Philadelphia

A few months ago we found out that the Philadelphia Temple Open House would take place this summer.  When I went on my MATS tour back in 2003 I loved Philadelphia and most of Pennsylvania. My plan was to move there after I graduated and teach history there. That didn't happen but we did move somewhere (even better I think) just over 4 hours away.  We added the temple open house to our summer fun list and had a fun hot visit the past 2 days.

We drove up Thursday (after paying 16 dollars in tolls!! One toll in Maryland was 8 dollars!) and headed over to the US Mint.  Jared had been looking forward to this tour for most of the summer.  It was fun to check it out especially since we went to the Bureau of Printing at the beginning of summer.  It is a self guided tour and Jared thought it was great.  He loves money and wants to be a coin collector.  His love of money was actually really annoying while we were on the trip.  I understand that he is only 6.5 years old and probably does not have a deep love for cool architecture but when you are in downtown areas, in big, old cities there are typically some cool buildings and he was so preoccupied with looking for money he was staring at the ground the whole time we were walking around. He kept asking me "are you keeping your eye out for money?" He wanted to check under every vending machine and park bench.  While cities have cool buildings they are also pretty dirty. It was gross and tiring. I know he loves money much more than architecture but I was about to lose it so many times. He did find 30 cents so he felt it was a great success. After the tour we stopped in the gift store and Jared picked out a birthday present which he will get 2 months from today. Mark and I actually toured the Mint in Denver when I was pregnant with Jared and it is a much more official tour.  It's fun to have gone on both tours.  In Philadelphia they make all kinds of specialty medals and it was cool to see them on display I think that was my favorite part.

After the Mint we headed over to the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.  It's a fun area to walk through.  We passed by the cemetery where Benjamin Franklin is buried and were happy to reach the Liberty Bell and enjoy the Air conditioning. We hadn't told Jared and Lydia a ton about the Liberty Bell so it was nice to go over the displays with them.  We got to Independence Hall just as the last ticketed tours of the day were going.  At 5:00 they do abbreviated 10 minute tours so we waited around the courtyard until then. It was about an hour.  We could have gone to some other buildings nearby but it was hot and humid and I don't think Jared and Lydia would have handled that so well.  We waited in the shade in the courtyard and got in the first tour at 5:00.  Mark kindly walked over to our parking spot while we waited to add more money and get us some water.  He did a lot of extra walking on this trip and we were so grateful well, I don't know if Jared and Lydia know how much he did but I do and it was so kind of him.  I think a 10 minute tour was more their speed and I am really glad we could go inside the buildings.  Again Jared and Lydia don't know a ton of the back story to the events that happened there but earlier the summer they saw the official Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in DC so it was cool to then take them to where they were written and debated.  It was interesting to hear how the 4th of July is not exactly the true Independence Day.   The Park Ranger talked about how we could really celebrate July 02, July 04 and August 02.

We saw a cute LDS family taking their picture here and asked if we could steel their idea and if they would take our picture.  We saw LDS families all over the city.  It was pretty easy to pick them out with the longer shorts, lack of tank tops and BYU shirts.  It was fun to know why they were all there too. 

After our tour we planned on checking out Reading Market but it was closing at 6:00 and it was 5:45.  We drove over but decided to skip it and head back the next morning.  Mark dropped Lydia, Jared and I at the hotel and drove over to the parking garage.  Our hotel's parking rate was $53 for overnight parking.  Mark was not about to pay that much and went online and found a garage not far from the hotel that was $13 for overnight parking.  We paid $13 for a 24 hour period.  I am glad that he was able to find a spot in a great location.  Our hotel was great too.  It was a 5 minute walk to the temple and the parking garage was just past the temple. After we checked in we cooled off for a bit then headed out to find some dinner.  Strangely all the places near the hotel closed at 7:00 or earlier which seemed really odd to us.  We ended up walking about 3/4 of a mile to the Cheesecake Factory and were not disappointed. It was actually a pleasant evening.  A breeze picked up and it is always nice to walk around a city, you see so much more.  After eating we stopped by the temple so we could see it lit up at night.  It was beautiful. We made it back to the hotel around 8:50 which is pretty late for Jared and Lydia especially since they had walked around in the hot humid weather for quite bit.  They quickly showered and then managed to stay awake until almost 10:00. Even though it made for a later night I am really glad we went over to the temple to see it at night.

I love the design of these spires.  

They are circular and have beautiful columns around them. 

The next morning we ate breakfast and got to the temple at 7:45. The people in the room next to us were there for the Open House too. We went down to breakfast together and walked over to the temple with them.  They were from Upstate NY.  They were with their daughter who seemed like she was 16 or so. I think they liked being around little kids and were really sweet to Jared and Lydia.  Our tour was scheduled for 8:00 and they were on the 8:15 tour. We took a few pictures for each other and headed over to the new church building across the street to wait for the tour.  It started with a 10 minute video about temples and then we walked over.  We had watched a video about the Philadelphia temple for FHE that week and it was nice to have some background.  That video talked about some of the unique design features in the temple that were done to reflect the history of Philadelphia with the Founding Fathers. It was really cool to see those details.  I had only been to one Open House before. It was the Redlands temple back in 2003.  I went down with my Dad.  It's kind of a funny story because Mark was actually selling pest control down there that summer and also went. He went with his then girlfriend at the time. We did not meet up but we were there just days apart from each other and we started dating once we got back to school that Fall. The temple is of course beautiful and even though it is not dedicated yet I felt the Spirit stronger there then many other places I had been lately and I have been to some important church sites in the past 2 weeks. I loved being in a new temple and seeing it with Jared and Lydia.  Jared had some really good questions and it was great to have a chance to talk to him about such things.  When we go to the temple in DC we take Jared and Lydia with us so they have been to temple grounds a lot now.  So to be able to take them in and have them see the things they have heard us talk about was really special.  I loved being able to look in the sealing room mirrors and see the 4 of us and to sit together quietly in the Celestial Room was so nice.  I am not sure how many people in our tour were not members, I know at least a few so it would have been really cool to chat with them but it didn't happen. After we took our tour we walked across to the reception room where they had some cool displays and a roof top garden. It's not huge but it was great to go up there. It was a really special trip and absolutely worth the 4.5 hour drive. I would love to take them to another one should the chance arise.

View from the rooftop garden. 

After our the temple we headed back to the hotel to pack up and let Jared and Lydia rest and cool off a bit before we headed out.  Mark took our bag to the car and I walked to Reading Market with Jared and Lydia.  I was slightly nervous about finding the Market but it was not too hard to do and Jared and Lydia were great sports about the walk. It wasn't too far about 3/4 of a mile but they were pretty tired from the night before and it was already so humid out!  Once we got to the market they started to fall apart pretty quick.  Jared spent half the time looking under everything for money (gross) and Mark and I did not handle it well. It was really crowded in there and busy and he cared about nothing else.  Lydia was just whiny and could not stop asking for ice cream.  It was not a very fun tour.  I really wanted a Philly Cheesesteak and checked out multiple booths before committing to one and I did not choose wisely. It was fine but not nearly as good as I hoped it would be. In our searches we had passed by a donut shop that looked amazing. The line was really long so we passed it but before we left I requested that we walk by it again and there was no line at all so we each picked a donut and it was hands down the best donut I have ever eaten. I love donuts and have eaten a lot but these were amazing. The cashier told us they were the best donuts in the world and I fully agree. Mark got key lime pie, I got a lemon filled donut, Lydia got chocolate with sprinkles and Jared got chocolate with M&M's.  We are happy to let Jared and Lydia pick what the want in such things and they loved their choices but they seemed sort of boring to me! Anyway those donuts helped save our trip to Reading Market.

Donuts from Beiler's.  

Our last stop was the LOVE sign over by City Hall.  We were not exactly feeling the love by this point but made an attempt to get a picture there.  Jared and Lydia (and most people really) are really sensitive to the sun and we can never get decent pictures of them even if it is just sunny out.  We were really glad our temple tour was for 8:00 when the sun was still behind a building so we could get some good pictures. Fortunately the sign is right by some cool fountains and after our attempt we had them go cool off in the water.  They loved it.  The fountains covered a large area and shot up from the ground.  They splashed around and then we walked over to the parking garage and headed for home.  It sadly took us over 6 hours to get home instead of 4.5 but we all survived.  We just hit bad DC traffic which did not help.  I am so glad we took this trip.  Taking Jared and Lydia though the temple was a great experience and helped me appreciate the temple more.

After that long car drive we needed a fun diversion and Mark came up with the perfect one. He sprayed down the car and Jared and Lydia.  I'm so glad they can be mine forever and then some.

Camping at the beach

Another item on our summer fun list was to go to the beach.  We mentioned this to Matt and Hannah and they wanted to join in on the fun and it was fun. It was also crazy hot and humid but we had fun.  We camped at First Landing State Park right at Virginia Beach.  The Bay was just a short 5 minute walk away from our campsite.  The campsite was nice and really popular so kind of loud, but the sites were nice and they had decent showers and bathrooms. We would go there again but not in August. I am not sure what we were thinking camping in VA in August (hello humidity) but we did it.  When Mark reserved the site he got the last one available and we are glad it worked out. We ended up staying Friday and Saturday night.  As a family we have actually never camped for two consecutive nights and by the end of our day at the beach yesterday I was sort of wishing we were going home not staying another night.  Mostly just because it was so humid!  We would lay down in the tent and just be soaking wet laying perfectly still.  So gross!!  Our campsite did have this awesome tree that Jared and Lydia loved climbing.  Side story:  every time we go camping I see people with clotheslines and wish I had one. Since I knew we would be in the water a lot I finally bought one and had it packed to go.  Then we got there and had this cool tree to hang stuff on. Next time! The first night we were there we set up our tent and then went on a walk on the beach. We had stopped for lunch/dinner in Newport News because they have a Tucanos there and it was nice to not have to cook that first night. We started our walk around 8:45 and enjoyed the cool ocean breeze. Jared and Lydia loved being out there so late.  It was equally awesome because it was late enough that there were tons of crabs scurrying around.  Tons!  I'm sure we didn't even see half of them. They kind of creeped me out as they seemed like gigantic spiders to me and I felt like I was either going to step on one or get pinched but it was fun to see them all over the beach I never really had before.  The next morning we went down to the beach for a morning walk around 7:00.  Jared and Lydia hoped to see more crabs but they were all back in hiding. I feel like we did a great job checking out the beach at all different times this trip. Probably because we stayed 2 nights and had more time. We did night, early morning, daytime and early evening.  I am not a huge beach person. It is never my first choice of vacations but this trip really showed me that the beach can be pretty great.

The Fountains in Newport News.  We walked around this lake while we waited for Matt and Hannah. There were gigantic fish in is which Jared and Lydia loved.  Mark loved eating at Tucanos.  It is just to the left in this picture. 

Morning walk:

We loved playing at the beach Saturday.  We played in the waves, dug holes, buried each other (mostly Lydia) and enjoyed the water.  We drove over to Sandbridge Beach which is where we went last year.  It is about 40 minutes from the campground. This year we brought boogie boards with us and they were so fun.  I loved it.  I don't remember ever taking boogie boards with us when my family went to the beach in California but maybe I just didn't want to try it?  I do remember the water being super cold though so maybe that is why we didn't have them. Anyway.  We grabbed two last year at the end of the season and Jared and I went out for the first time yesterday and had a blast. Jared had been waiting all year to try them out. Neither of us wanted to stop!  Mark teased me that a few times he signaled at me to do a switch so he could boogie board and I just ignored him.  In my defense I didn't know that him waving his hand meant he wanted to switch.  I loved riding the waves and Jared and I each had some great rides and some bad wipeouts.  More rides than wipeouts which was a plus. The ocean is pretty scary but pretty fun too. I was happy that Jared had so much fun and felt brave enough to keep trying.  He did awesome.  Lydia had a great time jumping in the waves and running around. Towards the end (when Jared and I would give up our boards) Mark helped Lydia ride a few and she enjoyed it too.  I think when she gets older she will want to do it a lot. I have a tankini swimsuit and I now know that boogie boarding would work way better with a one piece and some board shorts.  I knew I would have sand everywhere but I didn't expect to have adjust my swimming suit so much. I'm just going to say I am glad I will not see the people at the beach ever again.  When we started out Jared's shorts kept falling down, I called him over to me and discovered they were untied which explained why they kept slipping.  He was quite pleased when I retied them.  I eventually let Mark go with Jared and he had a great time too. He hadn't done much boogie boarding either and is converted.  We will have to buy another board for next year.

Lydia making a sand angel

Cute Hannah, Matt and Norah

Worn out! 

After Sandbridge Beach we drove back to our campsite for dinner.  When we got there I discovered what a bad job I had done with sunscreen.  Lydia and Jared's faces looked so splotchy it was almost comical. I did a particularly bad job under their eyes. The rest of them is fine, whereas I did not get the back of my legs right where the knee bends which is a rough spot to burn. They are handling it pretty well though. We stayed in our site until dinner (hot and miserable) then walked over to the Bay to cool off.  We wanted to go to Sandbridge so we could enjoy the waves and boogie board but ended up having a great time in the Bay too. It was really warm and calm.  We were there from about 6:30 -7:45 which was a fun time to be there. I am not at a beach playing in the water in the evening much (or ever maybe?) and it was great to be there at a different time of day. Normally we would be focused on getting Jared and Lydia to bed but any time we go camping I consider it a success if they are in bed by 10:00.  It was nice to be in the water when it wasn't so hot out or crowded. It sort of made me feel like a cool parent, that I let my kids swim later like that. We played a lot of frisbee and just enjoyed cooling off and the calm water. Jared kept wanting to play keep away and wanted to be in the middle every time! Hannah, Matt, Jared and Mark played for at least 40 minutes. After our evening swim we went to the campsite and had s'mores.  Then we showered and put Jared and Lydia to bed, they fell right to sleep even in the gross weather, before 10:00 even!

Frisbee at sunset. 

The ride home, almost to Charlottesville.  Even with this nap both Jared and Lydia fell asleep within 20 minutes of going to bed around 7:15.  This weekend wore them out.  We actually got stuck behind a really bad accident Saturday on our way to Sand Bridge and today on the way home.  Both times we were only 5 - 10 cars behind the accident, life can change that fast.  We were stuck on the side of the road for over an hour today but these guys handled it pretty well.

We are so glad Hannah and Matt came along.  Jared and Lydia love baby Norah and Hannah and Matt are so easy to get along with.  It is funny to me that I have discovered how much I love sledding and boogie boarding now that have I moved out here. VA has been so good for me. I find we have so many more things to do here than Colorado. I love it. I still think sledding is more fun but have a deeper appreciation for the ocean now.  I know we will have many more family trips there.

Sunset Series

One more reason to love Charlottesville: Carter Mountain Sunset Series

Last summer a friend of mine recommended going over to Carter Mountain for their sunset series. We were never able to make it and decided that if there was a nice evening this summer we would be sure to stop by. Last Thursday was the most beautiful summer evening so we headed over with a picnic dinner (and made sure to get some peach ice cream) and are so glad we did. Some friends of ours from back in Colorado just moved here for the JAG school and we were able to meet up with them which was really nice. They are a great family.  They just got here 10 days ago.  It was fun to catch up and show them one of the many great things about Charlottesville.  After we ate a family sat down by us and Mark was sure he had met the husband before.  He wasn't entirely sure but he really thought it was connected to the church. The husband was wearing an Albemarle High shirt so Mark started with that. Turns out he is a new assistant principal there.  Mark began asking him questions to see if he could figure out where he knew him from and they actually met at the father son campout in May. They are in the Rivanna ward and he actually grew up with Chris Shaw in New Jersey. Small world! That is an example of what is so great about this activity.  People just gather to visit and enjoy the beautiful view. We also saw some people from the 1st ward which was fun. I am sure we will be back on another nice evening.

The Ervie Family: Beth, Phillip, Zac, Kayla, Haley, Regan. 

Lydia and Regan had fun playing together which was cute. I'm glad Regan could have a friend to play with since they just got here. They are renting a house out in Ivy so are in the 2nd ward but we will meet up again I am sure. Sometimes I feel bad for Lydia. It's not that she doesn't have friends to play with, she does and they are great but I feel like she gets left out some because I teach my preschool and most of the families in her *Sunbeam class do a co op preschool so they are together a lot. I know she is only 4 and is fine but sometimes I just feel like it's my fault. We had hoped some other families could join us too but it didn't work out which was a bummer. I know life is busy. Sometimes I get to a point where I just don't want to try to invite people to events but I will keep trying and in the meantime we had a perfect evening there. 

*Speaking of Primary classes I also really wish Jared and Lydia didn't have to have their classes split up.  This has been on my mind a lot. I understand why they are split, I mean Lydia's class is made up of 3 and 4 year olds it would be crazy to have so many together and it really is great that there are lots of kids their age but I still wish they could all be together. I feel like Jared doesn't know the kids in the other Primary class at all and would enjoy playing with them. Part of the problem is that he is in a grade below most of the kids at church since he is an October birthday. He doesn't see them at school much (and not all the kids even go to the same school) and doesn't spend time with them at church either. Again he also has good friends and is happy and I am truly grateful. (Even if I don't sound like it I am!) Many of the families also have kids Lydia's age so it would be great to get together with them since both kids would have people to play with. I just wish the classes could be mixed up half way through the year. Lydia's class is sort of right on the edge now as 2 families have left. There are 6 kids in one class and 4 in the other. Jared's is actually 7 and 7 but it seems like his class typically has 3 kids and the other has all 7.  I absolutely know it's a great thing that there are lots of kids in both their classes, what a blessing, I just need to keep being friendly, reach out more. It's really up to me at this age anyway so I will not give up. 

**I hate even writing about things like this. For real. I am complainig that there are too many kids for my kids to get to be in the same class as all their peers?  Sometimes I hate talking about things that bother me as then I feel ungrateful for this awesome life I have but it is part of what's going on in our life right now and that is kind of the point of this blog...I just feel ungrateful if I ever talk about things that bother me but sometimes I just should. 

Road Trip in a motorhome!

A few months ago Mark got a phone call from his Mom asking what we would think if she rented a motorhome and came out to visit us.  She would travel with Cathryn and her 2 kids stopping along the way at fun sites and once they got here they would love to have us join them to see the sites near us.  We thought this was a great idea and 2 weekends ago it happened.

After their visit here in Charlottesville they headed over to DC for 2 days and then we met up with them near Harrisburg Pennsylvania after that.  Once we met up Jared and Lydia transferred to the motorhome and loved it. Our first stop was in Harmony, Pennsylvania at the newly renovated Priesthood Restoration site.  I went on a great church history/early American history tour back in 2003 through BYU Idaho and I feel like we stopped briefly near there but this site just opened up last year and it is really nice.  There is a visitors center and 2 recreated houses of the Hale family. We also drove over to the Baptism Site on the river. After that stop we drove to the nights KOA.  Sue rented a really nice motorhome and we were all able to fit in it well. It was not the best nights sleep with Anya, Jared and Lydia coughing a ton but we made it through the night.  The next morning we visited all the church history sites nearby.  We started at the Hill Cumorah and then went over to Palmyra where we visited the Sacred Grove, the Smith Farm and stopped by the temple.  By this time Lydia was not doing so great.  She was really tired, had low energy and very little appetite and a low fever.  The next stop was the Grandin Printing Press where the Book of Mormon was printed.  By this point Lydia had fallen asleep in the motorhome so I stayed there with her while everyone else toured the building. We drove over to the Whitmer Farm next and watched the brand new movie about Peter Whitmer and then toured the farm.  We had woken Lydia up by this point as she had been asleep for over 2 hours and she was so sad.  She was burning hot and very lethargic. After we toured the Whitmer Farm we had Sue drop Lydia and me off at the nearest Urgent Care to get her checked out.  She had a fever of 102.9 and was so miserable.  The Dr. saw us and after checking Lydia out said she had double ear infections and acute conjunctivitis. She also said her throat was really red so it could be strept throat but since she needed amoxicillin for the ear infections is would take care of her throat if it was strept. Lydia never complained of her throat hurting so I don't think she had strept, she was just coughing so much that it would often make her gag and throw up.  Mark came back to Urgent Care to get us after everyone else settled in at the KOA.  It was so sad!  Lydia is still coughing and gagging a lot but does seem better.  Her eyes were so bad.  She would wake up at night from coughing and they would be crusted over and sealed shut so she would cry because she couldn't see and then crying would make her cough all over again.  It was a vicious cycle.  After 2 days of eye drops she was doing better.  The motorhome was very nice but sleeping in there was such a nightmare! Lydia seemed much better so we headed over to Niagara Falls.  Niagara Falls was one of my favorite stops on the tour I took and it did not disappoint this time either.  We rode on the Maid of Mist and Jared and Lydia loved it. We got soaking wet and are so glad we went. We originally planned to hang out with Mark's family Saturday and leave Sunday Morning but after the last 2 nights we were ready to head home.  Lydia was better but still sad and we were just ready. We went out to lunch (service was so slow, we were there over 2 hours!!) and then hit the road.  It is an 8.5 hour drive from Niagara Falls.  Not awful but not short either.  Mark drove the first 3.5 hours then I finished the last 5.  The road conditions were really bad once we got to Front Royal, VA.  It had just rained but was a really warm day so it was really humid and there was lots of fog.  The roads were super dark and narrow.  We had a really hard time keeping our front window from getting all fogged over so it was a super stressful drive home.  We got home around 11:00 and were so happy to sleep in our beds.

Priesthood Restoration Site: I'm gad we could stop here.  Instead of just focusing on Joseph Smith they talked a lot about Oliver Cowdrey and it was interesting to hear more about his experience.

Baptism Site

Hill Cumorah: It was fun to hike up to the top and look out over the view.

Mark, Jared, Lydia, Ian, Cathryn, Anya, and Sue

Palmyra: Sacred Grove, Smith Farm, Temple. The Sacred Grove was Mark's favorite site.

Peter Whitmer Farm: The Whimter Farm was my favorite.  I didn't remember much of the Whitmer's story and they experienced a lot of amazing things.

Urgent Care in Waterloo, NY. Of course they were out of Network...

Niagara Falls: A highlight for sure!

In the bottom right, on the rocks you can just see people in yellow rain ponchos.  I would love to do the "hike" they were on.  It goes right under the Falls (I think) and in some caves.  Soaking wet but really cool I think.

The water was such a pretty color. It was almost like being in Thailand again! 

Jared loved his poncho so much he brought it home with him. He also opted to not wear his hood at all and was drenched. 

Despite little sleep and Lydia's illness/general (understandable) sadness because she felt awful it was a good trip. I am glad Jared and Lydia could spend time with cousins and Grandma Sue and Aunt Cathryn and know we will take them back to these sites when they are older.  It will be fun to compare pictures and for them have a reference to places when they hear about them. I also love that we live over here so these trips are an option and can be done on more than one occasion.