East Coast Part 3: Pennsylvania

Then we get to Pennsylvania on Saturday evening and are greeted by friendly familiar faces, into the Patterson's beautiful home! A brief introduction to the Patterson family: These are Max's best Friend Richard's parents and siblings. They moved to Oregon when Max and Richard were Freshmen and then moved to Pennsylvania in 2008 when I was on my mission. The Patterson's house was Max's second home. (or maybe a third if we're counting my house) He describes Richard's parent as a very positive influence in his growing up years. We enjoyed a nice visit with them as well as a house tour requested by Max. They showed us our lovely room we would be staying in. Charlie was so excited to play with Joesph and John and all their cool toys. We visited awhile then got all settled into bed. We were excited to finish our trip in a much more calm way. The next day was Sunday and we had nothing planned except for going to church. And that is just what we did. We woke up to delicious fresh bread for breakfast. After Breakfast, Charlie ran around with the boys for awhile (and the dog) then we put Charlie down for an early nap so he would be pleasant during church. Luckily he went down easy so I could get ready. We attended great church meetings with the Pattersons then came home. We enjoyed a calm Sunday evening with an amazing home made dinner. I also picked Roseanne's brain about Home schooling. She home schooled all her kids up until high school and is still currently teaching her 2 youngest kids. I have never really planned on homeschooling but as of late I've been wanting to get more information about it in case that is the best thing for Charlie and my future kids. After working briefly in the schools I get somewhat worried about the public school system. Overall, I think my kids could get a much better education from being home schooled but there are many other aspects (specifically socially) that I feel are important to children in their education. Anyway, I still have a couple of years to figure it out but I really liked learning from her vast knowledge on the subject. I definitely feel capable of teaching my children and others if they want but we'll just see. 

The next morning our plan was to go to Gettysburg. which is just about an hour away from the Patterson's home. They have been many times and were telling as all about it. They even had an audio tour that you can listen to while driving through the battlefields that they lent us. 

We started out the morning with more delicious fresh bread 

Charlie thought he was such a big kid sitting at the counter, drinking out of a real cup.

Before we left, Joseph (the youngest) had mentioned that he had been working on his flips on the trampoline. Max and Joseph thought it would be fun to work together to improve his flips. Max couldn't resist so he played outside in the morning before heading off to Gettysburg. 

They definitely had some great flips, and Joseph learned a lot. 

Max can fly!

Charlie had a chance to jump and I was lucky enough to capture this face-plant!

He didn't get discouraged though, he was right back up and jumping in no time. 

Joesph's flips!

Max flying upside down again...no trampoline needed. 

Charlie loved the dog Shasta

After some outdoor fun, we headed off to Gettysburg just in time for Charlie to take a nap in the car. We hoped that this would make a pleasant experience for him but boy were we wrong. It turned out that this was his hardest time on the whole trip. We think he must have been a little museumed-out. We decided to get tickets to the museum that came with a short film in the theater and a production in the cyclorama

For documentation purposes, this was our exciting rental car. Much nicer than the car we drive now...haha.

We started at the Museum and Visitor Center. We got our tickets and the movie was about to start. The movie gave us a brief history of the battle which was good for people like Max and myself who do not pride ourselves on our history knowledge.

Charlie had never been in a movie theater so we figured this 20 minute film would be a good test for him. He did not pass. He was very restless and wanted to run around. Max wrestled him the whole time. We were then led up to the cyclorama display. This was very impressive. It is a complete round painting that was made shortly after the battle that depicts very realistic images. There is some narration and dialogue that goes along with viewing the painting. Again very impressive, but Charlie was not interested. But here are some images of small portions of the cyclorama, it really is huge.

After the viewing this painting we went through the museum. We knew that Charlie needed to be out of the stroller and move around so we let him. We like to think that he is getting better at listening but at this time, he was mad at us and not wanting to listen. He ran around banging on displays and running off without us. silly boy. I don't blame him, it had been a long couple of days for him, he had just hoped that a good day of rest and a full nights sleep would have helped him recover. We went through the museum rather quickly. Then got in the car to go see the battlefield. Charlie was surprisingly good sitting in the car again. We were shocked by how huge Gettysburg was. It is definitely not just something you can do a quick drive through. There is so much acreage and many monuments to observe. It was incredibly beautiful.

We got out to climb up a large observation tower and Charlie thought it was the greatest thing ever.

We ended our tour at the Gettysburg National Cemetery, where President Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address. 

As hard as we tried...this boy was not going to be silent.

This is the actual location of the Gettysburg Address

And that is a 17 week baby bump. 

Once we explained to Charlie that he could only walk on the path and not the grass he had an easier time listening. As soon as he ran off the path we would say "Charlie, where is the path?" and he would come back to touch the ground and say "pa.." then continue walking on the path. I guess he just needs to be reasoned with to be a good listener. We're still learning about parenting an almost two year old...we're lucky we got such a great one.

After the cemetery we then headed back to the Patterson's where they had a delicious dinner of fish, potatoes, and salad hot and ready for us. They spoil us so much. It was exciting to not go to restaurants or fast food. Roseanne's food was so much better. 

After dinner, we put Charlie to bed and Dwayne had pulled out some old videos that Max and Richard had made in high school. I had seen most of them back then but it was so fun watching them...Max even got embarrassed, which you know must mean that it was pretty embarrassing. It was funny to think that that was the same time that I started falling in love with Max. Haha! Poofy hair and crooked teeth! Oh boy! Anyway, afterward we wanted to take a group picture with them because we would be leaving in the morning. So here it is...minus Charlie. 

Left to Right: Cack (Catherine), Me, Shasta, John, Joseph, Dwayne, Roseanne, Max 

The next morning we weren't too rushed, there were a couple place we wanted to go before arriving at the airport that evening but we had a little time in the morning to stay and play. Somehow it came up that Max was going to do morning yoga with the family before we left so after an amazing pancake breakfast that is exactly what happened.

My little stunt team!

Our family.

We then said our last goodbyes and many thanks to the Patterson family and headed on our way. On our schedule for this day, we wanted to go get cupcakes and visit the Washington DC temple grounds. First on the list was driving downtown DC to get cupcakes. We were determined. Our friends Kerri and Corbrett moved to Oregon from DC just over a year ago and they told us about this amazing cupcake place called Baked & Wired. We wanted to try it out but also to bring some back for Kerri's birthday and as a thanks for the many times they have watched Charlie. I forgot to take pictures before we ate half of them and the other half were tossed around on the flight home and didn't look so pretty so I stole some pictures from the internet...and yes, they were as good, if not better, than they look here...Oh man, I want more now.

Our cupcake stop was successful we then went to the Washington DC temple. An ancestor of mine was the chief architect (Kieth Wilcox) on this temple so we felt it was a family duty to visit the temple. It was so incredibly beautiful, it would be so wonderful to go back and do a session sometime but for this trip we admired it from the outside. We weren't even able to stay too long because we wanted to get to the airport before we hit traffic. The small amount of time we spent there was beautiful and peaceful.

We then went back to the airport to finish our week-long vacation. We were pretty excited about going home and getting our lives (and sleep) back to normal. We arrived at the airport a little early and ate some lunch/dinner while waiting for Kim and Chloe. They got on the same flight as us to go to Oregon for a visit! That was pretty exciting. We got to the plane in plenty of time (always a stressor for me, but we always end up getting there way too early) Charlie slept through most of the first flight (Baltimore to Chicago) and not at all for the second flight (Chicago to Portland, a much longer flight) He did alright and seemed pretty happy about being back in his own bed when we finally got home.

Some final thought about our trip:

• We were under the impression that people were rude in New York. We met so many nice people and so many people willing to help us crazy lost tourists. 
• We didn't have to deal with much traffic at all after many people warned us that we would spend hours in it. Maybe we just got lucky!
• A rental car is the way to go! We were able to be much more independent.
• Toll roads add up! We luckily didn't have to pay as much as we originally anticipated...so that's good.
• Charlie adapts relatively well...but he also has his moments. 
• East coast in the fall is probably the most beautiful time to go...but I can't really compare. I also still think Portland in the Fall is more beautiful. 
• Max was in heaven hearing and mimicking all the accents. 
• Driving by the Portland skyline now looks like the buildings are short and sparse.          

For Next time:

We weren't able to do everything that we wanted and we are more than okay with that. We would have stressed ourselves out if he had tried so here I will list some things we want to do next time. 

• Ferry to Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island
• Another Broadway show!
• Empire State building (we saw it from a couple blocks away but it would be fun to get closer and even go up it. 
• Try out some good restaurants
• Mt Vernon
• The Beach so I can see (and feel) the Atlantic Ocean
• The National Cathedral (we drove by and it looked amazing but we would love to explore it)
• The Declaration of Independence
• White house tour
• Other Smithsonian museums
• Washington DC temple session
• Hershey Pennsylvania

That's all I can think of now but we loved our trip and feel so blessed that the stars aligned and we were able to take it!