Day 1: Long plane ride. Brooke did surprisingly well. Got into Philly {Humidity shock} Went to Pat's and Geno's--original Philly Cheese steak joints {not super impressed}, drove through the Ghetto (definitely an experience) and then went to our hotel and swam our little hearts out! All 3 kids (and all of us!) were lovin it!
Day 2: Independence Hall (with 2 screaming girlies), Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross House, Ben Franklin's "house"--or at least part of his original foundation, and then cheap cheese steaks from a street vendor {pretty much tasted the same as the originals just a lot cheaper}, and then started the drive to State College (*my sis and bro-in-laws house). Stopped in Amish Town, ate at "Good and Plenty" with country home cooking, kids played at a little park and Cooper fed the goats, then driving some more, stopped at the outlet mall in Hershey and then finally after a little more driving, home! Hurried and put the kids to bed so we could watch the end of the BYU vs. Texas game..we started watching just in time to see the Cougars fall apart {darn it} and then to bed.
Day 3: Despite dreading the driving and long day, we ventured off to Niagra Falls (just our little family). There was an air show "Thunder over Niagra" for 9/11 and we stopped there for a bit {thinking it was actually over Niagra Falls--but not}. After some serious screaming related to us having to cover Brooke's ear, we left. Darn the fact that not everything is fun with kids! We headed over to It was beautiful and with all the rain they'd been having, there was SO much water! After Niagra, we drove to Palmyra, NY. We toured the Grandin Printing Press, the Smith Family Home, the Sacred Grove and the Hill Cumorah. It was such an amazing place. The spirit in the Sacred Grove was powerful and peaceful. I am so grateful for the sacrifices Joseph Smith made to bring about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. To stood where he received the most world-changing revelation was humbling. I am so glad we made the drive to those sacred places. It was most definitely worth it. Brooke did great in the car and was such a trooper the entire trip!
Day 4: Hanging out in State College was so much fun! Alyssa and the kids made apple crepes for breakfast (yum yum!), and then we got ready and went to the park for a picnic. The kids LOVED the slide and swings and throwing rocks in the creek. Then we went to Penn State campus. We took pictures with the Nittany Lion (poor Sadie fell off..my bad), and had ice cream and Berkey Creamery (on Penn State campus). Then we got home, put all kids down for naps and relaxed for a few minutes before getting packed and ready for the next 5 days! We drove to D.C. that night and stayed in a hotel in Maryland. Got to bed way too late!
Day 5: DC!! Woke up way too early {like 5}, over-estimated the 15 minute drive into D.C. and got there way too early! Walked around the White House and played by a little pond right by it while waiting for our tour. We toured the White House, saw the World War II monument, Korean and Vietnam memorials, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument {but due to the earthquake there, it was messed up and we couldn't go up), Museum of American History (aka Star Spangled Banner), Natural History Museum (aka Hope Diamond), Supreme Court tour (best nap ever for all 3 of us..Spence stayed out with the 3 kids so not such a good nap for him), Air and Space Museum (Curt's personal fav..like a kid in a candy store), and then we went to dinner with my awesome cousin Kirstin. {Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake = Heavenly!!} Then we went to my cousin, {Jeff and Carrie's} house in VA and spent the night there. They were so fun to chat and catch up with and it was so nice of them to let us stay there. And the kids loved playing with their kids. It was great!!
Day 6: More D.C. (And not enough sleep..common theme for the vacation!). Started with Library of Congress Tour. {Worst. Idea. Ever.} All 3 kids were terrible and crying/whining so loud the tour guide cut the supposed 45 minute tour down to like 15 minutes. Yah, not the best tour. But we saw a little bit and were grateful to not have to wrestle kids for the full 45 minutes. Then we walked forever (another theme of the trip!), and Alyssa, Curt and I went to the Holocaust Museum. It was very sobering and sad. Spence was a trooper and again had all 3 kids. We ate sandwiches while walking back the way we had just come up to the Capitol. The Capitol Tour was great and so neat to see where so many things that affect us happen. The kids were great and we learned a lot. Then Brooke, Curt and I went to the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. {The Magna Carta was out of commission for restoration..lame), but it was neat to see the original documents, especially since we had just been to Philadelphia where it all happened. Then we stopped at Arlington Cemetery on the way back to my cousin's house. Even though we were dog-tired, we knew we needed to see the "Tomb of the Unknown," and we were right in time to see the changing of the Guard. (They ask everyone to be really quiet since it's a sacred ritual..well, one of the kids dropped a huge rock down many steps and Brooke started crying b/c she was scared..needless to say, it wasn't the quietest one, but it was really cool to see how our soldiers are honored for giving the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. We were too tired to walk anywhere else, so we didn't go searching for famous graves but just seeing the vastness of the cemetery was awe-inspiring. We stopped at Panera Bread for dinner and got back to the house and stayed up late chatting.
Day 6: Slept in (till like 7:30..haha) and drove to NYC! We saw so much beautiful country..the green-ness was gorgeous! We miss the color changing trees but it was still so pretty to see so much green. We got to our hotel in East Rutheford, NJ (after a couple bathroom stops..) and then we got some lunch before heading into the city. The hotel had a bus stop right outside the front door which was super convenient! But getting 3 kids and 3 strollers onto a bus..not so convenient :) We got into downtown NYC at 5pm..so of course it was very busy (as it always is). We walked down Broadway, walked around Central Park, walked by the Manhattan Temple, ate at Magnolia's bakery, and just walked some more. It was fun to see the city at night.
Day 7: More NYC! Had to be up early to be to the Statue of Liberty at our scheduled time. We got tickets far in advance, so Alyssa, Curt and I were able to walk up the 300+ steps up to the crown. (Spence had been before so he stayed down with the kids). The steps were steep and it was narrow and tight (especially for Curt), but the view out was awesome, and just being in the crown of the Statue of Liberty was pretty cool. When we got back to the kids, we walked around the base and took pictures. We stopped at Ellis Island for a little bit (all 3 kids were asleep at the same time for a few minutes..a miracle!), and then we did some more walking. Saw the construction zone at the 9/11 memorial, Wall Street, China Town, Little Italy, and FINALLY eventually got to the Empire State Building (We really didn't know what we were getting ourselves into walking there...we walked for miles and miles). Curt, Brooke and I went up to the 86th floor (The James' gave us the tickets for Christmas last year as motivation to get us to come out there), and Brooke and I loved it! Curt isn't crazy about heights so he didn't look down, but at least he came up with us! Seeing for miles and miles out was awesome! When we got back down, we walked some more. Stopped at the ginormous Macy's (rode the wooden escalator all the way to the top), and then back to the bus station and to the hotel. Curt and I took Cooper to go pick up some Applebee's for Dinner and it was a fun adventure driving through a crappy part of NJ. We put the kids to bed and stayed up making a poster for "The Today Show" the next morning.
Day 8: Woke up early to get "The Today Show." Since it was Saturday, it wasn't quite as exciting as a weekday show, but still fun to be at! We had a poster that said ,"Hi Grandpa and Grandma from NYC!! Love, Cooper, Sadie and Brooklyn." We actually got on TV for a few seconds!! (Grandma and grandpa DVR'd it and saw it a few hours later). They were doing an animal segment and the owl they were showing flew into and hit the window. We were standing right outside that window so when they showed the owl, we were in the background. At the end, the cameraman outside had us all up to the fence holding up our sign thinking they would roll it to the crowd at the end..unfortunately, they didn't and he said, "Those idiots." It was funny. After the show, we walked around Rockefeller center, saw where the ice skating rink is in the winter, and really, we were so exhausted we walked back to the bus station and went back to the hotel. We ate breakfast there before checking out and driving back to State College. We dropped Spence off at work and went and got pizza for dinner. We put all the kids to be and watched BYU vs. Utah..and it was ugly!! (Curt slept the ENTIRE game so he missed the ugliness..lucky him).
Day 9: Sunday, church day. But with all the craziness and not much sleep at night for us or the kids, and not much napping for the kids, they were all stuffy. So we decided just to go to Sacrament Meeting. After church, kids napped, we made dinner and made a copycat recipe of the Hummingbird Cupcakes we had at Magnolias, and they turned out really good! We had a nice relaxing day which was much needed after the crazy week!
Day 10: We headed out in the morning toward Philadelphia. Of course, we had to stop at Hershey World to see the "singing cows," since Cooper had been talking of taking Brooklyn there for months beforehand. We also found a Cici's pizza along the way to satisfy Curt's undying desire to eat there since his mission. And we had a stop at Dunkin Donuts (I had to bring some home for one of my residents where I work). And then to the airport. Saying goodbye was the worst..it always it. Cooper was crying and that made it even harder. The flight home went well, Brooke slept for part of it and was good , and grandma and grandpa picked us up at the airport. And Brooke was happy to see grandma and grandpa.
It was such an awesome trip and Alyssa, Spencer and the kids were so much fun! We only wish it could have been longer. The kids had so much fun together and we did everything we wanted to do. It was a wonderful vacation and are so glad that we were able to spend it with people we love!
