Saturday, August 18, 2007

Family Memories

Our Incredible Sonlight Cores 3 & 4 Inspired Vacation
Alexis and the Liberty Bell.  Where's the crack?

We left for another whirlwind adventure in July.  It was the 1st time our children had been to PA.  We put on our tourist hats in the city of Brotherly Love.  What an interesting city!  The birth of our nation began to take shape in Philadelphia.  It was exciting to see where our Founding Fathers sat while doing the tough jobs of constructing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  We saw quite a bit in our short 2 days there, I am looking forward to going back one day to see more.

On day 1, we began at the National Constitution Center. From there we toured Independence Hall.  As a proud American, it was truly stirring to see the location  of where George Washington was appointed commander in chief of the Continental Army, where the Declaration of Independence was adopted, where the design of the American flag was agreed upon – and so much more!  From there we went over to see the Liberty Bell. 

On our 2nd day, we took a tour of the U.S. Mint.  Next, we headed to Christ Church.  Located on the premises is Ben Franklin’s grave site – and 4 other Declaration of Independence signers are buried there as well.  Next we visited The Betsy Ross House.  We loved hearing  the storytellers share her history.  From there we had hoped to take a tour with a National Park Ranger on "The Steps of Benjamin Franklin."  However, there was a major heat wave at the time, so the park service was not doing a full tour.  It was fun listening to the Park Ranger as he reviewed much of Sonlight’s Core 3 history of Benjamin Franklin.  It was extremely rewarding to see how much our 3rd grader had retained from the curriculum!  While there, we saw a replica of Ben’s printing press, and toured the underground museum.  To end our day, we visited the National Liberty Museum.  I have to say, it was not what we expected at all.  They have a lot of modern works of art displayed.  I suppose we were expecting historical pieces.  

It was marvelous adding a new dimension to our Sonlight Curriculum with 2 weeks worth of history!    Shhhh!  Don’t tell the kids.  They thought we were on vacation! 

I can not fail to mention a very unique (to us) place where we ate lunch on our 2nd day.  It is called Reading Terminal Market.   There you can find an unbelievable assortment of fresh baked Amish goods, produce direct from the field, unusual spices, free range meats and poultry, flowers, ethnic foods, and much more.  I could have spend the day there just looking the oodles of unique items.  So what did we eat?  Well, we did not go exotic...  Instead we chose to stay true to the culture of the city and ate Philly Cheese-steak sandwiches, of course!  Yum!!! 
Valley Forge, PA – Cabin Anyone???  It sleeps 8!  

The next morning we woke up and left for Valley Forge.  It is a fairly quick drive from Philadelphia.  Being a person who appreciates American history, I was truly looking forward to this part of our trip.  I was hoping our children would value this experience as well.  Maybe they would have.. however, the heat index that day topped well over 100 degrees.  The 5 mile hike that we had hoped to take with a Park Ranger was off.  We instead took a driving tour.  It went well at first… But as the day heated up, the children began to feel a great lack of enthusiasm.  (That is an understatement!)  So, we shortened our tour.  We did not leave without visiting Washington’s Headquarters – the home where George Washington lived while encamped there.  Our last stop was Washington Memorial Chapel.  I could not get anyone out of the van to go see it with me.  (At this point they had all refused to leave the air conditioner.)  I planned to just go in and quickly take a look around to see what the chapel was like on the inside.  It was truly quite moving to see where this great and godly man once worshiped.  However, I found something that was truly thrilling to me.  After I walked out of the chapel, I noticed the walls surrounding the inside entry way of the chapel had plaques on them that were dedicated by the Daughter’s of the American Revolution.  These plaques were for different war eras with names of military men who participated in these wars.  Well, don’t you know I possibly found my Grandfather’s name on the plaque that was dedicated to WWI.   I also possibly found a name that may have been one of my ancestors from the Revolutionary War!  Sadly, everyone in my family who could give me an accurate answer about these plaques is dead.  I will soon try to contact the DAR to see what I can find out.  I feel this is a strong possibility because my grandmother was a member of the DAR.  As we left Valley Forge, I felt like I had just been on my own personal history journey.
Hershey, PA – Oh Girls they just want to have fun!!!! 

With a quick stop in Lancaster for some incredibly delicious Mennonite home cooked food, and a few moments at a beautiful craft shop, we were off to Hershey Park.   Prior to this trip, I had been there twice; once with my 6th grade class, and the 2nd time with my Dad and Step-Mother.  I will never forget that second visit, because it was the day that President Nixon resigned.  It's so funny, I mentioned this to my my children, and they wanted to know how we could have heard the news???  (No cell phones.)  They must have thought it was pre-speaker systems or before amplifiers existed… Anyway, I'm here to tell you that back in 1974, Hershey Park was technologically sophisticated enough to play this now historic event throughout the park on their loud speakers.  

Hershey Park has changed a lot since my childhood.  There are lots more rides, including a water park, and a zoo too!  It was so much fun!  We bought 2 day passes and got to ride and do most everything we wanted to.  Our girls seem to have no fear – especially Amanda.  She was up for any ride anyone wanted to go on.  She and Alexis went on The Claw (see above)  I got dizzy just watching them.  And if that wasn’t enough, Amanda talked her Dad into going on a crazy roller coaster called Storm Runner.  It goes from 0-72 mph in 2 seconds!  I can attest to that, because the only photo I could get of them was a still before the ride took off.  It lasted for less than 1 minute!  She loved it, and rode it the next day with her brother. 

On our 2nd day at Hershey, we went on several water rides, and ended the day on The Comet.  I am sure this roller coaster was there when I was a little girl.  I remember the name!  It is old, rickety and wooden.  Boy do I mean rickety too!  As I was riding it, I was thinking back to my childhood and realized that my Dad was the same age that I am now when we went to Hershey Park.  I talked my Dad into going on that roller coaster with me.  If he were still alive, I think I would apologize to him for making him do that.  Old bones (yes I can say this about him, because I am speaking about myself as well,) just do not have the shock absorbers that young bones have!  Ahh, to have young bones again!  
Gettysburg, PA – What are they thinking?

Everyone was impressed with Gettysburg.  We drove to the area the night before, and spent 1 day at Gettysburg National Military Park.  We were there from early morning until early evening.  We saw a lot considering our lack of time there, but not nearly all that we would liked to have seen.  First we went to the visitor center and looked at the many Civil War museum items on display.  Then we went inside the theater and watched a lighted map of the area while we listened to an audio of the strategies of the Confederates and the Union.  From there, we chose to take a car tour with a cassette tape.  By then, we were tired and needed to go at our own pace.  The tape comes in a cd too, and is well worth the money if you do not plan to take a bus tour.  We were able to go on a 3 hour tour with the tape as it reenacted many of the battles.  It was truly interesting.

Afterwards, we went back by the visitor center and took a tour with a Park Ranger through the National Cemetery.  It was a full day, and I look forward to going back to this great historic destination.  I also am looking forward to Sonlight Core 4 with Alexis.  I think everything will connect better when learning about the Civil War now that we have been here.
Niagara Falls - America’s Falls, Canada’s view!

We took the scenic way through the mountains from Gettysburg to Niagara, NY.  What a beautiful drive!  We arrived early in the evening and got some rest that night.  We awoke to a gorgeous day!  A cool front had come in, and we enjoyed high 60-mid 70 temperatures.  Wow!  We felt extremely renewed and blessed!  It is said that Niagara Falls is never without a rainbow.  After arriving in the park that morning, we first went to a viewing area of Horseshoe Falls… What did we see?
A beautiful rainbow.
And another Rainbow! 

After taking rainbow pics the wind shifted and water from the falls began to blow our way so we had to put our cameras away.

The first attraction we went to was Cave of the Winds.  They gave everyone a poncho and sandals to wear.  Since this was the 1st time that our family all had matching shoes, we of course had to take a picture of one of each of our feet in a circle.  Then, off we went down an elevator to a boardwalk that led us toward an astonishing amount of wind force!  We were within 20′ of Bridal Veil Falls. It was mesmerizing to watch the flow of the water.  Being that close to the falls was spectacular.  What a breathtaking site!

Wanting to go on Maid of the Mist next, we saw a long line and decided it was time to walk to Canada instead.  With our birth certificates and drivers licenses in hand, off we went.  I visited Canada before, but it was British Columbia that I saw.  This was our children’s first visit to another country and they were excited.  We crossed through the gate and as we crossed the bridge, it had such amazing views, that we had to force ourselves to stop taking pictures and walk on in to Canada.  Our neighbors to the north are lovely!  I will say that Niagara Canada is more touristy than I had expected.  When looking at the main street that runs parallel with the Niagara River, it was almost impossible to keep your eyes still.  We ate lunch while there, then looked in some shops.

That night and the next, we stayed in Lockport.  (Wish I knew then what I know now about Lockport!  More on that in a moment...)  We stayed all the way in Lockport (about 30 miles from Niagara) because we had a few free hotel nights to use up, so we felt that it was worth the drive.  David who had his wisdom teeth cut out about a month prior to our trip, began having problems with his mouth that morning.  We cut the day short and left for Lockport to see if we could find an emergency care facility to help him.  The girls and I stayed at the hotel, while Dad and David went to the ER.  The folks there were very kind, and gave my son antibiotics and pain medicine.  They also gave our 2 men a locals tip letting them know we should tour the Erie Canal, while in Lockport.  They said that we would be shown where the locks are… etc.   Well, I am embarrassed to admit this, but because Alexis and I were not yet finished our Sonlight Core 3, I was unimpressed when David (husband) came back from the ER mentioning the Dr.’s tourist recommendation.  Having lived in South FL for many years, canals just did not impress us enough to tour one, so we passed on the opportunity that we had in Lockport and did not visit the Erie Canal.  Imagine Alexis’ and my surprise when we got back home and read "The Erie Canal" by Stein.  If only we had read this book first!  We would have understood that seeing the Erie Canal (locks and all,) would have been a historically impressive thing to see!

When David woke up feeling better the next day, we drove to Canada that morning.  We rode around for a little while, then ate a very nice lunch.  Afterwards, we went on the Whirlpool Aero- Car.
Butterflies were in my stomach as we took off!

At first I thought this would be scary, but it was a sturdy and smooth ride.  We took many pictures of the whirlpools below.  Afterwards, we shopped, then left Canada with some good family memories.

Next we went back to the Maid of the Mist in the U.S.
It was a beautiful boat ride!

It takes you as close as you can get to Horseshoe Falls, with views of smaller falls along the way.
Different Cameras, different look...

You can feel so small and insignificant when you are next to something so mammoth in size.  Somehow, in situations like this, I feel like I get a glimpse of how great our Lord is.  This was my favorite of all the attractions we experienced in Niagara.  We ended our day taking our last photos of Niagara at Observation Tower.
From the tower- 

We have some great pictures and a lot of great times to look back upon.
"O Canada"  First Visit Eh?

We traveled some new roads and saw fantastic scenery through the mountains of NY, PA, and WV on our way home.  We also stopped and visited Savannah GA, a place that David, (husband,) had been wanting to take us for a very long time.  I spent my birthday there!  We were happy to get home, but did take some time to go and enjoy a day at Magic Kingdom before everybody went back to work.