Harper's Ferry, Gettysburg and Hershey

Monday we planned to head to Pennsylvania.  There were so many options for day trips from Baltimore and it was hard to narrow down what to do. We packed as much into our time as possible for Monday and decided on the following schedule:
8-9 drive to Harpers Ferry
9-11 explore
11-12 drive to Gettysburg
12-2 explore
2-3 drive to Hershey
3-5 explore
5-6:45 drive back to Baltimore
This worked well with the parameters of when things were open (9-5), and splitting up the driving.  But of course only allowed us to experience a tiny portion of what we could have done if we had all day (or multiple days) at each place.

We got to harpers ferry 2 minutes too late.  As in Preston threw up in the car right before we pulled into the parking lot.  Luckily it wasn’t too stinky and I had wet wipes to clean him up.  I think he got carsick as he was coloring during the drive.  We went to the visitors center first to get Ethan's 4th grade national parks pass, but there wasn’t much to see there.  They recommend taking the shuttle to the lower town because of lack of parking, but the shuttle left right when we got there and we decided to drive to save time.  There was plenty of parking when we got there (but the lot looked full when we left 2 hours later). 

There was lots to see and we could have spent a whole day there, but managed to get to quite a bit in our budgeted time.  We crossed the river, stopped at the bookshop, information building (no more Jr. ranger books available as they had run out the day before), stone steps, church, Jefferson’s rock, confectionary shop and John brown museum. 

We were listening to a book “Flashback Four: The Lincoln Project” while we were driving which was talking about Gettysburg and helped the kids be interested.  Gettysburg should have be at least an all day place also, so we didn't do it justice-but I don’t know that the kids would have appreciated that long there.   

The 4th grade parks pass doesn't include most of the tours and we opted out of paying for any extras but instead chose to walk to the cemetery. We probably should have driven, I didn’t realize how far it would be or that there was parking right by it, it was cold and windy but good to walk after sitting in the car. The kids enjoyed being able to see where Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address.  (And Preston has been quoting it ever since). :)

We then toured the Mills house which we all enjoyed.  The book was talking about Lincoln staying at the Mills house right as we were pulling up to go there.  There was a lot for the kids to see and explore which gave me time to read more the plaques displayed on the walls about the history.  We all left learning lots of new things.

And then on to Hershey.  The kids were the most excited for this part which is why I left it for the end of the day.  The 2 hours we scheduled was way more than we needed as it was not busy that day and we didn't have to wait.

  The chocolate tour (free) was quick with no lines.  We are ended up going twice. I had looked at prices ahead of time and debated paying for an activity there.  I ended up choosing the chocolate tasting which was excellent and engaging enough for all the kids to enjoy it.  They've been more mindful about eating chocolate since then.  The kids wanted to buy the whole gift shop, but it was expensive.  We got a few sale candy and an ornament and left to get back to Baltimore.

  We got back in time to pick up James and have dinner with him. We just ate breakfast and lunch while driving so it was mostly snacks.  For dinner we went to the Inner Harbor and ate at Pizzaria Unos while we filled James in on our adventures of the day. 

Baltimore, Maryland

James had a conference for work in Baltimore. With all there is to do and see around that area we decided to make it a family trip and tried to fit in as much as we possibly could into the 10 days were were there.  Saturday was a travel day, which went smoothly.  We flew from LA to Austin and then to Baltimore.

James had to go to meetings on Sunday, so the kids and I were on our own most of the day.  We went to church at the Inner Harbor Ward.  The building looked like an old office building in the outside which made us question if we were in the right place, but inside was typical church style.  The primary was practicing for their program.  One of the sunbeams got up and was told his part to copy.  ‘I have agency’ must have sounded like 'say the abc’s' as he suddenly started singing the alphabet song.

After church we went to the Walters Museum for a Dia de los Muertos celebration.  Brielle had just done a report for school about the traditions surrounding that holiday, so we wanted to experience it a little bit.

She was sad to be missing out on the party they were having at her school that week, but was able to tell us all kinds of interesting facts as we explored the museum.

That afternoon we were able attend the Baltimore Philharmonia Orchestra playing at St. Matthew's Catholic Church.  They played songs from Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, etc.  which we all enjoyed.  Every October Baltimore promotes the arts with "Free Fall Baltimore", so both the Walters Museum and Orchestra were free events that we were able to take advantage of.

 That evening we went for a walk up Federal Hill to appreciate the view of the harbor and city.  The kids were mostly excited to roll down the hills. :)

Fall Fun (Family Journal Entry)

Kibaki died.  Kind of a big deal that I forgot to even mention in family journal last week. Her life expectancy was 15-16 years.  She was 16 last month and has been fading the past year so we’ve been anticipating it. 

We had a family memorial service for her on Monday night and buried her in our side yard after sharing experiences we’ve had with her.  She was the perfect pet (clean, not stinky, inexpensive, no one had to watch her when we traveled).  James got her for me for my birthday in 2003 and she’s traveled across the country to Michigan and back with many adventures of being an escape artist.

We went to the pumpkin patch on Thursday and met up with the SoCal Finlay cousins.  After going through the corn maze, squash tunnel, riding the tractor and playing ‘ring the pumpkin,’ everyone picked out their favorite which we painted tonight.

Friday night we went to the football game at the high school.  Preston loved cheering and stomping and was entertaining everyone around us with his enthusiasm.

Saturday morning James helped with campaigning.  The kids got to start the day off with a trip to donut man with Aunt Helen, Aunt Erin and Gramma Finlay.  Tiger tails are always a big hit. 

I then took the kids to volleyball (we had away games in Hacienda Heights, which went well) and then we went to a preschool reunion for Preston. 

We loved his preschool group and since 2 of the families moved we don’t get to see them very often, so it was so much fun to get together with all of them and see the Jamison’s new house.

Saturday night James watched the boys, Brielle watched the Johnson boys and I joined up with some of the women from our ward and stake for the annual “witches night out” where we all dress as witches and go out on the town.

I had a Relief Society Temple Trip on Tuesday and Crafter’s Corner on Friday.  Also a PTA meeting, volunteering in Preston’s class and making breakfasts for James’ employees for Vet Tech week. 

James kept busy with work and campaigns and enjoyed volunteering at the senior dinner on Friday to help serve food.  The kids enjoyed playing with cousins every chance they could as we said goodbye to the Johnson’s who head off to South Korea tomorrow.

 Bonus: (not part of family journal entry) Preston has always loved to give me flowers.  At one point I gave him a limit of once a day, since he picks them from our yard.  It's happening less and less as he is getting older so I wanted to capture this sweet memory.  He was emptying his shoes after school (brings the sandbox home with him), and rang the doorbell.  I answered the door expecting him to have his hands full of shoes, socks and backpack and not being able to open the door himself. Instead he give me a huge smile, hands me the flowers and says these are for you! :)

Tar Pits and LACMA Field Trip

There's going to be too many pictures this week to do a family journal weekly post, so I'll divide and do a quick separate post.

The kids had Monday off of school.  Technically it was a staff development day, as California doesn't celebrate Columbus Day (known as Indigenous Peoples Day here)

We made plans to take Olivia on a field trip for a birthday date.  She was funny, saying all the animals were 'scary' but she was fascinated by them and kept wanting to look longer.

The kids had so much fun together and wanted to do lots of silly pictures. 

We decided to walk over to the art museum also.  The kids were amazed by this sculpture titled "orange monkey" that looked like it was made with an actual balloon.

Preston was SO excited to find an exhibit of Pablo Picasso

and Jackson Pollock art.  These are two of his favorite artists.  Whenever he makes a mistake when he's trying to do art he decides to turn it into a Picasso or Pollock. :)

The Children's Gallery was a big hit for everyone.  All kinds of art materials which the had a fun time creating with.

We found a perfect spot for a picnic lunch

Toured the grounds of the tar pits a bit more

And ended the adventures by rolling down the hill.

Conference weekend and other fun

I'm not sure I'm ready to commit, but I wanted to try to post more regularly about our normal life instead of just the big trips and events.  I figured since I write a weekly family journal anyway, it would be simple enough to add a few pictures to our journal and document it here also. Issue number 1, how to a title a 'regular life' post?

Preston lost his ‘first’ tooth this morning. (If we don’t count the damaged front tooth that broke and was pulled out).  He is so excited about it and keeps randomly coming up to me with a huge grin to remind me.

(he was writing who the letter was for: "James Finlay and Preston" and then writes "Daddy I lost my tooth, I wanted to show you my tooth at home"-I love kindergarten spelling)

James and Ian flew up to Squamish, Canada this weekend for cousin Jeannie’s wedding and seem to be having a great time, although are relatively unplugged staying at a cabin with no wifi.  

I helped with a funeral in our ward this week of a lady originally from Tahiti (the one who loved Preston and kept yogurt in her fridge for him).  I enjoyed the culture of her family as they all got together to both mourn and celebrate together.  At the mortuary on Thursday after we finished dressing her they brought in a ukulele and sang songs together in French and Tahitian. At the funeral all of the women wore white and again sang with guitar and ukulele.  It was a sweet experience to be part of.

The kids had parent teacher conferences this week (they are doing great and the teachers and wonderful things to say about them) which meant they got out of school early every day.  We enjoyed the slower paced afternoons.

We had Brielle’s friend join us on Friday for a birthday date, since Brielle will be out of town next week for her birthday party.  The kids were good sports to play at the church while I finished with the funeral luncheon and then after some time for activities at home we went to Cafe Rio.  Brielle requested that she and her friend NOT sit by the boys and I.  

(can't imagine why she didn't want to sit by this cute guy) :)

The kids had volleyball games yesterday, which went well.  Because of having those in the morning we watched Saturday conference on a delayed schedule smooshing the 3 sessions together with only 1 hour breaks in between rather than 2.  

Luckily the kids are old enough and excited enough about conference that it worked well.   Mostly they like earning conference cash to buy treats from our conference menu, the favorites being chicken nuggets, gummy worms and pirates booty. :)

After conference we met up with cousins for 'boulder rolling' which is rolling big rocks down the river grade, and so much fun for all ages.  Gramma also showed them the magic of 'cattail snow'.

The 2 babies are not in the picture, but pretty fun that we could get 10 cousins together for an impromptu Sunday afternoon walk.  At least for a couple more weeks until 3 of them move to the other side of the world.