Sunny Days ahead

Here is a hint of where an airplane took us last week.




We visited San Diego again. This time we did not get the
Swine Flu ;)

Ya! It's easier to enjoy Legoland when your son

is not throwing up.

above were some cool sand sculptures of lego dudes.

i must admit one of my favorite star wars
characters is chubakka. my mom
can do an awesome impression. love ya mom!


i saw this bathroom sign and had to do a duplicate
photo with my kids. jacob does this pose often!


The heart of legoland is miniland. There are hundreds of
amazing scenes made from legos.

star wars land was just added last
month and it was our fav!

there are legos of washington d.c., las vegas,
new york city all out of legos. pretty amazing

jacob keeps telling me this is his dream job... to be
a lego master builder.
the volcano behind us was made from legos as well. it was 70 degrees
and a great day.

more photos to come. by the way... wicked was fabulous.
i called it perfection! the actors were amazing, amazing! the singers
were suburb! i would see it again!

Yellowstone

Hello Yellowstone! Stephen's family had a reunion at Island Park last week. Our children had never visited Yellowstone and Stephen and I haven't visited since the winter of 1997.

Our cabin was in Island Park and we enjoyed visiting Big Springs. It is where a spring comes out of the ground and starts this amazing river.
Madeline loved running by and scaring all the seagulls that were hanging out on the fence. Cool reflection in the water!

Here is Johnny Sacks cabin. He was a 4 ft 11 in German Immigrant who visited Idaho and decided to live here. He leased the land for his cabin for $4.75 a year. He built this beautiful cabin by hand. It has low ceilings since he wasn't very tall. He never married because he felt that a woman would just put rugs over his floors and curtains over his windows.
http://www.islandparkidaho.com/newsletter/april03.html

Can you imagine waking up to see this gorgeous view every morning!




Idaho Falls.... On our trip to Yellowstone, we stopped at the Idaho Falls falls to see and listening to the amazing water. There is a quaint path that follows along and you can see the river. It was a great place to stretch our legs before continuing on our trip.

I was hungry (like usual!) and wanted to get something to eat but Stephen pushed us on reminding us that dinner would be waiting at the cabin. So we pushed on and hurried to the cabin arriving at 7:10 pm. Dinner was suppose to be waiting for us but to our surprise we were the first to arrive. No dinner... so we went and ate at Boondocks the restaurant close by.

A week of ahhhh!

The quaint town of Charleston, right on the ocean front. One of the few cities with pre-civil war homes. It is called the Palmetto state, which stands for Palm trees.
Stephen's list of to do was visit fort sumter where the civil war began. It was a fascinating narration and we learned a lot. Fort sumter is an island that the north built and funny thing... the south took over it shortly and had it for 4 years.

The ocean was a bit nippy but we still plunged in. It was about 80 degrees and I forgot to "recoat" with sunscreen. Having the Berrett fair skin gene, this is a necessity! oops So I got a little crispy.
I rented some bikes and we rode all around the island and on the ocean. It is high tide at night with the moon and low tide during the morning and early afternoon. We rode our bikes at 10 pm and there was no visible moon so we couldn't see where we were going. We were laughing so hard. Stephen's bike had a cute white basket on it so he could gather seashells ;)

It is easier to ride on the packed sand but at high tide there is only soft sand so we were getting stuck and bumping into things. It was fun to be crazy and silly with my husband. It was good to be a irresponsible adult for a week!

Our condo was right on the ocean and had this cute little porch. I LOVED sitting out here and listening to the sound of the waves. I laid out in the sun and thought of NOTHING.

It was the most relaxing vacation I have ever had. NO place to be, NO one to time commitment, just me, my honey, and the ocean.
On our last day we headed out for some siteseeing. We visited the Charles Pinckney home in Charleston, south carolina . He was very involved in politics and was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

I love go back today if I could, ya it was that good!

Spokane

This is a beautiful flower in my front yard. I wanted to take a picture of it with my new Nikon D40 SLR camera. I love my new camera!
We stopped at the dam to look at the Columbia River. A funny story, my sister Cynthia and my parents went to Spokane and visited this dam as well. My sweet sister called tis the "corpse" of engineers instead of "corps" of engineers, sorry Cyn the "p" is quiet. shhhhh
Stephen and I stopped at the Davenport Hotel to see the beautiful foyer. Stephen had a meeting in Spokane last month and stayed at the hotel. The architecure is gorgeous!
A mother of a wagon. This is a huge slide and the little kiddos ride down the front handle, weeeee!
My mom rode on this carousel back in May and had a blast. My sister, Cynthia, described my mom's feelings as giddy. So I was way excited to ride it as well. Stephen and I searched the riverfront to find it. We followed beautiful music to this building. We walk in and they had just finished the last ride, no carousel ride for me ;( .

This was my first hike to the petroglyph's. Madeline has hiked up to the Indian ruins 2 times.. but I was pregnant or had a spranged ankle. So it was a fun hike and enjoyed climbing down into the underground rooms and marveling at the kitchen, playroom, and bedrooms.

Madeline and Jacob and their cousins were in heaven. I reflected on the simplicity of their lives and the close knit family. No mall, cell phone, magazines, just family.

Then we jumped into the water below and cooled off from the 100 degree temperatures. I love spending time with my sweet children and just watching them play in the sand for hours and their creativity. It was a great final hurrah before the schedules!

In downtown Philadelphia, there is a Macy's Department Store. They have the world's largest pipe organ. There is a concert everyday at 5 pm so we went to the second story and did this video. Stephen was in awe. After the concert we met the master organist and Stephen admired the keyboard.

Niagara Falls was sooo cool! We all had on our "one size fits all" ya mean most, ponchos. There was a whole lot of Indians (people from India) on our "cruise line". They are use to small spaces so I was feeling a little claustraphobic with them all right there by me and their ponchos flapping in my face. So I helped so on the Indian men lasso up their ponchos by tying a side not. Then it gave me a flash back to the 80's with the side not and side pony tail.

So the "maid of the mist" boat ride was great. We only had 1 1/2 hours to spend at Niagara Falls and this was the way to do it, right in the middle of the mist.
This is the top loft area in Joseph Smith's home at Palmyra, New York.
The Sacred Grove by Joseph Smith's house. It was around 7 pm and we had the grove all to ourselves. It was so quiet and beautiful. The sun was setting and the sweet birds were singing. Great memories!
This is the top of Hill Cumorah. This is the tallest hill in the area so you can see all the way to Rochester, which is 30 minutes away, on a clear night.

New York

Here is the skyline of New York City from across harbor on the ferry. We got on the ferry on the New Jersey side and went to Ellis Island and then Liberty Island to see "the Lady". We broke the rules and rode the ferry to New York instead of back to New Jersey. All was well until we were talking to a guy on the subway around 3pm. We mentioned that our car was parked on the New Jersey side and he was very concerned. He told is to take the subway straight to the car and move it or we would be in danger. Well, of course to hear a New Yorker say to an Idahoan that you were going to be in danger was a huge concern.

So we talked to a police officer in the subway station and he said that we should be safe and to not worry. Well, worry is Tonya's middle name so I needed to get another police officers opinion. The next officer thought we should be safe but gave us direction back to New Jersey when we returned to our car.

We wanted to understand how to get back to our car and what subway to take and all that so I could enjoy the rest of our quick 7 hours in New York. Well, we tried to ask another police man in the subway but he needed to arrest a guy so we let him.

Needless to say at 8pm we were ready to head back to our car. So we took the subway west to New Jersey. We were chatting is up with the other subway riders and getting advice as to which train to ride next. Everyone is New York was VERY nice. I was pleasantly surprised. I had been warned ahead of time to not look anyone in the eyes and keep looking down. Well, I just have a hard time doing that and not looking and smiling to everyone.

We asked over 30 people direction, no kidding, and everyone was helpful. No one said I'm too busy, or I'm not going to help, I was very impressed. Okay, back to the finding our rental car story. So we were chatting it up on the subway and it came to a halt. The subway worker got on the intercom and said we have a problem but will be up and running in a few minutes. Well, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 minutes goes by. The guy by us starting cursing like you would not believe. I got a little worried when he started saying to his buddy, who had a shirt on that said, don't date a slut, that there was going to be a fight. But it was cool! So we finally get off the subway and it is dark. So we have to figure out how to buy a ticket for the train and which train to get one. Again, everyone helpful and we made it back to the Statute of Liberty park. I asked a business guy how we get to the parking lot where our car is and he said "I don't know but if you get lost here is my cell phone number". We ask another police offer how to find our car and he points to the east and says walk that way for a mile. I ask if it is safe and he said yes if you go east, but don't go west. So we walk through a dimly lit park through New Jersey, at 9 pm totally dark, with me constantly sweeping the sidewalk in all directions. OH, I had to go to the bathroom sooooo bad but we made it too our cute convertible and all was well!
This sculpture was in the World Trade Center and was salvaged to put in Battery Park where you get off the ferry.
Times Square, wow!
Grand Central Station was so cool. There are constellations painted on the ceiling and people going everywhere to catch the subway. We were here at 5:30 pm so in the middle of rush hour.

The famous Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. It travelled through Idaho in 1904. Cool!Do you recognize this face?
She was beautiful. We took the ferry out to visit Ellis Island and Liberty Island.
This is Betsy Ross' house.

Gettysburg

These pictures were taken inside the new museum at Gettysburg. We enjoyed reading about the Civil War and taking the auto tour to drive around and understand the battles that took place here.
One of the cannons used in the Battle of Gettysburg.
Pres. Lincoln famous Gettysburg speed only last two minutes. The audience was very quiet after his remarks and Pres. Lincoln was left wondering if it was meaningful. The previous speaker, the Governor of Pennsylvania, spoke over 2 hours.... can you imagine! Of course, history would show that the Gettysburg speech is one of the most memorized speeches of all times. It takes you make for junior high! Four scores and seven years ago our fathers...
The Battlefield at Gettysburg with the sun setting.

Valley Forge, Pennsylania

During the winter at Valley Forge, the Continental army was camped inside this cabins. They were hastily built because the winter came quickly. No battle was fought at Valley Forge. Yet, it was the turning point of the Revolutionary War. It was here that the Continental army was desperately against the ropes — bloody, beaten, battle-weary — and ready to quit. Even General Washington conceded, "If the army does not get help soon, in all likelihood it will disband."

The question must be asked, "Why didn't they disband?"

We know what happened here. Early into the six-month encampment, there was hunger, disease, and despair. Raw weather stung and numbed the soldiers. Empty stomachs were common. Cries of "beef" echoed throughout the camp. The future promised only more desperation and starvation.

Some couldn't take the cold, hunger, and uncertainty any longer. There were dozens of desertions. Disease debilitated. Death descended in droves.

Portrait Gallery (Second Bank)

Baron Von Steuben painted by Charles Willson Peale, 1781-82

But by February the weather eased somewhat — moving from brutal to merely miserable. In March, General Nathanael Greene was appointed head of the dismal Commissary Department and magically food and supplies started to trickle in. By April, Baron von Steuben, a quirky mercenary who was not really a baron, began to magically transform threadbare troops into a fighting force. Also in April, the Conway Cabal, a plot to remove George Washington from power, was quashed for good. May, brought news of the French Alliance, and with it the military and financial support of France.

On June 19, 1778, exactly six months after they Americans arrived, a new army anxious to fight the British streamed out of Valley Forge toward New Jersey. They had been transformed from Rebel into a Mature Army.

At Valley Forge, we read of words like "sacrifice" and conjure up images of bloody footprints, but the concept of suffering for freedom isn't easily to understood. What kept these men going? What happened at Valley Forge?
These actors are portrayed by locals who enjoy coming to reenact these "freedom seeking" days and bring Valley Forge to life.

Isn't this a cool picture. I was able to capture the gunshot on my camera. These guns are the brown bess's that were used with the powder in the paper.

Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Stephen looking stylish as always!
One of the cool bridges that we passed by on the way to Valley Forge.

These cute ladies are dressed up in period clothing. They wore "stays" to keep everything in place on the top, if ya know what I mean. When they wore "stays" they were long like a corset and went from under your arms to your hips, yikes!

The ladies here said that it wasn't proper to smile in pictures during the 1770's so they would just look serious.

We drove to Valley Forge on Sunday. The weather was beautiful so we put the top down on the car. Pennsylvania has beautiful green hills with trees as you can see in the picture.