Road Trip 2015, Day 12: July 5, 2015 (Washington, D.C. to Charles Town, WV)

More sights and sounds of Washington, D.C.

(click here for today's pictures)

I woke up this morning with Robby dumping clean laundry on me.  He said that he woke up at 6 and thought about the kids soaking wet socks in the dirty clothes bag and thought he would just go and see if the washers were empty.  

I busied myself folding laundry and Robby busied himself folding up the ponchos.  And all of this folding made us have to hurry.  The Wilsons beat us to the car and we shoved our stuff in the car and soon we were ready to go as well.  

Our first stop this morning was the Iwo Jima Monument.  It was just a quick stop and we jumped out and took a picture.  Then we took a quick accidental tour around the Pentagon before meeting the Wilsons again at Arlington.  Once we parked, we high tailed it up to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Campbell pretty much cried the entire way-she was hot, she was tired, she was just not happy and she let me and everyone else around her know about it.  Finally we made it to the top of the hill and she was content again.  

We made it just in time for the changing of the gaurd.  Robby and the kids were on the steps and able to see fairly well though they were in the sun.  Whitman and I were able to see until the other soldier came up and then the crowds rushed us and we could no longer see.  I put Whitman on my shoulders and he could see enough to start saying "two mans, two mans hats."  He said this over and over again until I had to get him out of there.

From the top of the Unknown Soldier hill, we easily walked down to Kennedy's grave and then on back to our cars.  Then we headed on to the FDR Memorial-it was Sunday afternoon the day after a holiday so surely there wouldn't be anyone around and parking for our bus would be a piece of cake!  Ha!  After circling for awhile, Robby just dropped the kids and me off at FDRs for us to go on through it.  

We stopped at the gift shop to stamp our books which takes forever.  Then I received an urgent SOS call from Robby.  He was having a Robby attack (bathroom!) so I gathered the kids and told them to stay right there and ran to the street to jump in the car so Robby could run to the restroom near the kids.  

Robby had told me how to make the circle and I only circled twice when he called to say they had finished the memorial (and Robby was feeling much better) and were heading back to the car.  So while they waited on me to pick them up, they ran to see the MLK Jr. Memorial.  

I pulled onto the curb and they all hopped in and we were off to Jefferson's Memorial.  This time Robby dropped us off and we met the Wilsons.  They went to our car as Robby was told to drive off so we had to wait a few minutes as he circled trying to come and pick us up.  

Then we drove into the city and Robby dropped the Wilsons off near the White House and we parked and went to the White House visitor's center.  It took me a bit longer to get inside because they wouldn't let you bring food or drink so I had to take my bag outside and dump my food.  I didn't have much food and it was secured in a ziplock bag along with a coke bottle so I jus sat them neatly on the wall beside the trash can (and happily retrieved them when we left)

We were at the visitor's center for a minute and then walked outside to head to the Smithsonians.  Police were everywhere and my skittish child, Campbell, said "who called 911?"  They had stopped the traffic and wouldn't let anyone walk across the street so we were stuck which was fine because we were waiting anyway to see who was coming.  

A few minutes later, suv after suv zoomed by.  We couldn't see a whole lot but knew it must have been someone important.  Robby quickly found that Obama had been out playing golf at Andrew's Air Force Base and was returning to the White House.  The boys seemed to appreciate the importance of what and who we just saw.  

Speaking of boys: since the dvd player is broken in the car, that leaves Graham a lot of time to think.  My Graham is the thinker and of course these thinking time leads to question after question after question.  He is the closest kiddo to us and he takes advantage of us being so close.  Questions are a good thing but you can only answer so many questions until you feel like you are about to loose your mind though!  Robby said that when he came to DC as a little boy, he asked so many questions when he was visiting Senator Bumper's office, that they sent him a pile of books to read when he got home.  I guess, like father like son!

We then headed to the American History Smithsonian.  Just being inside any Smithsonian for even a few minutes, reminded us that you could spend a week in DC so easily.  We hit the highlights there but the main attraction was the flag that flew atop Fort McHenry (earlier in the trip, we helped change the flags at Fort McHenry)

It was at this point in the trip, that we had to say goodbye to the Wilsons.  We have been with them for 12 days and now they must head home.  My kids were pretty much devastated and Campbell said that she didn't want to go to the pool becuase there would be no one to play with.  As we kept telling everyone bye, Whitman started saying "I go bye too."  And he was right, we just had a bit more time in DC before we left the city.  The Wilsons are taking a more direct route home and will beat us home by 4 or 5 days. 

We left that Smithsonian and traveled to the next one on our visit-Air and Space.  Nothing seems to be close in DC.  Everything looks close-"oh, there is the capitol" and "look, I can see the Washington Monument."  It may look close together but it is not.  Robby cheered on the kids as much as he could saying that we were just crossing the street and going to the next building.

That was true-we were just crossing the street and going to the next building but that walk took us at least 15 minutes.  The kids pressed on but were rewarded with cokes to share and ice cream sandwiches.  This made them happy, happy-especially since it was nearing 5 and we had not had lunch nor supper-our only snack had been trail mix while walking the streets of D.C.  

Our goal was to be on the road by 6 so we didn't spend too much time in that museum.  We did stop at the Wright brothers plane.  There they had a replica of the Wright brothers house and we were quick to point out that we had been in the real Wright brothers house in Dearborn earlier on this trip.  

The kids had time to walk through an airplane and then they played in a hand on room while Robby went to get the car for us.  When he made it to the car, he text me and we headed to our meeting spot which was where we had parked last night for the fireworks.  I had written down the address and Robby and I had gone over how to get there-out these doors, cross the street, right, then left then right....but I had a slight moment of panic right when we were getting ready to leave the building-I had to ask the boys which door we had come in so I could know which one to go out!  They knew and once we were outside I remembered just where to go.  

Robby was there to pick us up in no time at all and we were on the road to our hotel tonight in West Virginia.  We had only one stop on the way-Robby and the kids all piled out of the car and stormed into 7-11.  For our last walk in D.C. Robby promised the kids that if they pressed on then we would get a special drink when we were back in the car.  So that is exactly what we did.  

The drive to our 7-11 stop was full of huge brand new houses crammed on little bitty lots.  The whole town was so quaint.  I had plenty of time to look around my surroundings because they were in theat 7-11 for at least 20 minutes.  I straightened the car, threw trash away, tried to calm Whitman (he was not happy about being left in the car) and played on my phone some and then finally they came out.

Everyone had their own icee and Robby had bought supper for everyone-hot dogs and pizza.  This is in fact our 3rd day in a row to eat hot dogs but no one complained and a hot dog even sounded good to all of us.

When they were all back in the car and the food was passed out, Anderson delightly sighed "a coke in one hand and a hot dog in the other."  I guess he was pleased with his meal!  

The drive into West Virginia was beautiful-I guess that we were in wine country but we were also in rich country.  The houses were huge and I could hardly work on my blog because I was so distracted wtih looking at everyone's houses. It didn't take long at all for us to arrive at our hotel.  

Robby told the kids that if they went inside quitely he would have a surprise for them and he did-cookies from the front desk.  Then the evening got even better for them-swimming.  This pool was outside and the water was warm. I didn't get in because of the cool breeze and mainly because I knew the room was going to be freezing when we came back inside.  

We played out in the pool for a long time and then came inside for baths and bed.  This was possibly the earliest night that we have been in our rooms and the kids are all almost asleep (10:30).  Tomorrow is a big day: Harpers Ferry.

Road Trip 2015, Day 11: July 4, 2015 (Washington, D.C.)

Celebrating the 4th of July in D.C.

(click here for today's pictures)

The night seemed to pass fairly quickly but I guess that happens when you stay up until 2.  Robby was still up moving quite early.  He even said today that he is a morning person and I would agree-he is definitely a morning person when we are on vacation.  On days that we are not on a vacation, then he is definitely not a morning person.  Graham must take after his Daddy because Graham was ready to go as soon as he saw Robby was leaving. 

Anderson tagged along on this trip and they were back fairly quickly with some ice.  Then Campbell and Graham went out again with Robby and they were gone long enough for me to get Whitman, Keaton, Reagan and myself completely ready.  I felt like this might have been a bit excessive and briefly thought about calling him but I figured he would show up eventually.  And he did bearing pasties from downstairs for us to eat for breakfast.

The kids all lined up in front of the tv eating their cinnamon rolls and drinking milk.  Then we went downstairs to load up for the day.  The Wilsons met us in the car and I had no idea that it was raining until we pulled out of the parking garage.

The rain looked like it had set in for a long, long time.  So Robby found a Walmart and Tony and he rain in to find some "cheap" ponchos.  Apparently, they don't make those any more!  All they had were ponchos that were not "cheap."  I was flabbergasted when I heard how much money Robby had to pay for those ponchos.  

We then drove right to the capitol building and Robby dropped us off while he went to find a parking spot of the car.  We spent most of our time trying to put ponchos on everyone...but before we could make our way to the building, the sun was starting to come out.  When he found us, we walked right into the capitol and then Tony asked about tickets and we were in line for our tour before we knew what was happening.  They had a short film before the tour.  Then you were divided into groups and handed headsets and your tour began.

Our tour guide was great and knowledgeable (though I know they have just had to memorize all of that.)  My big kids stayed interested in what she had to say and my little ones were just enamored by the head set and radio that we used to hear the guide.  

Interesting facts: the capitol building is in the middle of the city and has 4 different zip codes, each state has 2 statues on display there (one of ours is Mr. Rose from the Rose Law Firm) and when our guide was pointing out George Washington at the top of the rotunda, she said "he is the one that looks like Betty White wearing a snuggy!"

If you will notice on our pictures, the capitol is having work on the dome done.  They have scaffolding all around the outside and even some work is being done inside.  Robby and I have seen at least 10 capitol buildings that have scaffolding all around them-we might should start keeping count of those things!

During the tour, a police officer came and asked her to ask us if anyone had left a bag outside and wouldn't you know, when our tour was over the front entrances were closed and we were escorted out a side door.  We could have headed back to the gift shop area but it was much  more interesting to go out a door that we would normally not get to see.  

After the tour, we all hiked back up to Union Station to eat lunch and potty.  The walk was pretty long but eating inside in a semi-relaxed place was nice.  We all had Bojangles and even though it is a chain, I do like trying something new.  

Once we had finisihed eating, the Wilsons headed off to a Smithsonian or two and we walked back towards the capitol for pictures and then on to the Supreme Court and Library of Congress for more pictures.  I do hope you notice one of my pictures of Whitman on the steps of the Supreme Court having himself a good old 2 year old fit!  

By this time, we were hot and the kids were dragging.  So Robby picked us up in the van.  The plan had been to go to the White House and then we changed it to going to Roosevelt's place.  But then we ended up at Ray's Ice cream.  Les had helped us find some ice cream stops and while we were eating, Anderson said "Tell Les he is a master"-it is good to have an ice cream master in the family.

When we finished with our ice cream, we came out of the tiny restaurant and it was raining.  Robby said that we would just drive around for a few minutes to let it clear off and we drove and drove and there was no clearing.  Finally, he headed towards Roosevelts Memorial.

We were not expecting every single road to be blocked off down that way because of the fireworks.  Like it was crazy and before we knew it, we were being detoured over the bridge because of the fireworks.  And then it started pouring so hard that we just knew they were going to cancel the fireworks.  The National Park Service site even said that government buidlings were going to open to shelter people from the upcoming storm.  The roads were full of water-some places up to the bottom of the door on other cars (not ours though!) and when Robby would drive over water, it would just spew up beside the car and the kids would go nuts.

Robby and I started to worry that we were not going to be able to get back over to the other side to see the fireworks or even get the Wilsons.  The were changing museum during the downpour and even had to buy more ponchos (we should have never thrown those away from Niagara Falls).  While we were fighting the rain just in the car, Robby said "I don't care how much I paid for those things, this rain makes it worth it."

It probably took us an hour to get back to the other side of DC.  We found a great parking spot and even a quaint garden path to walk through.  This time the rain had slacked off but we still needed those ponchos for about 3 minutes.  Then we decided that maybe the kids needed to go and potty so we ran into a Smithsonian.  I batted my eyes and asked and they said sure but they were so ready to close that we had an escort to the potty-that was fine with me because the potty inside the perimeter of the secure fireworks zone were muddy, muddy.

The plan was to meet the Wilsons in front of the White House and we were about 20 feet from being in front of it when the police started shouting "the street is closed," and  "clear the park."  When you hear this from men wearing bullet proof vests and carrying guns, you do listen.  We were able to snap one quick picture as we walked away as we were told.

The Wilsons didn't even get that close to the White House when they were turned away but we all met right before we entered the Mall area.  The security lines were fairly short but the grounds were crazy muddy.  We found a spot and the kids took off playing.  I feel like there were less people tonight than usual and that was probably due to the rain. 

We waited and waited for the show to start.  The boys played frisbee with a kid from Wisconsin and then Reagan, Robby and Anderson walked all the way back to our car so they could bring back a football to play with.  They also picked supper up on the way back to us.

I guess we did get our money's worth out of those ponchos-we even sat on them tonight as we ate our supper (hot dogs, pizza and pretzels).  Before too long, it was time for the fireworks to start and man, they were good.  They put Osborne's fireworks to shame and at the grand finale, it was just boom after boom for about 5 minutes.  Whitman wasn't afraid at all this go around and Campbell, well, she danced the entire time with her glow sticks.  Most of the time she wasn't even facing the fireworks but she was having the best time ever!

Once the fireworks were over, we and about 30 thousand other people started heading back to their car.  Robby, the boy scout that he is, had a flash light and he hung it around his neck backwards so all we had to do was look up and follow the light.  We all made it back to the car and it probably helped following Robby's light.  

It took us about 15 minutes to get back to the hotel today because Robby missed the turn but that just provided us all with some extra quality time....especially since I do think my dvd player is finally broken (that makes me so sad since we are still a 1000 miles away from home).  

It was a pretty great 4th of July celebrating our country's 239th birthday in Washington D.C.  Hope we all rest well tonight and I definitely hope that it is not raining tomorrow.  (Currently, I have our ponchos laid out to dry in this room and plan to fold them back up so neat and tight tomorrow that they will go on us on each and every trip from here on out!)

Road Trip 2015, Day 10: July 3, 2015 (Hershey, PA to Washington, D.C.)

We are the Champions!

(click here for today's pictures)

We all slept well again last night and early this morning, I knew that some child was laying behind me but they were being still so I didn't even roll over to see who it was.  When I heard Robby stirring, I did roll over and see that Whitman was the one laying by me.  Robby had moved him when we had a shower. 

Minutes later, Robby and Graham were out the door to take a load to the car and to go and get gas.  Tony needed some too but this little van takes a bit longer to fill up.  I didn't think that I was going to be able to have everyone dressed and ready by the time that they returned but we were almost all ready.  Reagan is my slow poke in the mornings (and pretty much all the time) so once she is ready, everyone else is usually ready.

Robby loaded the car while we started on breakfast.  During breakfast I did take a quick peek at the pool and it had a Burger King type slide that ended up in the pool.  The kids saw it last night but of course there was no time to swim...we probably should have just let them take one slide down in their undies before putting them into bed last night.  We also didn't have time to make another batch of rice krispy treats since we have depleted our supply.  Hopefully, Robby can survive without them!

Back to breakfast-they had a make your own pancake machine which I think is really cool.  But the pancakes must not have been too big of a hit because most of them were left on the kids plates.  Once we had finished with breakfast, we loaded up and headed to Philly.

The first stop was Valley Forge.  We walked in the steps of George Washington and his men as they camped during the Revolutionary War.  We walked through the visitor's center and then back to the car for our drive around the park.  Robby did let everyone pile out so we ran to George Washington's headquarters.  After a walk around the house, we went to check out a bunk house cabin and then back to the car.

We had a bit of a drive to get into Philadelphia and Robby drove us right to our Delassandros-our Philly cheese steak sandwich place.  Robby and Shannon just beat the line and as they waited, we went in search of a bathroom with no luck.  So as we ate our sandwiches (which most of the Dennie kids loved) we drove to the nearest gas station.  Everyone pottied and then we drove right down to the Rocky stairs.

We stood in line to take our pictures by Rocky and then I let the kids loose to run up the stairs.  Of course everyone did the famous Rocky pose at the top of the stairs-I probably should watch the movie so I could know what the whole Rocky thing is all about.  (I have seen the clips of him running up the stairs though so I am not completely clueless.)

Everyone then jumped back into our car and we hightailed it down the road to the Liberty Bell area.  Robby dropped us all off and we walked to the visitor's center first.  We stamped our books-they had 10 different stamps there and I have 7 books that needed stamping-you do the math.  No, we didn't get stamps from everyone place but we did get 3 and all of that stamping gave Robby time to catch up with us after parking the car.

We took some pictures in front of Independence Hall and then peeked in the windows so we could see the Liberty Bell.  The line was crazy long so we weren't able to go inside and see it.  The crowds everywhere were thick in Philadelphia-all preparing for America's 239th birthday.  

Next up was Christ Church and where Benjamin Franklin was buried.  It is considered good luck to throw a penny on Ben's grave so that we did.  Shannon had quite a few pennies but we had to borrow a few from a stranger.  Then it was just a few blocks to Betsy Ross' house.  We saw where she was buried and imagined old George coming to ask Betsy to sew the flag.  It is said that Washington wanted another type of star, but Betsy folded a piece of paper to show him how easy the 5 point start was the cut and make for others sewing the flag.  Washington agreed and the stars on the flag became what we know them today.  

After we left Betsy's place, we walked down Elfreth's Alley-the oldest street continuously lived in residential street in America.  You can almost imagine people long ago living in those houses-we even noticed one that was for sale-wonder how much that would set you back?  And from there, we hiked back to the car.

When I say "hiked" I really mean "raced."  Robby was on a mission to get back to the car and get back quickly.  This was quite the haul back to the car-Whitman's stroller is about to be thrown into the trash so it doesn't navigate the bumpy and rocky sidewalk easily and then Keaton walked right into a pole.  That little baby was walking just as fast as she could and did her best to keep up-she was so tired by the journey's end that she even let Tony carry her for a minute.  

When we left Philly, we had about 2 hours in the car and we had to hurry to arrive at our next stop.  The traffic didn't really cooperate the entire time but we did the best that we could and arrived at Fort McHenry in time to watch the short film before walking to the fort.

At the end of the film, the curtain usually goes up and as the Star Spangled Banner is being played, you see Old Glory flapping in the wind above Fort McHenry but today the movie was broken so they just showed a picture of the flag at the end.  That was a little less dramatic but I still really enjoy Fort McHenry.

We walked out to the flag and today the Garrison flag was flying-it was something like 42 feet by 24 feet.  I am not really sure about those dimensions but it was crazy big.  The kids all helped pull up the flag that would fly over the fort tonight and then they helped everyone else catch the large flag as it was lowered to the ground.  We had stumbled into this the last time that we were here and we tried really hard today to make it in time to help lower the flag tonight.

I am so glad that we made it because I know that the kids really enjoyed it.  The park closed right after we lowered the flag so we had just a few minutes to take a few pictures before leaving and stamping our passport books.  I did learn that Francis did his writing during the War of 1812-I still need to brush up on my history.  

After leaving the fort, we stopped at the grocery store for a second and then to 7-11 for gas and supper.  Robby had to put in a special order for all of the hot dogs that we bought so we were there a few minutes before our food was ready to go!  But a cheap meal was worth the wait!

The drive to D.C didn't take too long and soon we were parking and walking towards the Lincoln monument.  We walked all around Mr. Lincoln (if you will remember Anderson was good old Abe for his report not too long ago-click here to watch that video and go to minute 3)  

Next stop was the Vietnam Memorial followed by the WWII Memorial.  Once I had seen this memorial and wasn't too impressed with it but this time, I really feel like it is one of the best.  We walked up a ways to see a glimpse of the White House and then walk around the Washington Monument.  Such incredible history in this city-always makes me want to know more.  

I think that the kids enjoy D.C. but they do not yet appreciate it like they should.  We did quite a bit of walking tonight and for the last half, it was misting on us.  The rain was a welcome treat since the weather could have been a bit warm without the rain-maybe it will mist a bit on us tomorrow too!  My kiddos are troopers walking so far all day today.  I do forget that my Campbell is just 5 and Graham is just 6!  Whitman and Keaton rode in their strollers for the most part tonight.  Whitman has taken to dragging his feet while in the stroller so after a few good reminders on his leg this morning, all I had to  do was pat his leg and say "pick up your feet" and he did so and did so quickly.  

On the walk back to the car, we passed by the WWI Memorial.  Robby said that they want to redo it or add on to it to make it fancier.  It is currently just a simple rotunda (I think that is what it is called) and I really like it.  Then we walked through the Korean Memorial before trekking back to the car.  

Our hotel was a bit farther away than we had planned but that was fine.  It was only 20 minutes after all though it ended up being a bit longer because Robby missed a turn (or 4) and we ended up in the middle of Kennedy Center traffic.  

Once we made it, we were thankful that the van fit in the parking garage and were all surprised with the biggest hotel room yet.  We have a huge hallway leading to our bathroom and then room.  We have 2 air conditioner units, 4 windows, 2 double beds and a sectional sleeper sofa-this room is huge....meanwhile, the Wilsons are in a room that is so small their sleeper sofa doesn't even pull out!

The laundry is started and things have been repacked so we will have a few minutes before bedtime but that will give us plenty of time to plan tomorrow's day or catch up on pinterest!

Road Trip 2015, Day 9: July 2, 2015 (Niagara Falls, Ontario to Hershey, PA)

(click here for today's pictures)

Well, I am writing this blog with a bit of sadness today because we are now at the half way point on our trip-day 9.  This makes me incredibly sad but all that means is that it is now time to start planning next years road trip.  We were able to sleep in a bit this morning and didn’t pull out until 9:30.  Yesterday, Robby had bought some doughnuts at the grocery store and the kids choked them down (they were pretty dry.)  Then we loaded up and were on the road to Buffalo.

We drove down Clifton Hill one last time and then across the Rainbow Bridge and were able to see the falls again.  As we were going across Anderson said “look at the falls because we won’t be back here.”  We quickly corrected him and reminded him that we would be back to ride the jet boat.  

Then we crossed the border again.  This border patrol lady was pretty serious and after she entered our paperwork, she walked around to the side of the car and asked the kids their names.  I am so thankful that Anderson didn’t say “Ricardo” or my Whitman didn’t shout out his other name “Bobby!”  We sat there for about 10 minutes and I swear they just waved the Wilsons on through without even looking at their paperwork-we just look suspicious in this big old white van.

We had been on the road for about a mile and Robby asked for the rice krispy treats.  I reminded him that he had eaten the last of them the other day and he was pretty disappointed.  He did opt for the day old Tim Horton doughnuts which were still tons better than the grocery store doughnuts we fed the kids.  

The ride this morning to our first stop was fairly short but the kids were a little rambunctious.  For some reason, Whitman caused Campbell to say “Stop it, Whitman.”  And Whitman shouted right back at her “Stop it, Campbell.”  The whole car heard this and we all laughed at our little talker.  

When we made the original itinerary, we had not really planned on stopping in Buffalo because of time but stop we did-a total of 5 stops!  Our first stop was at the Herschel Carousel museum.  They are the ones that made the carousel in Little Rock at the zoo and that carousel is one of only 2 surviving carousel that go up and down.  

The museum was neat and they had a player piano that a man was playing and singing.  This was really interesting to the kids and they stood around him for the longest time.  Then we rode the first carousel made at the factory followed by ride on a kiddie carousel that only my people were tall enough for.  

Finally, out back they had 4 more rides for the kids to ride on.  Robby let the kids pick one ride and he bought tokens for them to ride.  But Anderson looked less than thrilled with his choice so Robby, the softie that he is, bought the kids one more token to ride a ride.  The favorite ride was the helicopter and after it was over, we loaded up for our next stop.

We had been told about Paula’s Doughnuts and it did not disappoint.  Shannon and I ran in to pick out a few things and came out with a dozen and a half.  Actually, I didn’t have enough money to buy just 8 doughnuts-it was much more economical to buy a dozen.  It was like I was saving money.  

The doughnuts were delicious and we could have eaten more than the peanut log that we ate before our next stop.  The peanut log had won a prize at the Taste of Buffalo and everyone seemed very pleased with it. After lunch, I passed out the rest of the doughnuts to everyone and they all agreed they were much better than the doughnuts we had eaten for breakfast.

As we were driving to lunch with my dozen doughnuts sitting on my lap, Robby and I were talking about how long we could stay on a trip before coming home.  We agreed that 2 months would be an adequate time but then Robby added that we couldn’t eat like we are eating on this trip on a 2 month long trip.  I personally don’t see anything wrong with how we are eating on this trip-doughnuts and wings within 30 minutes after all we did pass up on the custard stop that we saw.

Lunch in Buffalo had to be wings so we stopped at Anchor Bar for Buffalo wings.  Since we had just eaten a snack, the Wilsons and us split a 50 wings along with some celery (actually the Wilsons ate more of the celery than us-like we didn’t eat any) and 4 orders of fries.  My kiddos haven’t eaten wings ever nor do we really ever eat chicken with a bone-I don’t really like to have to work for my food.  So this was a real learning experience for everyone.  My big 3 all tried the wings and they liked them or maybe I should say loved them.  

Our tummies were full from our lunch so we needed a little walk before the car ride.  We walked right to Teddy Roosevelt’s inauguration site.  McKinley was assassinated and Roosevelt was inaugurated at that very home.  We opted not to do house tour so we just spent a minute in their gift shop and of course a few minutes in their potties.  My Keaton continues to want to potty at every single potty that she sees.  She has not passed up a single potty on this entire trip.  

Before leaving Buffalo, we walked by the USS Little Rock. We hadn’t planned to stop there but thought it fitting to check out the ship since it is named after our hometown.  There was no need to tour the ship because once you have seen one ship, then you have seen them all!

We drove for about an hour when we stopped again to take a brief picture at the birthplace of Francis Bellamy.  Do you know who he is?  Nope, I didn’t either but he is the one who wrote the words to the Pledge of Allegiance.  The home is a private residence and I guess they are used to people pulling up in their front yard and taking pictures of their home.  Personally, I would open a gift shop and offer a few tours-if you could have one group stop a day, you would do pretty good.

Since we had spent the day stopping all around Buffalo, that made us have quite a bit of driving this afternoon and this evening.  It was a beautiful drive through New York and Pennsylvania.  We stopped at a rest stop to potty and to pull out our picnic stuff so we could eat in the car.  I fixed the kids the last of our sausage bologna along with some squirt cheese and crackers.  I threw in a few other things but when the kids have squirt cheese it is the same as stopping at an ice cream stop!  Unfortunately, I did learn one lesson while making supper in the car-you can cut yourself with a plastic knife.  

My thumb bled half way through Pennsylvania and that wasn’t our only problem on our drive: our front tv started to act up.  A few times when we put the disc in, the thing just said “no disc.”  Nothing causes more panic in the Dennie van more than the DVD player messing up.  At this very moment, it is working and we are having a Little House on the Prairie marathon.  

I will tell you something that we did right on this trip: maps for the kids.  Robby made each row of kids a map that has our route highlighted and an arrow for each hotel.  A few minutes ago, Campbell said “tonight is our 9th night”-my girl sure knows where we are!  When the kids clean up their rows, the one thing that they leave out is their maps and first thing in the morning, someone usually has their map and is asking questions about the day.  Next year, they probably need multi-page maps so they can see all of our proposed stops as well.

The Wilsons were a bit behind us when we stopped at Burger King for a potty stop.  Not that Robby has been timing our stops or anything but we did in fact stop and our stop was 7 minutes long!  Whoop, whoop!

We knew that we would be arriving at Chocolate World pretty late, so we had the choice of going tonight or in the morning.  We opted for the Amazing Race version of Chocolate World tonight.  I say the Amazing Race version because we walked in the doors at 9:40 and the place closed at 11.

I should be afraid that someone is going to report us for keeping our babies out so late...but that didn’t stop us!  We bought tickets for the 4D movie and Whitman loved putting on his glasses.  Keaton and Whitman both liked some parts of the movie-smelling the smells, the bubbles and confetti but other parts-the loud noises, the scary man and the things hitting your feet-they did not like.  

The movie started at 10 and lasted for 20 minutes so that left us some time to hurry to the chocolate world ride which explains how they make chocolate.  As we sat down on the ride, I looked down at Whitman and he was covered in chocolate.  When we left the movie, they handed everyone a piece of chocolate and Whitman got some in his mouth but most of it on his hands and face.  I cleaned him up and we were able to enjoy the ride.  Personally, a tour of the real chocolate factory would have been really neat though but this tour/ride ended with another piece of candy so that won me over!

For buying tickets to the 4D movie, you received a coupon for a slushie so after the ride, Robby ran the kids over there to order their slushies.  Then we had a few minutes for shopping (Campbell and Keaton bought their trip souvenir-a shirt) and everyone picked out a candy bar!

After our shopping, we ran around in the store taking pictures and then to the car.  On the way to the car, it was decided that we were going to Philadelphia tomorrow instead of Gettysburg.  It doesn’t change our hotel tomorrow night or our tomorrow night plans (see D.C. at night) but it does mean another Amazing Race-ish type day and we can’t wait!

The kids laid down at about 12:10 and that was after helping unload the car, hurrying in the hotel and taking some speed showers.  They are plum exhausted so maybe some people will find time to nap in the car tomorrow!

Road Trip 2015, Day 8: July 1, 2015 (Niagara Falls, Ontario and Niagara Falls, NY)

Aboard the Maid of the Mist!

(click here for today's pictures)

Robby was up at the crack of dawn this morning in search of breakfast, windshield wiper fluid and a few other things on our list.  Graham woke up and saw Robby stirring and immediately asked to go with him so by the time that he put on his clothes, Anderson noticed a boys trip about to happen and he was up and putting on his clothes too.

So Robby and the boys left and Whitman tossed in bed with me for a few minutes before I started to wake everyone else up.  I turned on the tv and soon all of my people were dressed and ready to go.  Robby and the boys came back with doughnuts-including a nutella doughnut and we all sat and had our breakfast.  They had hoped to go to the Walmart right across the street from our hotel but since today is Canada Day they were closed (a Walmart closed? That is just unheard of at home)  At 8:15, we pulled out and met the Wilsons as they were pulling out to come and meet us.  

Our first mission today was the Maid of the Mist.  This meant that we had to cross the border at the rainbow bridge and the crossing was relatively easy.  I vividly remember when we would cross on our mission trips to Mexico and all of the grown ups with us would scare the mess out of us telling us to look ahead, hats off, sunglasses off.  So now that fear is still in me and I am the one telling the kids to be still and be quiet.  Campbell, though, is terrified of any police (remember the Ford home incident yesterday) that she is the quietest and stillest the entire time..wish that would continue during the rest of our drives.

We drove right to the Niagara Falls State Park and parked at the front of the parking lot and then Robby and Tony were at the ticket window before it even opened.  They bought our tickets for the morning and then we headed off on a 10 minute walk to ride the Maid of the Mist boat.  

Since Campbell had talked about Annie Edson Taylor for her oral report (click here for that video (36 seconds into video), I believe that Graham somehow believed that we were going over the falls too.  He had already told me that he didn't want to go on the boat ride and was a bit nervous.  Keaton had asked a zillion times about going over the falls so I knew that she didn't understand that this boat ride wasn't like the roaring rapid ride at Silver Dollar City.

Most of the morning I have wondered what Keaton and Whitman were thinking and how much they understood about what was happening-especially Whitman.  Usually we try to stay out of the water but today we were shoving those babies towards water.  They have had ponchos over them, on a rocking boat with Campbell and Reagan squealing, water pouring over their feet and have been shouted at while we are yelling over the roar of Niagara Falls.  (And tonight up close to the loud and bright fireworks.)  Thankfully, Whitman has handled everything very well and didn't have any meltdowns today!...well, I probably should say that he hasn't had many meltdowns today-he is 2 after all.

Back to the Maid of the Mist: The crowds were not too bad and after going down the elevator to the boat dock, we shuffled right on and found our spot on the top deck.  Everyone put on their ponchos and soon the boat was moving.  This was my 3rd time on the Maid of the Mist but my first time to ride on the top.  I now understand why we have never gone to the top before. 

The mist starts out gently falling as we snapped our pictures nearing the American and Bridal Veil Falls.  Then it gradually gets heavier as we approach Horseshoe Falls.  And then the next thing you know you are in the middle of a wind storm on a rocking boat and it is pouring on your head.  Whitman was shouting "rain, rain" and Robby and I were doing the best we could to have a hand on Whitman or Keaton at all time and take pictures of everything else that was happening.  Pure craziness-and it was awesome.

After the boat docked and we took off our ponchos, we took the elevator up to the overlook and over looked. Then we walked back to where we had started the morning and got in line for Cave of the Winds.  Robby and I have done this forever ago but this time, they provided you with these snazzy shoes to wear (velcro sandals).  If you are wondering what they look like, then you will just have to wait until Christmas to see because one will be hanging on my Christmas tree.  Even Whitman had on the little shoes and they matched his little poncho perfectly!

Robby and I had told everyone how wet we would get on the Cave of the Winds walk but when we walked off the elevator, I began to doubt if we would get wet and doubt how exciting this walk really was.  There was no need to doubt!  Basically this walk is a walk on multi level decks right beside the falls.  At the beginning it is misting but at the last deck (the Hurricane Deck) the water is pouring over your feet, splashing on your head and the road of the falls is deafening.  My people loved, loved it (and if you look at the pictures, notice that Reagan saved her poncho from the boat just so she could be different.)

When we finished the walk, everyone was pretty soaked but thankfully the ponchos did their job and no one had to change their clothes.  We walked to the back of the parking lot to have our picnic.  On the way, Tony and Robby moved the cars and as we were about half way to the picnic spot, Shannon asked "where's Campbell?"  Well, I had no idea becuase all I knew that I heard was Robby telling someone that everyone was going with me.

I told Shannon to go on and I booked it back up the sidewalk trying to remember when I had even seen Campbell last.  I mean really, I do have 6 kids!  Ha!  I kept thinking that maybe she was with Robby and he saw me flail my arms trying to get his attention and knew something was wrong.  It was too far to shout so I just held up a letter C and he started pointing that to himself.  He then turned closer and shouted that she was with him and my heart was able to start beating again.  Robby said that he had told me she was with him but I sure never heard and now my life is shortened by a few years!

Lunch was perfect-we at the state park in the New York side of the falls.  We made our lunches while the kids all played football and frisbee.  Then everyone ate and played some more.  It was a nice leisurely lunch.  The New York side of the falls is mainly a state park but the Canadian side is more developed and touristy (Vegas-esque)...and I like them both!

After lunch, we ran to the grocery store to pick up our necessities.  Les had sent us some ice cream suggestions to hit while on our trip and since we have only been to 2 so far, I was feeling bad that he had done all that work and we hadn't taken full advantage of it so today, we went to two more ice cream spots (bringing our total ice cream stops to 6).

This ice cream place overlooked the Niagara River in Lewiston.  The Man vs. Food man had been here and eaten a haystack sandwich so Tony and Robby split some of that (even though we had just come from our picnic).  Then onto the ice cream-they had a Silo Sand Dock Sundae Challenge which decided to try.  It was 9 scoops of ice cream, oreos, hot fudge and gummy warms.  You were able to pick your types of ice cream so soon our bucket full of almost a gallon of ice cream was served.

It was really good and of course, we finished it off rather quickly.  I asked the workers if they would wash the bucket out for me so I wouldn't mess up their bathroom sink and they said sure.  Then she asked what size tshirt I would like.  I had seen a sign about finishing the ice cream and getting a tshirt but told that we all ate the ice cream and not just one person.  She said that was fine and we could still have one tshirt.  The kids were so excited that they started picking which day they will wear the tshirt.  

During all of this, Robby and I were a bit stressed because the good camera had stopped working.  It did this last year when we were in Dearborn but this year we were afraid that the excessive moisture (Niagara Falls falling onto the camera)  might have done something.  Thankfully it was just the battery and the foggy lens soon corrected itself but it did make for a stressful few minutes being on a trip without an adequate camera (we do have a spare and our phones but they just aren't the same.)

The ice cream stop was picture perfect (had we had a working camera) and we hung out there watching the river and speed boats below before loading up.  Before we crossed back into Canada, we thought we might shoudl stop at one more of Les' ice cream stops.  This one was called Twist of the MIst and was built in the shape of an ice cream cone.  Robby decided that he did not get to eat adequate amounts of our ice cream in a sand bucket that we had just eaten so he ordered a flavor he wanted to try called "fireball."  He liked the flavor but it just melted so fast that he had ice cream running down his arm by the time he finished.  

We then crossed back over to Cananda and drove along the water front for a few miles.  We stopped at the Spanish Aero Car to watch it and then we stopped at a gift shop just so we could take some pictures.  Then it was on to the hotel-we are staying at a Holiday Inn right near the falls.  The rooms are fine and we unloaded for a bit before leaving again.  

Our evening adventures included a walk through the Clifton HIll area.  The Wilsons ate at Hard Rock Cafe and we opted for Tim Hortons.  The place was crazy-like line out the door crazy.  All of the kids had grilled cheese paninis except Reagan who had a chicken and cheese panini like me.  Everyone must have been hungry because they ate all of their food and after it was over, we walked back down the main street.

This place was happening tonight-maybe it always is, maybe it was because of the fireworks, maye it was because today is Canada day but the street and crowds were crazy-if I said "hold on to the stroller" once, then I said it a hundred times.  We had told the Wilsons to meet us at 9:45 before the fireworks if they were finished eating and sure enough they showed up.  Shannon said that she was glad we all had on the same color (today is yellow and orange day) because it made it a lot easier to spot us.  

We just stayted where we were for the fireworks and they were pretty impressive.  They were not Osbourne quality fireworks but they were good.  The best viewing point would have been from the Rainbow bridge and I don't even know if they would have been possible.  But our spot was pretty good and everyone could see them plenty.  Campbell were cold and pretty quiet during the fireworks.  Keaton wanted to be by me and had her hands over her ears most of the time.  She was very glad when Robby put the camera down and was able to hold her.  And Whitman is not a huge fireworks fan-when they started I put my hand on his chest and he held it there.  At one point, I tried to get him out of the stroller but he refused.  Then I put my hands on his ears and he held them there for the rest of the time.  During the fireworks I would ask him if he liked them and he would shake his head "no" but afterwards I would ask and he would say "loud, boom, boom:

The walk back to the hotel was like leaving Riverfest after fireworks or walking in Race for the Cure.  We shuffled back up the steep hill to our hotel-when we arrived Keaton was sound asleep, the others started changing and laying down and Whitman played his trains until bedtime.  He even fit in the bathroom-miracles never cease.