President's Day Weekend

Bruce started talking about going to Columbus, Georgia over 

the long President's Day weekend while I was in full Uganda planning mode.  

I told him to plan away because I didn't have time to think about another trip at that point.  

Well, shortly after I got back from my trip I received an email from Bruce 

with a proposed itinerary for the trip.  

(Gotta love engineers!)

It looked fine to me.

Definitely a hoo-rah weekend.

We had plans to see several military sights including

The Infantry Museum

Andersonville Civil War prison site and the Prisoner of War museum

and

The National Civil War Naval Museum.

I have a husband and two kids that like history very much.

My guys are crazy for military history. 

It is hard for it not to become a little contagious.

As it turns out we didn't have time to make it to the National Civil War Museum because 

we spent too much time at the Infantry Museum.  

It was that good.  

The facade of the infantry museum was fitting 

a museum of such an important part of our military.

You can't help but be proud and thankful for these brave men and women 

who have served our country over the years.  

This museum was fantastic!

The displays were very creative and engaging...

like this video display of a paratrooper landing projected into an open parachute.

We also found out that there were no mannequins used in this museum.  

All of displays use wax castings of active duty service men and women.

Cool, huh?

Very moving tributes everywhere you look. 

 There was another video being displayed inside this helicopter.  

The sights and sounds really make you feel part of the action.

Very brave words.

The trip to Andersonville and the POW museum was equally moving.  

Going through the POW museum I couldn't help but empathize for the families at home waiting for their family members what were being held as prisoners of war.  

I couldn't imagine being put in the position of being held as a prisoner of war. 

I came away being very humbled and proud of our military families. 

The film at the visitor's center and the driving tour around the Andersonville grounds 

illustrated very well this low point in our nation's history.  

Before this weekend I had never given Columbus, Georgia much thought.  

I knew it as the home of Ft. Benning but not much else.

After this weekend I am thinking that we need to go back and see the things that we missed 

and maybe repeat a few of the things we did!

Good trip.

All Tied Up

Over fall break we went to visit hub's family.  

Bruce made the mistake of falling asleep in my in-laws living room while 

Allison was working with yarn.  

Pretty soon she was reenacting a scene from Gulliver's Travels.  

Hubs can sleep through anything! 

He didn't wake up at all while he was being tied down by this very cute Lilliputian.

Burrito heaven

Bruce has told the kids that there are a few food rules, 

the first and most important is to never eat anything larger than your head.

When we get the opportunity to hit our favorite burrito place, Chipotle, 

this rule can be hard to follow.  

These are some bubba-sized burritos.

 We don't have a Chipotle at home, so when we go out of town I usually fire up 

the iPhone app and find one that is nearby.

Yep, we are that strange and Chipotle is that good.

The boy has no problem snarfing down his burrito. 

Heck, he barely came up for air!

This is normal right?

I like Chipotle so much that I have actually emailed them to tell them 

about our town and see what our chances are for getting one.  

Unfortunately there are no plans to in the near future.  

Oh well, a girl can dream.  

Over the River and Through the Woods

It's time once again to travel 700 miles north to see the other side of the family.  

The big change this trip is that Ben got to help with driving.

He needed some interstate practice.

I am still not used to this picture.

Wasn't it just last week that he was riding in the backseat?

In a booster seat?

Yikes, time flies!

Allison and I held down the fort in the backseat.  

Lots of chatting and sleeping.

As a trip should be - ideally you should load up the car, get buckled in, 

and then have someone gently wake you when you arrive at said destination.  

Right?

This trip we decided to take Miss Peaches.

Although she pretty much had run of the back end of the van 

she spend most of the trip between Allison and me.  

We girls gotta stick together.

Blackbeary looks kind of lonely back there.

By hour 10 or so of the trip Peaches did go back and sleep in her bed.

I will be glad when beaming places gets perfected.

You know, like in the old Star Trek episodes.  

That would be my favorite way to travel.

But in the meantime, having uninterrupted car time 

with my hubs and kids isn't too bad.

Peaches in Philly

It has been fun taking pictures of Allison's little Peaches on this trip. 

We all sort of got in on the game.

At Constitution Hall

In Congress Hall where the first House of Representatives met and the presidency was peaceably passed from George Washington to John Adams.

At the iconic Love Statue in Love Park.

Peaches on a chess piece in Love Park

Snuggled up with Allison at the Liberty Bell.

And at the birthplace of the PCUSA. 

This little doggie gets around!

Ben's Way to Sightsee

Ben has found a way to enjoy our vacations without rushing us through

 or being bored to death waiting for us to finish up.

He brings along his Nookcolor and whips it out whenever he has time to wait on us.

Here he is waiting on the water ferry to take us from the North End to the Charleston Naval Yard

...the USS Constitution museum and gift shop

...the visitor's center in North Bridge, Concord, Massachusetts

...waiting for the movie presentation at the Independence Visitors Center in Philadelphia

...at the President' Home Site

...at the American Philosophical Society

At Christ Church Burial Ground where Benjamin Franklin is buried

...at Betsy Ross' home

...at the American Philosophical Society Library

I am kinda wondering what his memories of this trip will actually be.

Will he remember the founding fathers fighting intergalactic wars with alien droids?

Will he remember Jedi Master Ben Franklin flying his Millenium Falcon to Concord and Lexington?

Will he remember Padawan John Hancock falling in love with Queen Besty Ross?

I hope he manages to keep what he has learned and what he has read separate.

Philadelphia = Franklinville?

Yesterday was another fun day of strolling all around the historic areas of Philly.

Another beautiful, breezy, brisk day.

We, of course, did the obligatory visit to the Liberty Bell.

The building and exhibit that accompany the bell is actually very cool. 

It does a great job of conveying what a symbol of liberty the bell really is.

 And may I say that this town in Ben Franklin crazy!

The dude is everywhere!

On the facade of the Americal Philosophical Society Library is a statue of Ben in a toga. 

By the way, the philosophical society has nothing to do with philosophy.

At least not the same way we think of philosophy.

Philosophy is the old word for the natural sciences.

Housed in this library are some very cool items relating to natural science and new world discoveries.

Yesterday we saw two of the journals of Merriwether Lewis.

And here is his likeness in a fireman's helmet. 

I don't remember ever hearing about him being a fireman, but he did just about everything else!

I am telling you, this town may have been named after William Penn, but this is Ben's town. 

Love Park

Our first day in Philly and the weather was glorious!

On our walk to Independence Hall we spent some time in Love Park. 

It is a nice, whimsical park right in the middle of town.

Along with the Love Statue that everyone knows about there are giant game pieces 

strewn about on the plaza - just begging to be played with.

Cute, huh?

I am sure that there is some love pun I am missing here to caption this picture with.

We are a Love-ing family?

We are under Love's spell?

Nope, those aren't it.

I 29, next birthday I 30. 

(again)

Come back and fight, this is just a flesh wound!

We have ruined our kids with Monty Python.

(And by we, I mean Hubs has ruined our kids with Monty Python.)

Actually I like Monty Python too.

I'm Queen of the World!

Who needs a flat Stanley, we are about to have a flat Ben!

Yea, I know I could have posted a bunch of pictures of Independence Hall and the like but hey, these pictures are more fun. 

On The Road Again

We woke to rain in Boston today – so this is a good day to leave.  We are driving from Boston to Philadelphia today.

Sounds easy enough – except that it involves about 6 l-o-n-g hours in the car.

So I saw lots of this.

Lots of this.

Some of this too. 

Saw several of these guys.

And here is the proof that we went through several toll booths.

But after a long drive we have a pretty nice suite to crash in for the next four days.

Here is the view from the balcony. 

The Franklin Institute is in the foreground on the left, the Philadelphia Museum of Art 
is in the background. 

In the eloquent words of my friend, “This does not suck.” 

Where It All Started

Bruce and I took the kids to Lexington and Concord to see where 

the Revolutionary War began.

While in North Bridge Concord we were able to see just what was 

part of the incentive for the British soldiers to march out to Concord. 

Here is The Hancock. 

This brass cannon was one of two British cannons that they were trying to reclaim. 

The North Bridge has been rebuilt (probably several times) since the revolution started 

but this location is where the "shot heard around the world" happened.

Notice the Minute Man statue on the other side of the bridge?

This is the Orchard House that was written about in Louisa May Alcott's book 

"Little Women".

She actually lived in this house before she wrote the book.

Next door to Orchard House is The Wayside. 

When the Alcotts lived in this home it was called Hillside. 

Miss Alcott lived here when she wrote "Little Women".

Then Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote "The Scarlett Letter", lived in it. 

Then Margaret Sidney lived in it when she wrote 

"Five Little Peppers and How They Grew".

This home was good for American authors!

This is the monument to the site where Paul Revere was captured by British soldiers.

He was released a few hours later.

Thank heavens that Dr. Prescott managed to keep on going and alert the colonists.

I wonder what the outcome would have been if the news about

the British soldiers hadn't made it all the way to Concord.

We finished off our evening by walking around in Harvand Square a bit and eating

a wonderful dinner at the Russell House Tavern.

It was recommended by a sales person at The Coop.

Always trust where the locals eat.

(Notice Peaches on Allison's head.)

We took a different subway route back to the hotel tonight. 

Allison wanted to make sure we had ridden on all of the different subway lines.

Last night in Boston.  Onward to Philadelphia tomorrow!