Our mini vacation is officially over. My parents left this morning, 6am, to catch a flight to Chicago... their vacation continues while ours has ended.
Our few days together played out like this:
Saturday:
My parents arrived around 7pm. Jonathan anxiously awaited their arrival and was disappointed when he found out their flight was delayed. We experienced crazy rainstorms that morning which caused runways to be closed and what not. Luckily my dad and I made sure our cell phones were on so I wasn't circling around the airport for a few hours, like other people.
After pickup, we went to Lehigh Valley Airport to pick up their rental car and then headed out to McDonald's for a very late dinner, 9:30pm.
Sunday:
We went to church and then met up with my parents later for a home cooked Amy dinner. See previous post.
Monday:
Everyone, except for Ryan, was loaded into the car and we took off for Gettysburg. A month ago I asked my dad what he wanted to do while visiting us which he replied history. There is so much around here so I asked him to narrow it down. He mentioned Gettysburg and Washington D.C. so that's where we went.
The Gettysburg museum was remodeled in 2008. Everything looked new and improved. We first watched a movie and then went up a flight of stairs to see a panoramic painting of the battles that took place in Gettysburg. After that we walked around the museum. I was surprised Jonathan was interested in just about everything. His favorites were probably the interactive bugle music game where he learned the different meanings to the songs. Also, he liked putting the 3-d glasses on to see some real pictures of the battle...aka a bunch of 3-d pictures of dead soldiers. He kept saying, "c'mon mom, you have to try this." No thanks. I wasn't interested in pictures of dead soldiers popping out at me. Then a regular picture showed up on the screen so I tried it and quickly took the glasses off before the next picture appeared.
After all the excitement, we headed out to find a hotel and eat dinner. Trying to get Ella to fall asleep was horrible, especially since she was having stomach issues and kept asking to go to the bathroom but eventually she fell asleep. Luckily my dad purchased two rooms so we did not have to bother them with our drama.
Ella enjoyed looking at all the beautiful flowers outside the museum. I had to take a quick pic.
The kiddos trying to lift all the supplies a soldier had to carry. Jonathan was able to lift it an inch or two off the ground.
A mini version of the painting.
Jefferson monument.
Inside of the Jefferson monument. The quotes displayed along the walls were very inspiring and made me extremely grateful to be a citizen of this country.
Washington monument
Wednesday:
Jonathan displaying the centipede he made out of wonder clay.
Ella trying to draw on my face but couldn't because of the plastic wall.
Jonathan and Grammie working on an art project together.
G'pa and Ella hard at work on their art project. She had a blast pulling G'pa around, playing with him and making sure he was always by her side.
Our few days together played out like this:
Saturday:
My parents arrived around 7pm. Jonathan anxiously awaited their arrival and was disappointed when he found out their flight was delayed. We experienced crazy rainstorms that morning which caused runways to be closed and what not. Luckily my dad and I made sure our cell phones were on so I wasn't circling around the airport for a few hours, like other people.
After pickup, we went to Lehigh Valley Airport to pick up their rental car and then headed out to McDonald's for a very late dinner, 9:30pm.
Sunday:
We went to church and then met up with my parents later for a home cooked Amy dinner. See previous post.
Monday:
Everyone, except for Ryan, was loaded into the car and we took off for Gettysburg. A month ago I asked my dad what he wanted to do while visiting us which he replied history. There is so much around here so I asked him to narrow it down. He mentioned Gettysburg and Washington D.C. so that's where we went.
The Gettysburg museum was remodeled in 2008. Everything looked new and improved. We first watched a movie and then went up a flight of stairs to see a panoramic painting of the battles that took place in Gettysburg. After that we walked around the museum. I was surprised Jonathan was interested in just about everything. His favorites were probably the interactive bugle music game where he learned the different meanings to the songs. Also, he liked putting the 3-d glasses on to see some real pictures of the battle...aka a bunch of 3-d pictures of dead soldiers. He kept saying, "c'mon mom, you have to try this." No thanks. I wasn't interested in pictures of dead soldiers popping out at me. Then a regular picture showed up on the screen so I tried it and quickly took the glasses off before the next picture appeared.
After all the excitement, we headed out to find a hotel and eat dinner. Trying to get Ella to fall asleep was horrible, especially since she was having stomach issues and kept asking to go to the bathroom but eventually she fell asleep. Luckily my dad purchased two rooms so we did not have to bother them with our drama.
Ella enjoyed looking at all the beautiful flowers outside the museum. I had to take a quick pic.
The kiddos trying to lift all the supplies a soldier had to carry. Jonathan was able to lift it an inch or two off the ground.
Tuesday:
After a quick breakfast we headed out to Washington D.C. My Tomtom was not working properly which frustrated me greatly. What should have been a 40 minute ride turned into almost 2 hours but we found our destination and parked in front of the National Archives. Unfortunately, the machine to get a parking pass was not working properly so my dad drove around to find a different parking spot. The plan was to meet up inside the building.
We went inside and waited patiently to view some of our nation's historical documents... The Constitution, Bill of Rights and then a letter abolishing slavery, a letter about women's suffrage, Louisiana purchase and a few other document. The Constitution was a lot more faded than I imagined, but impressive none the less. Also in the room were two paintings of our founding fathers. We found out not all of them signed the Constitution. A plaque next to the painting showed which ones who did not sign it. Jonathan and I went through the picture and picked the men out. All of them looked displeased.
Next we walked around to the other exhibits where the kids were able to walk, really run around, on top of the battle field in Gettysburg map, saw the plans for USA's first space ship, Jonathan was able to listen to a secret recording of President Roosevelt, we even viewed one of the tape recorders that assisted in Nixon resigning, etc.
During all of this we never saw my dad. I called his cell phone but it was turned off. A little later a tried again, reached him and found out he was unable to find parking. So we met him outside and didn't know what to do next. My dad ended up dropping us off the see the Jefferson monument. Ella fell asleep in the car while on the way there. After that we tried to get close to the Lincoln monument but were unsuccessful. We then decided to head home early so we would not be stuck in traffic. It was not the exciting day I planned out, but at least my mom caught a glimpse of Washington D.C. It was her first time there.
Jefferson monument.
Inside of the Jefferson monument. The quotes displayed along the walls were very inspiring and made me extremely grateful to be a citizen of this country.
Washington monumentWednesday:
After all the history, we decided to do something local. About a week ago I asked Jonathan what he wanted to do while G'pa and Grammie were here. He really wanted to go to the Crayola Factory. It is only 30 minutes away from us. We finally had a short drive.
The kids had a blast creating works of art with the grandparents and just exploring the facility. I wanted to go here because it was a place where my parents could sit and just spend time with two of their grand kids. The whole trip Ella became quite attached to my dad which worked out perfectly because my mom spent a lot of time with Jonathan.
Jonathan displaying the centipede he made out of wonder clay.
Ella trying to draw on my face but couldn't because of the plastic wall.
Jonathan and Grammie working on an art project together.
G'pa and Ella hard at work on their art project. She had a blast pulling G'pa around, playing with him and making sure he was always by her side.
Thursday:
I had a doctor's appointment so nothin' really exciting went on. My parents did laundry and watched the kids while I was gone. About the time their laundry was done, Ryan came home so we took off to the hospital where my parents got a quick tour of Ryan's work. This was basically the only time they saw Ryan... sad but true. Ryan has 10 straight shifts, which began last Saturday... mostly at night... some are 12 hour shifts... ouch. The life of a resident... sleep deprived, very busy and misses out on many family activities.
After lunch and the tour we headed back to my house for a little bit and then said our good-byes. Jonathan was devastated, began to cry and needed hugs to get through the sadness of seeing them drive away.
We had a blast and were happy for my parents' willingness to come out and visit us. Hopefully they felt the same way. Now they are off to visit my mom's extended family. Enjoy the rest of your trip!
