Lancaster County and Philadelphia

On our last day we enjoyed a wonderful, relaxing day. We decided to take a detour on our way back to Philadelphia and drive through Lancaster County. For those of you who don't know, Lancaster County is home to many Amish people. It is beautiful country and was intriguing to be able to get a glimpse into how many of them live. It also provided for some interesting conversations on life and the way we live.

The beautiful countryside

An Amish family in their buggy

An Amish farmer plowing his fields with a horse and plow

Amish family restaurant we ate lunch at. Good Food!

The weather was a little overcast when we drove in to Philly. The fog was so low you could not see the tops of some of the high risers

The Liberty Bell
Unfortunately we did not make it in time to go inside and see everything, so we just looked form the outside.

Kaylee posing, again, in front of an old village

Independence Hall - the front

and The Back

Washington D.C.

Our day in D.C. started a little differently than we had originally imagined. We decided to ride the train in due to costly and hard to find parking, and the fact that there seemed to be a lot of 8th grade trips taking place the same time we were back there. Well, 2 lightrail rides, 2 train rides, and 3 hours later we ended up in D.C.! Thankfully the Lord was gracious to us and allowed us to take it all in stride and have some fun with it!

Here is Tim and Kaylee - a little confused about which train to take

One of the beautiful buildings we saw - this on is the EPA

The Unite States Capitol

After we got to D.C. we ate lunch and then went to the National History Smithsonian.
A Future President?

The next stop was the Holocaust Museum. This was one Tim and I were really looking forward to seeing as we heard some pretty amazing things about it. Unfortunately, we are going to have to go back another time. When we got there this is what we saw:

The entire street was blocked off and there were a ton of Emergency Vehicles in front. Walking up we wondered what was going on because there were more news reporters and cameras than I have ever seen before. Here are just a few:

What we found out is that while we were in the national History Museum there was a shooting in the Holocaust Museum. A 80 something white supremisist shot a security guard upon entering the building. It was one of those moments when you realize God's protection over your life. If we had driven or been able to arrive in less than 3 hours we very well could of been in the building when it happened. We would not have been injured, but it would have been scary and a rather long ordeal. Thankfully we were not and we got to enjoy the rest of our day, along with some added benefits! Like seeing an FBI Command center truck, not something you see everyday!

The Washington Monument

Kaylee enjoying the view!

Lincoln Memorial from a distance

Inside the Lincoln Memorial

Washington Monument at night

The White House - or in Cait's words "President Obama's house." And me looking incredibly tired from a very long, but fun day!

Gettysburg and Crabs

The Bauers made us a great meal tonight that we got to enjoy with the Brown's. Fresh Crab, ribs, and lots of great sides. It was our first crab experience and we both enjoyed it!

Gettysburg - On top of Little Round. It was nice while we enjoyed the Visitor Center, but when it came time to tour around it started pouring, thundering, lightening, and hailing! Some of our pictures are from the car while we quickly rolled down the window and shot.

DC and Baltimore

The Bauer's home- our amazing hosts here in Baltimore (not Jack by the way)

In front of the Mount Vernon Mansion- George Washington's home

The mansion again

Kaylee at the visitor's center with the Washingtons and their grandchildren (she fits right in, eh?)

Makaylee inspecting the grass on Federal Hill in Baltimore

Makaylee and I kicking back on Federal Hill- pretty amazing view of the city and harbor- you can see it a little bit in the background.

...by the dawn's early light.

Nicole checking out the inner harbor in Baltimore.

This is where we ate lunch- tough times.

We thought about buying this hat for our family- then whoever was in a bad mood would have to wear it for the day.

Makaylee on board the USS Constellation in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Some of the guns on the USS Constellation

...and some more guns.


Nicole, getting ready for a nap on the berth deck of the Constellation.

Makaylee and I below the masts and sails of the Constellation.

Patrick and Natalie's Wedding

Caitie and Makaylee

Makylee enjoying playing a game with Rob, one of the groomsmen

The Pickards and Wades

The Pickards and Levis

Us with the Patrick Levis Family!

Patrick, Debbie, and Will watching Natalie come down the aisle

Natalies mom, Kathy, watching Patrick

The Wades

My handsom husband in his model pose

Tim and Adam, and old student of ours from Grace

Kaylee sleeping with Papa Will

Adam missing his wife of two months

Swing dancing at the Barn Dance

Learning how to swing dance

Setting up

Joe and Caitie having some fun!