zeke was super excited about), went to the Betsy Ross house, and waited about 20 minutes for a trolley back to the parking lot. :) Our favortie part was the stories. . . they had 13 benches placed around the city, and a story teller at each one. We heard 3 stories, and they were really interesting, and fun for the kids. Then we drove through to Auburn, our final destination. I drove the last 2 hours or so, which began as nerve-racking, but definitely helped to round out my driving experience. It was windy interstate, which I've never done before - and since I struggle with driving fast, it was a challenge. But listening to the Prince and the Pauper recording kept me awake, and I got used to the speed pretty fast. We checked into our hotel around 10 pm, and were all very glad to reach our final destination!



Beck

Okay, so this is kind of a random picture. However some will appreciate it. :) Only 3 left!!

This was a sculpture in Philadelphia. It is in rememberance of all the Irish who died on their way over during the Potato Famine.

Independence Hall

The Liberty Bell

Isaac, aka George Washington. I love this kid. When we were on the trolley, a lady asked him about his "pirate hat". He corrected her quickly - "No, it's a colonial hat, like George Washington's."

Day Four

This is what I like to call our day of insanity. :) Libeth and Mum were released from the hospital at 8:30am, and we picked them up shortly after that. We drove to Mt. Vernon and spent a few hours there. Libeth was all smiles on the trip, and we are glad she is feeling better. I enjoyed Mt. Vernon even better than Monticello, but both were just amazing. Mt. Vernon overlooks the Potomac River, and the day was gorgeous. After that we drove in Washington DC. Oh my. May I recommend 2 things? One, if you are are going to tour DC, do so either on foot, or on a tour bus. And two, if you decide to drive through the city in your own vehicle, get a map that is up-to-date, and accurate. :) However, I will refrain from dwelling on our negative experiences, and focus on the positive. We were planning to just drive through and look at things from the car, but we were actually able to go into the Jefferson Memorial, and the National Archives Building. We saw the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. We saw some friends from Rolla while waiting in line there, which was interesting to say the least. Then we drove as far out of the city as we could before stoppping for the night just past Baltimore. We ate at a very authentic Mexican restaurant. . .amazing food. Made my mouth water in anticipation of our trip to Cali coming up. :D


Becky

The lovely Mt. Vernon

View of the river from Mt. Vernon - the picture doesn't do it justice. :)

Here is Miss Libeth, back to her happy, goofy self! We are so thankful that she is better! I think she is using the sun shade on her stroller as a head-rest.

Isaac dressed as George Washington - he was absolutely thrilled when we found a "George Washington" hat to buy. He wears it all the time. :D

The Lincoln Memorial - unfortunately, this is about as close as we got.

The Capitol Building

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial - the words engraved on the walls are truly a testament to the faith of our Founding Fathers. It is wonderful reminder of the Christian foundation of our nation, something that is often forgotten in this crazy, busy city.

Me, Libeth, Isaac, Zeke, and our friend Patrick (from Rolla!), in front of the National Archives Building. I believe Abby's head is behind Zeke's - she is someday going to regret ducking out of all the photos. :D

Day Three

Well our first real adventure was last night. As Isaac said when we woke up "I never want to go through another night like that!!" He, Mum, Libeth, and I were in a hotel room together, and it was pretty awful. Libeth cried most of the night - she had a fever, our air conditioner was not working, and she threw up. :( Since she had been coughing most of the trip, Mum thought it'd be wise to take her to the doctor. Thanks to Grandma's friend Maryanne, we were able to find a hospital in Charlottesville. She and Grandpa dropped the rest of us off at Monticello, while they took her to the ER. We really loved the tour of Monticello. The weather was wonderful, and it was just really great. Then we went to visit Mum, found that Elizabeth had pneumonia, and would be spending the night at the hospital. Grandma and Grandpa then took us around downtown Charlottesville. It was nice, but of course, worrying about little Libeth put a bit of a damper on the afternoon. We spent the night at Maryanne and her husband Skip's house. It was so nice, and we are very thankful that they so graciously opened their home.

A few photos of Monitcello is all for this day. Abby wrote a great summary of our tour in the trip journal, but I will refrain from typing it out, since I still have two days to update on. :)

Always,

Becky

Monticello

The gardens, which Zeke was especially interested in.

We took so many photos of the flowers on the flower path, but this was my favorite, probably because of the color.

A unique bench in downtown Charlottesville. It was a mosaic. . . so cool. We wanted to buy it, but we don't have space in the van. ; )

And here is the dear little sickie. Poor thing had the "splint" on her arm to keep the IV from bending. She slept most of the time in the hospital, which was a blessing. Mum was able to spend the night with her, also a blessing.

Day Two

I'm sorry that it's been a while since I've updated about the trip. We have been without internet access for various reasons until tonight. I'll still do it day-by-day though, and write more than any of you ever wanted to know. ; )

Well today was mostly driving. The younger kids are being good travelers for the most part, but I am just about out of entertaining ideas for them. :) This morning we drove through the lovely land of Kentucky on a few different scenic routes, and saw lots of horses and horse farms. It was truly amazing, all the black fences and huge homes. Abby got to sit up front for that stretch of the trip, and "ooh and aah" over all the horses, and colts. Then we continued through West Virginia, and little ways into Virginia. This is really a beautiful area. The Appalachian Mountains are small compared to the Sierras, which we are used to, but they are still amazing. We decided to take a break from the highway, and drove through the very historic town of Lewisburg. It has over 60 buildings from the 1800s (I'm not sure if that's exactly right, but it sounds about so. . . ), and a very quaint little downtown with all sorts of cafes and shops. Then we drove through the grounds of the Greenbrier, a formerly 5 star hotel. We couldn't see any reason why it is now a 4 star - it was amazing! Grandma and Grandpa said that the presidents used to spend their summers there, before air conditioning made Washington D.C. bearable during the summer. :) From there, we went by a wooden bridge which has some significance. . . I can't recall at the moment what it is, but it was a beautiful little spot. Then Chinese for dinner (!!), and to Lexington for a hotel . . .

Favorite Quotes from today:

(Talking about where we are going the next few days) "Isn't Mount Vernon the one with the faces?" -Abby

"I just LOVE Chinese restaurants, mostly because all the people speech French." -Isaac

Becky: Okay Isaac, let's just be quiet for a while.

Isaac: All right, I'll shut my gob.

A big thank you to the Nisbetts for allowing us to join you in the Prince and the Pauper this year! The recording of that has been our best distraction this trip. Never have I seen everyone in the car so attentive, for so long. :)

Signing Off,

Becky

P.S. Here are a few photos. Check out Day One for more photos if you haven't already.

Okay, this is a little weird, but these bugs were ALL OVER one of the rest-stops in W. Virginia. It was so gross!!

One of the beautiful farms in KY.Horses. . . . need I say more?

So this is the Greenbrier Hotel. And this is just the main building. It's got tons of little cabins (well actually BIG cabins) and the grounds are amazing.

And this is the "Humpback Bridge". Pretty exciting.

Day One

Departure Time: 9:09am (Pretty good for planning to leave at 9!)

Well we are on day one of our family vacation. :) I think I may have forgetten the proper cords to download photos, so it may just be boring words. At least until I have a chance to thoroughly search the van tomorrow. Today we had lots of fun. We mostly drove, but also took a few hours at Lincoln's boyhood home in Indiana. It was really cool, because in addition to the museum, they had a living history farm. They actually farm, and have animals, and live as Lincoln and his family did. Mum and I both decided that we would have to throw away our computers to have the time to do all that they do. We saw a king snake, then drove on, through a town called "Santa Claus" (I'm not even joking), and ate dinner in Shelbyville at a Cracker Barrel. We are staying here tonight at a hotel with a very cold swimming pool, and wireless that isn't working. :/

Favorite Quotes from today:
"How do you say diet soda in Polish?" - Zeke
"I don't like eating at this rest-stop because it's wet. I think though that when it isn't wet, it probably isn't as wet. " - prefers to remain annonymous

Most interesting wildlife spotted:
King Snake
Red Fox
Very dead deer on the side of the road

Love you all, and wish you were here!
Becky

P.S. I found the cords and software!! So here are some photos from our first day:

Abby Swinging at our first rest stop - the wet one. :)

Copy of the Gettysburg Address at Lincoln's boyhood home in Indiana.

At the Living Farm at Lincoln's Boyhood Home.

I think we had been driving for about 30 minutes with the tank on Empty before we found this gas stop. Thank you Lord that we didn't add running out of gas to our adventures this day!

Did you know that most gas pumps will stop at $100? We didn't either until gas prices reached over $4/gal., at least out here in the east.

Hangman Game between Becky and Zeke (I won!)

Grandma and Grandpa playing checkers at Cracker Barrel

An Update

Well it has been a while, and I have a whole bunch of photos to put up. . . but that's going to have to wait. :) Mum, Abby, Zeke, Isaac, Elizabeth, Grandma and Grandpa Douglass, and I are going on an 8 day road trip to upstate New York. My Grandpa's sister (my Mum's aunt) is getting remarried, and Mum and Dad thought it was a good chance to take us kids to some historical places in New England. We are leaving tomorrow in the morning as soon as we can get packed up. . . I think we might have internet access along the way, when we stop at hotels and such, but no guarantees. If not, I will most certainly try and post once we get back. Although it's going to be go-go-go from then until school starts back up in August. The week after NY, we are going on a float/camping trip. Then a few days after that we are flying to California, where I will be staying a week. At the end of June, some friends from Norway will be visiting for a week. . . after which Andy and I are going to TREX (wOOt!). Then my aunt and cousins from Dubai (U.A.E.) will be staying with us for a while. And at the end of July we are having a family reunion to celebrate my Dad's parent's 50th anniversary. Talk about busy. . . I would so appreciate your prayers for our family as we begin this whirlwind summer. I'm sure you all understand how easy it can be to get so caught up in all the activities that we lose sight of what really matters. . . then again, I'm sure no one else has that problem, right? ; )

God Bless, and drop me an e-mail to let me know what you're up to this summer!

Becky