The Stephens

Something to Say {9/14 to 3/16}

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 21:33:00 +0000

B: Mom, Mom! Did you know that Felix can say, "r"?
J: Like the letter R?
B: Yeah. Both. He can say "arrrr" like a pirate and the letter R.
F: Arrrrr.

At bedtime:
F: Me hungry.
N: What do you want?
F: Um...
N: I'll bring you a bar. Do you want a bar?
F: No. Me want knuckle sandwich.

Summer 2015. Felix is in the process of dropping his nap.
N: Felix, you are really, really tired. I can tell. I think it's time for bed.
F: (Screaming. Stamps his foot and points to the sky.) It's not nighttime! It's still morning!
Ah. Those long summer days.

Felix wearing his crocs in the bath:
F: Mommy me mermaid. Me boy mermaid. Me bubble mermaid. Me upside down mermaid. Me dancing mermaid.
Ariel really made a big impression at Disneyland.

Grandma Dorothy sent the kids a three-pack of these cool coloring tablets. Felix picked the princess one and then proceeded to explain to me, "The mermaid is punching someone in the face." Okay...

B: When I was born I wanted to see lots of trains.

On Magritte:
B: Why does that guy have an apple on his face.
N: That's the way the artist drew him.
B: Somebody should move that apple.

B: I just like using my front teeth for eating. I like using my back teeth for something else.
J & N: Like what?!

B: We're contacting the cardinal in our yard.

B: Daddy is the best fixer, and Mommy is the best finder.

F: Daddy?
B: No, it's not daddy. It's just me, Beckett. Or you can call me Bawby.

B drawing: I accidentally made the Death Star look like a big potato.

At the playground:
F: Mommy me bad guy. Me lock doors. (Locks imaginary doors)
J: Are you a good guy or a bad guy?
F: Me not good guy. Me just bad guy. Like Darth Vader. (Locks more doors)
F: Winka Wonka and Poof. Me good guy.

Beckett on Darth Vader:
B: It's really weird that Darth Vader is Luke's dad because he's bad and no one can have a bad dad.
N: I'll take that as a compliment.

Overheard:
B: Felix, why did you mix all of that up?
F: Because.
B: Because means no reason and there is a reason!

B: Before we were born we were just in Mommy's tummy.
F: In Mommy's tummy. Noo. Ahaha.
B: Yes.
F: That weird.
F: We no play iPad in Mommy's tummy.

All the times Felix says "You know."

Lady at the grocery store: What a good helper you are.
F: I like shopping because I like little carts, you know.

Nate and I are discussing whether or not Felix is well enough to go to school.
F: Well, I have a clogged ear, you know.
The verdict was yeah, he's fine.

Felix and Nate are standing on the top of a hill.
F: I'm afraid of heights, you know.

I suggest that Felix sit next to some nice little girls at the airport.
F: I'm nervous of girls, you know.

F: It would not be good if we had bomb yogurt.
J: ???
F: Because then it will just explode our body...and our head...and our face.

Felix keeps telling us that when he grows up he wants to become a farmer and have a horse.
J: Felix when you grow up and become a farmer what color is your horse going to be?
F: I don't know. Maybe pink. Or brown. Or maybe pink and brown.

Felix out of nowhere: I thought I was going to turn into a cowboy.

On a particularly good day:
B: Everything is more fun with Felix.
B: Felix is the best kind of friend.
B: Felix, we need you in the family. Felix makes everyone in the family happy.

Felix's Birthday {Four Years Old}

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 00:51:00 +0000

Felix is 4! We had a fun birthday celebration. On Felix's birthday I went to school with him. He had an exciting day at school.

First, he got to share all the things that he and Share Bear had been doing over the last week.

Then Felix got to put on his birthday crown and share treats with the class.

Finally, I was the Royal Reader, and Felix and I shared one of his favorite books with the class (and Felix got to wear two crowns).

That night we had a little family party with presents and cake.

Beckett happened to have crazy-hair day on Beckett's birthday, so he was sporting his crazy 'do for Felix's party.

Felix specially asked for this whoopee cushion and a pair of handcuffs. Beckett was thrilled to go buy them from the store for Felix and then handcuff him after the presents were opened.

We had a Darth Vader / Dark Side themed party because Felix loved Darth Vader. Seriously. He goes around telling people that Darth Vader is his favorite character. I made a Death Star cake and decorated it with some Star Wars action figures. I think it turned out pretty cute.

Happy Birthday Felix!

All the Snow Days {2016}

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 02:08:00 +0000

We didn't get as many snow storms this year as we did in 2015, but the mammoth dump we got on January 22nd and 23rd kind of evened things out.

It felt like it took forever for winter to come this year. December was really warm, and we didn't wear coats for most of the month.

After all that warm weather we were excited to see some flakes on January 17th. They didn't last for long, but I was able to try out my new camera lens before everything melted away.

Then came the big one. On Friday January 22nd it started snowing. It snowed all afternoon, all night, and all the next day. We ended up with about 24" of snow.

On Friday night we turned on the Christmas lights for one last snowy hoorah.

On Saturday we ventured out a bit during the storm.

And on Sunday we had a snowy new world. It was fun to venture out in the snow on Sunday. The whole neighborhood was out shoveling and playing. Many thanks to our neighbor who used his snowblower to clear our driveway and sidewalks. Nate was still recovering from his broken rib at this point. One of our neighbors took a bunch of pictures of the boys for us. Their daughter often babysits our kids, so she came over later to watch them and we all hung out at their house.

The cleared sidewalks give you a good idea of how deep the snow was.

Felix and I enjoyed sledding. (Beckett joined in for a while, but he kept crashing and falling off the sled, and he didn't have much patience for that.) Felix could have sledded down that hill all day. It was hard to convince him that it was my turn.

That crazy huge snow storm basically gave us a second winter break. School was cancelled for six full days. Our road got cleared pretty early (on Monday), so the boys and I spent the rest of the week playing with friends. We are now paying for the time off with a school year that has been extended to June 17th!

We had one more biggish snow storm this year. We got a fair amount of snow over President's Day weekend. I think the boys actually enjoyed this storm a little bit more than the huge one. They could actually walk through this snow!

Happy Snow Day!

New Year's in Colorado

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 01:29:00 +0000

For New Year's the boys and I went to Colorado. Nate was going to come too but a broken rib kept him homebound. This was my first time flying solo with the boys in a long time, and they did great. I think that we can definitely take some Nate-less trips in the future.

Beckett made sure we took some pictures to show his kindergarten teacher.

We took lots of pictures with the families in front of the Christmas tree. I only had my phone because I didn't have room for my big camera in my carry-on on a solo trip, so the quality of these leaves a lot to be desired.

Some Sunday shots with Dad, Mom, Danielle, Taggart, and Megan. Megan and her fiance stopped by to say hi, and we were in the middle of dinner. I think John was a little shocked when we insisted that they pull up a chair and eat too. Danahers are family.

On Sunday I also went to see Allison. We sure miss having her family with us in Maryland, but if they can't live here, 7 minutes from my parents is the next-best option. Check out all our goofy boys.

My mom and I got Taggart to come watch the boys and escaped to see her friend in White Christmas. It was a really fun outing. We had extra time before the performance, so we went upstairs to see the art. I only took pictures of the Chihulys because they photograph well.

Paige and Peter were in Colorado for New Year's Eve. The boys had so much fun together.

I took several shots of the kids with the grandparents and Beckett is the only child smiling in any of them. So, way to go, Beckett. (I guess Charlie is smiling a bit in this one too.)

Happy New Year!

Christmas 2015

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Sun, 27 Dec 2015 01:07:00 +0000

We had a very Merry Christmas.

For the last couple of years Beckett has organized a Christmas Concert for us. We put it on on a Sunday a couple of weeks before Christmas. This year Beckett organized the program and acted as the MC. You can watch videos from the concert here.

In keeping with tradition, we did the pajamas on Christmas Eve unwrapping. We had a particular theme that we extended even to the parents.

Then the kids wrote letters to Santa thanking him for visiting.

Welcome to Christmas morning! (My family room sure looks good with a tree in it. I kind of miss the tree.)

Felix received this awesome Batman house, and Beckett got the LEGO set (the Emperor set) that he's been longing for.

Merry Christmas to all!

December Days

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Fri, 18 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000

We took advantage of the warm December with lots of time outside.

Beckett and I went on a long hike in December. That kid has a lot of endurance. We saw a lot of ruins and even the state park was decorated for Christmas.

The bus stop buddies go on "the visiting trip." That's what they call the little jaunt into the woods behind the bus stop.

Every Christmas Santa and Mrs. Claus visit all the neighborhood children on their fire engine. It's such an exciting night.

Monocacy

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 23:45:00 +0000

To commemorate the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, we took a trip to a Civil War site each fall (last year). The Civil War ended in 1865, and so, our final sesquicentennial trip occurred this fall. And, as luck would have it, in those five years, we have pretty much exhausted all of the really close (and relatively close) Civil War sites.

Perhaps fittingly, for our last Civil War site, we actually went to the site that is closest to our home. Although not one of the most well-known Civil War battlefields, the battle at Monocacy in 1864 helped block the Confederate army from reaching Washington, D.C..

In a march up the Shenandoah Valley, the Confederate Army attempted to swing around and attack Washington, D.C. and Fort Stevens from the north. The Union soldiers, although outnumbered three to one, fought hard and stalled the Confederates near Frederick, Maryland on the banks of the Monocacy River. Although ultimately the Union forces were forced to retreat, the battle delayed the Confederates on their march and allowed reinforcements to reach Washington in time.

In 1907, 43 years after the Battle of Monocacy, veterans of the 14th New Jersey Regiment dedicated this monument in honor of their fallen comrades. More than 140 members of the regiments had been wounded, captured, or killed at Monocacy.

A key site aspect of the Battle of Monocacy was the railroad junction. (Seen in the above map.) The railroad still runs through the site today.

Our trip to Monocacy occurred on one of those rare days when the kids are the best of friends. The weather was great. There was plenty of room to run around, and they agreed to pose in all the pictures. This was especially nice because Felix was, in general, very anti-picture at the time.

The Best Farm was occupied by both the Union and Confederate armies at various points during the Civil War. On noteworthy event occurred earlier in the war in 1862 when soldiers from the 27th Indiana found on the farm Confederate General Robert E. Lee's lost order No. 191 (which outlined his army's movements). Passed up through the chain of command, the captured order gave Union General George B. McClellan advance notice of his enemy's movements. Holding the paper, McClellan exclaimed, "Here is a paper with which, if I cannot whip Bobby Lee, I will be willing to go home (source)."

And the barn that is currently on the site is pretty cool too.

Because the Battle of Monacay took place on the banks of a river and because the battle itself was an attempt to block the Confederates' move toward Washington, bridges played a key role.

In 1894 a wooden covered bridge spanned the Monocacy River. The Confederates hoped to use it to move their troops, horses, cannons, and wagons to Washington. The Union army held back Confederates all morning and eventually were forced to burn down the bridge.

After the wooden bridge was burned, the railroad bridge became the only route of escape for Lieutenant Davis and his men, who were on the other side of the river and separated from the rest of the Union forces. After taking heavy fire, the unit retreated over the railroad bridge. Remarkably, most escaped unharmed.

We took a little walk near the river at the site of the bridges. In typical fashion, Beckett ran most of the way and Felix lay on the ground panting because he was so tired and had no energy.

At the Thomas farm, the household had hosted the Union officers before the battle. That afternoon they were forced to hole up in the cellar for safety. The house was bombarded by artillery and suffered significant damage. When the occupants emerged, they found the farm in shambles with hundreds of dead and wounded soldiers scattered about.

At the Worthington House, six-year-old Glenn Worthington spent the battle in the cellar with this family and their slaves. The windows had been boarded up, but Glenn could see the battle through the gaps. When he grew up he wrote an account of the Battle of Monocacy. His retelling helped persuade Congress to establish Monocacy National Battlefield in 1934.

Beckett is six just like Glenn Worthington was at the time of the battle.

Inside the house.

Felix poses like a statue.

After five years, I think I'm really going to miss this tradition. There are still quite a few I would like to see, but as they are farther afield, we may take our time visiting them.

P.S. We visit Manassas in 2013, Antietam in 2012, and Gettysburg in 2011.

Christmas Train 2016

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 02:25:00 +0000

For the second year in a row we spent our Black Friday in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. I'm committed to taking advantage of this awesome Christmas Train while my kids are still into trains and Santa. Once again, we had a fabulous time. (Last year's trip here.)

Here's the man of the hour.

Every year Santa gives the kids rainbow slinkies.

The view from the train is so idyllic.

After our train ride we went across the street to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. It really is a great train museum, and we enjoyed visiting all of our favorite engines. Also, the kid's room is really fun, and we let the kids play in there for a really long time this trip.

Riding the Christmas Train is a fun tradition.

Thanksgiving in Washington, D.C.

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Sat, 28 Nov 2015 02:06:00 +0000

We did something a little different for Thanksgiving this year. Instead of having a big Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving day, we ate our Thanksgiving feast on Wednesday and then went down to the city on Thanksgiving.

Washington on Thanksgiving was perfect. The weather was great, the parking was free, the crowds were low, and all the Smithsonian museums were open. (They are only closed on Christmas day.) It was a great day, and I can definitely see us doing this again in the future.

We started the day at the Botanical Gardens. Every year they do a train garden for Christmas. This was our first time seeing it, and it was really interesting.

The kids really liked the rest of the botanical gardens too.

We asked someone to take our picture by the big Christmas tree in the botanical gardens and this is what we got. I guess they wanted to make sure the whole tree was in the shot.

After our tour of the Botanical Gardens we went next door to the American Indian Museum. They have a fun children's area there, and the small crowds made for a fun time.

Our final stop was the Renwick Gallery. The Renwick was the nation's first art museum (meaning it was the first museum dedicated to art and just art), and it had just undergone extensive restorations. To celebrate the reopening, the museum invited nine American artists to create site-specific pieces for the gallery - basically one work for every room. The exhibition, Wonder, has been a huge hit. I know that we told all our friends to go. Every room was astounding. I've thought a lot about it over the last few months.

Tara Donavan, Untitled

Patrick Dougherty, Shindig

Janet Echelman, 1.8

The kids were pretty done by the time we got to the Renwick. Luckily, the big gallery featured this light show on the ceiling and lots of comfy pillows so that people could lie back and watch it. The boys stayed in the big gallery and Nate and I took turns sitting with them and exploring the rest of the upstairs rooms. Then we took the kids through the rest of the rooms one at a time.

Jennifer Angus, In the Midnight Garden

Angus's work was definitely one of the more memorable pieces. The whole room was covered in bugs--real bugs that were arranged in pictures and patterns. The bright pink walls were created with the cochineal insect of Mexico.

Maya Lin, Folding the Chesapeake

Gabriel Dawe, Plexus, A1

Leo Villareal, Volume (Renwick)

John Grade, Middle Fork

It's really hard to pick a favorite from the exhibition. Every room was remarkable. For more amazing images check out the website.

Christmas Tree Farm

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Sat, 21 Nov 2015 23:05:00 +0000

Last year Beckett and I made a trip to the Christmas tree farm by ourselves, and this year, I really wanted the whole family to take the trip to the tree farm.

We were all so excited for Christmas this year, so we got our tree on the first day that the farm was open for the tree-cutting season.

It was not as easy as we thought it would be to pick a tree that everyone was happy with. Nate was about ready to throw in the towel because Beckett was dead set on getting a lopsided tree. But, in the end, we convinced him to pick the one that we liked.

On our way home from the Christmas Tree farm we saw the Coca-Cola truck in our grocery store's parking lot. And the truck had brought Santa with it! So, we quickly pulled off so that Beckett could get his picture taken with Santa. It was very exciting. Felix, however, missed the fun because he was asleep in the car.

We were so incredibly happy with our tree. Here's the final product. I'm pretty sure we'll be back to the farm next year.

Leafy Fall

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Sat, 14 Nov 2015 22:51:00 +0000

Fall in Maryland is my absolute favorite. I look forward to it every year. The world is a different place in the fall.

Most of these pictures were taken in the forest behind our house. Looking at these pictures now makes me a little sad because as I write this the forest is being cut down. Sometime in the near future twenty-four houses will fill the spot where this forest once stood.

Luckily we have plenty of trees in our yard to provide leafy fun.

Halloween Time

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 21:39:00 +0000

We'll start the Halloween season with the trip to the farm with Felix's class.

Felix's class went to Larriland Farm in Woodbine, which I think is just beautiful. I went there with the boys last year for apple picking.

We rode a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch.

Felix picked out his pumpkin, and I picked out mine.

Later, the boys try out the mustaches my mom sent in a Halloween package. They look so serious. (Felix shows off his haircut.)

From this point, I feel like Halloween was kind of a mixed bag over here this year.

The bad:
- Beckett wanted to be Luke Skywalker. We ordered him a costume and it was way too big. It was too late to order another one.

The good:
- Beckett decided he was okay being Finn from the new Star Wars movie even though it hadn't come out yet and no one knew who he was.

The good:
- The kids had a great time at the trunk or treat.

The bad:
- The Primary presidency was in charge of the trunk or treat which meant that I had way more responsibility that night than I would have liked.

The good:
- My mom sent a spider mask in her Halloween package that went perfectly with the spider shirt I wear every Halloween.

The bad:
- This is the only picture I got of Beckett in his costume. You'll see why.

The good:

- We carved pumpkins for the first time.

The good:

- Nate bought the pumpkins and a pumpkin carving kit.

The bad:

- Nate did not help carve them which meant I was stuck mucking out the pumpkins.

The good:

- The boys and I had a good time doing it anyway.

The funny:

- Felix was very adamant that his pumpkin have no teeth.

Halloween Night:

The good:
- The weather was perfect. Maryland is 5 for 5 for perfect Halloween weather.

The bad:
- Beckett spent most of the night like this:

The bad:
- I wouldn't let Felix wear his Darth Vader costume to his preschool party or to the trunk or treat because I didn't want to deal with the mask and light saber.

The good:
- I let Felix wear his Darth Vader costume on Halloween. He loves Darth Vader.

The good:
- I have never seen Felix walk so much in my entire life. Apparently if we want Felix to go on a hike with us we just need to have candy stations every few feet.

The bad:
- We got way too much candy.

The good:
- Beckett perked up and decided to go trick or treating after all! We quickly put on his costume and caught up with Nate and Felix.

The bad:
- We didn't get a picture of him in his costume or with Felix because it was already so dark.

Despite all the ups and downs, I'd say that Halloween was a success.

Nicole Visits

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 00:56:00 +0000

Jill and Nicole had one night overlap, so we took advantage of it by eating cake and staying up really late. The next morning I took Jill to the airport and then took Nate to the airport (he was leaving on a business trip), and then felt like I had gone to the airport a whole lot in 24 hours.

On Sunday, Nicole and I decided to take advantage of the fact we weren't tied down by a school schedule. We headed to Washington. On our way we stopped at Great Falls. We admired the waterfalls, walked a bit, and then ate a picnic lunch.

Then we headed to Alexandria to see Nicole's sister-in-law and her family. It was fun for me to meet them, and the timing worked out pretty well. After our visit, we just had to take advantage of how close we were to Washington. So we drove over, parked, and pulled out the stroller and all the coats so that we could walk the monuments.

This was a big day for the kids, and I was really impressed with how well they did with all the different activities. They actually loved walking the monuments. We had come really prepared with extra coats and extra snacks and the double stroller, so the kids we pretty comfortable. (I just wish that I had also brought a blanket.) They would run for a while and then climb back into the stroller.

They also enjoyed all the stairs at the Lincoln Memorial and posing with the statues. Below Beckett and Felix climbed up on this pedestal so they could be statues with President Roosevelt and Fala.

Evening is the best time to walk the monuments, and through excellent timing (I mean really good luck) we made it to the Lincoln for sunset. We then made our way up to the WWII Memorial and then back to the car.

On Monday we sent both the kids to school, and while Felix was at preschool, Nicole and I went on a hike in Patapsco.

Hey look, another waterfall! Here we are at Cascade Falls. We also hiked by several ruins. It was quite cool while Nicole was here, but we bundled up and enjoyed the brisk fall weather.

After Felix got home, we visited Fort McHenry. Nicole and Felix explored the lower levels, and Felix, in keeping with the statue posing tradition of the trip, posed with George Armistead.

On Tuesday, Nicole, Felix, and I went to Antietam. (Beckett was at school.) I was a little worried about the timing, but it worked out just fine. However, I don't know if I would have taken Nicole all the way out there if I had known that both the observation tower and Burnside Bridge were closed! Those are the best parts. We still enjoyed our visit. We visited the old cemetery and Nicole walked the Sunken Road.

I love my friends. I had just the best time with them. It would be best if we were all just next door neighbors, but I will settle for yearly reunions.

Jill Visits

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Mon, 19 Oct 2015 00:20:00 +0000

In October a couple of my dearest friends came to visit. I love Runner Reunions. This is the second time that Jill has visited me in Maryland (first here) because she is just the best.

Jill arrived on a Wednesday. The next day we drove into Baltimore to meet her brother and his girlfriend at the Walters Art Museum. Felix was a really good sport with all the grownup activities that day (a museum and a long lunch). Luckily, it was a homeschool day at the museum, so he did get in a little playtime.

On Friday, the whole family went to Harpers Ferry. It's basically my favorite place on earth, and it's tradition for the Stephens to take a Harpers Ferry trip every fall. I really wanted Jill to experience the splendor that is Harpers Ferry.

We did all of my favorite things. We had ice cream and lunch at the crab cake place. We walked through the John Brown Museum and strolled along the river. We crossed over the train tracks and walked on the Appalachian Trail.

But I got to do one thing in Harpers Ferry that I had never done before. I finally got to hike up to the overlook.

After we crossed over the train tracks we took the trail down to the Maryland Heights Trail trailhead.

Along the way we found the perfect spot to throw rocks in the water. So Jill and I left the boys there and booked it up the trail.

On the hike:

And then we reached the top. Check out the great panoramic shot that Jill got. You can see the town, both rivers, and the surrounding hills. This is why I wanted to do this hike.

I'm pretty sure that Beckett will be ready to do this hike by our next visit to Harpers Ferry. I'm excited to do it again.

After lunch and ice cream with the whole crew, Jill and I split off on our own again to do some of the less kid-friendly things. We stopped in a couple of museums. Of course, I had to take Jill up the rock stairs to the church.

Meanwhile Beckett and Felix were back at the river with Nate.

This was our view as Jill and I caught up with them at Virginius Island.

I think they had a pretty good day too.

On her last day in town, Jill and I went to Washington and museum hopped. Which is apparently what I like to do best in Washington. We started at the Native American Museum, which neither of us had ever been to. We saw a really interesting Inca Exhibition there. Then we went to the Hirshorn, which was not Jill's favorite. We hopped across the mall to go to the National Gallery and found out that it was closing in 30 minutes! Yikes! The other museums were open for another hour, so we were kind of blindsided by that. Time for a super speedy tour. I took Jill to see the Leonardo (the only one in the U.S.), the Cassatts and the Impressionists, the Rembrandts, and of course, the Vermeers. I think we did okay for only have 30 minutes. Afterwards we took a break on the mall, where I took this picture and then proceeded to break Jill's phone when I dropped it on the gravel. Sorry, Jill. I still feel embarrassed about that, but I am glad you had Apple Care.

We tried not to let the phone incident get us down. So we went to the Smithsonian American Art Museum and looked at some of the paintings from my dissertation. Then we drove home, picked up some dinner and cake ingredients so that we could celebrate Jill and Nicole's birthdays after I picked Nicole up from the airport that night.

Up Next: Nicole Visits

Beckett and Felix Show Flat Daysha the Sites

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 23:18:00 +0000

This fall we a had a visit from a family member. Kind of. She arrived in mail. Welcome, Flat Daysha.

Beckett, Felix, and Nate took her to see the sites. First, they went to Fort McHenry. Where they saw the fort, the flag, and the harbor.

They played at the playground and then went to the Ellicott City Railroad Station.

Thanks for visiting, Flat Daysha.

A Labor Day Road Trip: Scranton

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Thu, 10 Sep 2015 20:55:00 +0000

We decided to take a detour to Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania on our way home from Palmyra. We had heard that Steamtown was an amazing train museum, and, as much as we wanted to see it, it was hard to imagine taking a special trip to Scranton. (And yes, Cornell and Scranton in one road trip. You can bet we were thinking about The Office.)

The biggest draw Steamtown held for us was the prospect of seeing a Big Boy in person. The Big Boys were the longest and among the largest and most powerful of all the steam locomotives. Big Boys could travel at over eighty miles per hour. Even better, Beckett has a model of this very engine, Locomotive #4012.

This is the Reading #2124. It was originally built in the 1920s and then rebuilt in 1947. This locomotive and other like it were heavy-duty engines. They often hauled coal. The engine was retire in 1956 and rescued from the scrap heap and served on a tourist line for steam enthusiasts for a time.

We admired the breakdown train and the view of the yard.

There was a lot to see inside this museum. It really is topnotch. We've been to a few train museums in our day, and we definitely would recommend this one.

This display shows the inner workings of a steam engine.

The machine works.

Every railroad museum needs a mail car.

Posing in front of the turn table.

From there we headed home. We listened to a lot of Nate the Great books on tape during this road trip. When we got home Felix was inconsolable. He kept telling us that we wanted to go to his home with his sisters. What?! Turns out he really liked Mindy's house and her kids. He wanted to go back to their house. We told him he could call them on the phone.

Now Mindy and Matthew live in Florida. We are glad that we got up to New York to visit them before they left. I hope we'll be able to go see them in Florida too.

A Labor Day Road Trip: Palmyra

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 20:29:00 +0000

We said goodbye to Mindy and Matthew and there family on Sunday morning and drive into Palmyra.

On the way we stopped at the Peter Whitmer home. This is where the church was organized in 1830. The log cabin wasn't open for tours until noon, which actually suited us just fine since Felix was asleep in the car, and we wanted to optimize our time in Palmyra. We met another family at the home, and they were also from Maryland. After chatting with them awhile and peering through the windows we continued our trek.

We started our tour of Palmyra at the site of the Martin Harris Farm.

Martin Harris's house no longer stands, but the home that is now on the site is famous in its own right. It's a Lake-Stone House constructed in 1850 with stone hauled from Lake Ontario (a two-day trip). They were then sorted by size and color. The result is unlike anything I have ever seen.

We then crossed over the Erie Canal, parked our car, and went to throw rocks into the water. It was so satisfying to see one of the most significant waterways in American history.

After a quick stop at Alvin Smith's grave we went to the print shop where the Book of Mormon was printed. It was actually one of the best church history tours I've ever had.

via

Next stop was The Sacred Grove. Nate asked me if the grove looked the way I thought it would, and, for the most part it did. We've seen so many films that feature this site that it felt familiar.

After our walk through the grove it was time to tour the Joseph Smith homes. First up was the log cabin home. It is a replica of the cabin the Smith family lived in from 1818-1825. The log cabin is small and the tour was kind of your typical church history-site tour (meaning difficult for those of us with small children), but we did get to go upstairs into the loft where Joseph would have been sleeping when the Angel Moroni visited.

Next, I very quickly peaked into the Frame house (kids were done). The family moved into the house in 1825.

Finally we walked to the top of the Hill Cumorah. We were pretty impressed that we were able to accomplish all that touring in one day with the kids. They got to end the day with a swim in the hotel pool. A nice reward for their efforts.

A Labor Day Road Trip: Allentown and Ithaca

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 23:45:00 +0000

A couple of year ago Nate's cousin Mindy and her family moved to Ithaca so that her husband could attend grad school. I have been eager to visit them, but it kept not happening. Well, they have only a semester left, and we figured it was now or never. So for Labor Day this year we went on a road trip.

Our first stop was Clyde Peeling's Reptiland in Allentown, Pennsylvania. This was a completely spontaneous stop. Nate saw the sign and pulled over. Turned out to be a great stop. Reptiland is an accredited zoo, and it was so many cool reptiles. It boasts two Aldabra tortoises, the largest tortoises in the world, a couple of komodo dragons, an albino alligator, and lots more. We saw a whole ton of poisonous snakes and frogs on what I dubbed "poison row." We also enjoyed the dinosaur exhibit.

The drive through norther Pennsylvania and New York was so pretty. I was not expecting such a pleasant view for such a long way. We arrived in Ithaca and met Matt and Mindy for dinner. Then they took us to Cornell.

Cornell has a really impressive campus. It's situated on top of a hill, so we went to look down on the town.

Mindy posts all sorts of beautiful Ithaca pictures, and I was so happy to see it in person. Minday's daughter calls this library the Harry Potter library. It was actually a little terrifying to have the kids up on the little pathways.

We joked a little about Andy on The Office and asked Matt if they really do have a lot of a capella groups. Then we saw this advertisement for a capella auditions.

We also stopped in the chapel. It strikes me as a cross between a stave church and Westminster Hall.

After the Cornell tour we went back to Matt and Mindy's, and the kids had a great time playing with all the toys. Once we got them to bed we all stayed up late talking in the kitchen. The next morning was Opal's birthday, and we got to celebrate with a birthday breakfast. The kids played all morning until it was time to go. It was so much fun that, of course, we did not take any pictures.

I'm so glad that we made it up to Ithaca, but I'm sad that we won't be able to go again before Matt and Mindy leave.

Up next: Palmyra

Beckett Hikes

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 22:52:00 +0000

We live really close to a state park and occasionally head over there for a short hike. The problem is that Beckett is an excellent hiker and Felix is a lousy hiker, so the hike always ends much sooner than Beckett wants it to. We decided it was time that Beckett went hiking without Felix.

Beckett has always been an excellent hiker. I was taking him on hikes before he even turned two. Now hiking for Beckett is more like going on a run. I always prepare by putting on my running shoes and shorts.

Our goal for the hike was to see the waterfalls that we knew were farther down the trail. This is the first waterfall we encountered. Beckett insisted we go a little farther, and I'm glad we did because next we saw ....

this waterfall. Beckett enjoyed exploring all around the waterfalls.

A couple weeks later Beckett came home from running errands with Nate and asked me if I wanted to go on a hike. I quickly changed into my running clothes (absolutely necessary), and we headed out. We ran most of the way to the waterfalls. Once we made it to the second waterfall we crossed over the stream and continued hiking until we got to the bridge that goes over the Patapsco River.

On our way back we passed some of the same people that we had seen before, and they were really impressed that Beckett was still moving so quickly.

School Boys

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 23:02:00 +0000

2015 is a big year for both Beckett and Felix. Beckett started kindergarten, and Felix started preschool. They are both really enjoying school so far.

Kindergartner

Preschooler

Summer Trip Part 3: Utah

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 02:40:00 +0000

On to the next stop. The drive from Glenwood Springs to Lehi wasn't quite as nice as the drive from Colorado Springs to Glenwood Springs had been. Still, the boys were so easy. My parents have a dvd player in their van, and we stopped at Walmart in Glenwood Springs and picked up a few more movies. The boys have never been so entertained on a road trip before. We stopped in Green River at a park that my family stopped at many times before. We didn't linger too long because it was crazy hot, however. We also stopped at a rest stop near Tucker, Utah that had a train theme. Fitting.

So, I didn't take as many pictures in Utah as I did in Colorado. We still saw tons of people there and were super busy.

On Sunday we had lunch at Chuck-a-Rama with Gramma and Aunt Sharon. I was surprised how well the boys did there. They found lots of things they liked to eat. Beckett even ate peas. We also got some nice photos of Gramma Great with the grands.

Then we got my parents into the shot. I picked a great shot of my mom and the kids at the expense of my dad. Sorry dad. You're welcome mom?

That evening we went to Toby's house and played in his yard with its fabulous tree house, but we were too busy visiting, and I didn't take any pictures.

Back at Kristen's, Utah put on a light show of its own for us. Kristen and Corey kindly let us stay in their house while they were out of town. It was so nice to have a whole house to ourselves. Now we owe Kristen and Corey an empty house.

The next morning I went over to my friend Jen's house. Jen and I were pals in Kansas. Then I left for Maryland, and, earlier this year, she moved to Utah. She lives like 4 minutes from Kristen and 10 minutes from my sister so I see more reunions in our future.

That afternoon we went to the Museum of Natural Curiosity. Beckett has not stopped talking about it since. He wishes it was closer. And I think I do too.

That evening we had a big Burt Family Reunion at Jenny's house, and I was too busy chatting with people to take pictures. I hope someone did take pictures and that they will post them somewhere where I can see them.

The next day we did a Gillespie Family excursion to the train museum in Ogden. Remember that Denver & Rio Grande train we saw in Colorado Springs? Well, we made it to the other end of the line. I love nerdy tourist stuff like that.

This gigantic beast is the Union Pacific Super Turbine Locomotive #26. It's one of the biggest engines ever built and can pull 735 fully loaded freight cars. That's seven miles worth of train! And yeah, like the name implies it uses a turbine engine like a jet plane. This is one of only two turbine locomotives on display in museums. The other is in Illinois, so I'm glad we took the time to see this one.

The inside of the museum was pretty fun too. I really liked how all the model train sets were designed to look like the landscape between California and Utah.

So, I had this idea that I could get a shot of all the cousins on this caboose, but no one really complied. Not surprising, I guess.

After our trip to the train museum we ate lunch in the park and got some ice cream. We battled the horrific construction on I-15 on the way home. (I can't believe we voluntarily drove through that mess so many times.)

The next day Nate had plans with Toby, and I met up with some old teammates at the park. Kristen was home from Hawaii (hooray!) and Liz and Nan both just recently moved back to Utah. It was so much fun to see them. I hadn't seen Liz in ages, and we enjoyed hearing all about living abroad. Beckett had a really great time at the park too. He got along really well with Walker, and he especially liked Simon, Liz's kindergartner. When we left Beckett asked if Simon could come over to our house. Anytime, kiddo. Anytime.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with Paige. We got Cafe Rio again (third time of the trip), and I have to say, it was really nice to go to a Cafe Rio where they really know what they are doing. The cousins played all afternoon, and I think it was their favorite day of the trip.

That evening we battled the construction again to go to Hire's with Brandon and Stephanie. I didn't really get to talk to them at all because I was dealing with kids in a restaurant. Grr. And then I had to say goodbye to everyone in the Hire's parking lot, which was a real bummer. The silver lining was that Kristen and Corey were home, and we all sat around chatting late into the night after the kids were in bed. The next day it was back to Maryland to prepare for a new school year.

All in all, it was a great trip. I would definitely do the Colorado to Utah plan again. We are already thinking about other cool places we could stop and see along the way. On the top of the list is a train museum in Cheyenne.

Summer Trip Part 2: Glenwood Springs

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 01:56:00 +0000

After a few days in Colorado Springs we all loaded up in the van to drive to Utah, but we took our time getting there. We stayed in Glenwood Springs for two nights.

My dad found this great park in Vail where we ate lunch. There Felix practiced his ball game.

I love the drive from Utah to Colorado Springs. I drove it a lot when I was in college. My favorite part of the drive has always been Glenwood Canyon. The road is elevated almost the whole way through and it follows the Colorado River as it wends its way through the narrow canyon. When we were young we always stopped at the Grizzly Creek rest stop. We wanted to do that on this trip too, but all the road construction prevented us from exiting the freeway. We made it to Glenwood Springs but a few wrong turns later we were back on the highway, so we headed to the rest stop where we threw rocks into the Colorado River.

After a second u-turn at another Glenwood Canyon rest stop (necessary because of the construction) we headed back to Glenwood Springs. We checked into our motel, ate dinner, and took the kids swimming. Before we left Colorado Springs Nate really wanted to find Felix one of those puddle jumper floaties. Felix had fallen in love with the floatie after borrowing one during our trip to North Point. Anyway, so on our last night Nate and I made a couple of stops and found one at Dick's. It was a little pricier than we wanted it to be, but it was totally worth it. When we brought it home Felix said, "A floatie for me!" In this excited high voice. He asked about it several times on the trip, just making sure it was in the car with him. In Glenwood Springs we let the kids swim in the pool by themselves while we lifeguarded. We ended up using the floatie again at our family reunion, and we were really relieved that we had it.

The next morning we went to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park. We were thinking about going to the hot springs, but we hadn't really counted on the hot temperatures. Swimming in a warm pool didn't sound too refreshing on a 95 degree day. But I'm not sorry at all that we missed the hot springs. The adventure park was really fun.

To get to the park you ride these trams up the mountain.

Source

I really enjoyed the alpine slide. I think I went on it four times. Beckett and Nate really loved the zipline. Here's Felix on the little Ferris Wheel. That snow cone made Felix's mouth blue for the rest of the day.

The views from the top of the mountain were spectacular. I love the red rock in Glenwood Canyon. I especially like it in the winter time when it contrasts with the evergreen trees and snow.

In the photo below you can see the Colorado River and I-70. That's the route we took to get to Glenwood Springs.

Next we ventured into the mountain. Glenwood Cavern's Adventure Park is home to a vast cave system. We took the two cave tours.

The whole crew went on the King's Row Cave tour. The kids actually did pretty well. The cave features some pretty stunning formations. In this room the guide told us he was going to do a light show. First he turned all the lights off to show us how dark a cave is. Dark dark. Then he turned on his flashlight and pointed out some formations, at which point Beckett said, "Ahh. This isn't a light show." Then the guide switched on the blacklight and the cavern looked purple, at which point Beckett said, "Now that's a light show."

This photo is a photo of a photo, so it doesn't look so great on the computer, but it's pretty nice in person. It was so lovely to go on vacation with my parents. We've never really done that before, and it was just nice that no one had any everyday obligations. We all got to enjoy a break together.

After the King's Row Cave, Nate took the boys to do some more rides and attractions and my parents and I went to do the Historic Fairy Caves tour. We all thought it was really interesting, and I wish that Nate could have done it too. We thought about swapping out kid duty, but the kids didn't have that much more time left in them. Anyway, the Fairy Cave tour was very historic. Our guide told us all about the owners of the caverns through the years. Tourists walked through these caves in the 1890s. They were the first caves in the United States to have electric lighting. It was installed in 1897 and a portion of the cave has been fitted with historic fixtures.

As Nate and I were looking at options of stuff to do in and around Glenwood Springs we saw some pictures of Hanging Lake, and then I just had to go there. Getting there was a little tricky because of the kids and the the parking situation at the Hanging Lake trailhead. What we ended up doing is getting up at 6am on the day we left for Utah. We left our sleeping kids with my parents and drove back through Glenwood Canyon to Hanging Lake. (Information here)

On our way out of the parking lot we admired the cliffs across the river. I-70 goes through a couple of tunnels in Glenwood Canyon, and the longest one goes right through the mountain on the right. If you look closely you can see the road in the bottom left before it disappears beneath the cliff.

The hike to Hanging Lake is not long, but it is very steep and rocky. Basically it's like walking up stairs for a mile. I was glad that we didn't have Felix who pretty much insists on being carried through every hike. Nate and I really booked it up to the top. I love hiking fast, and I felt pretty pleased that I was still able to be such a fast hiker even at high altitude.

A love a good destination hike, and Hanging Lake does not disappoint. It's a real stunner.

Not the best picture of us but proof that we were there.

A short jaunt just up from Hanging Lake revealed this surprise. Water is just shooting out of the mountain. It was really loud.

We then booked it down the mountain. I quite enjoyed the walk down. We were going fast but I didn't feel nearly as winded. Nice how that works out. On our way down we kept seeing more and more people climbing up and we were getting really confused about where all those people were parking. Once we got to the bottom we realized that the parking lot had an upper lot too. We had taken one of the last spots in the lower lot at 6:45am! Really, if you want to do this hike, get there early. When we left a ranger was monitoring the line of cars waiting to park and letting them in one at a time as other people left. We were back to the hotel by 9am. The kids were in the breakfast room with my parents. It all worked out pretty well. We got to see an amazing place and hiking kid-free made me feel like my old self again.

I've always loved Glenwood Canyon, but my experience with it had always been of the passing-through variety. I really enjoyed getting to spend a few days in this place that I've loved for so long.

Summer Trip Part 1: Colorado Springs

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Sat, 22 Aug 2015 00:11:00 +0000

We squeezed in a trip out west between the end of my summer term and the first day of school. Getting out there was a little stressful. My students took their final on Thursday; grades were turned in on Friday; we spent all of Saturday cleaning and packing and left on Sunday. All the back-to-school prep we did before vacation really paid off. We were able to completely relax and enjoy our trip, and then getting back to school wasn't too painful.

We arrived in Colorado Springs on Sunday morning thanks to the time change. In the Denver airport I realized I had forgotten my nice camera. That was a major bummer. All the pictures from our trip were taken on my phone. On the one hand, I miss the higher quality of the dSLR. On the other, it was nice to be able to post pictures to Instagram as they happened.

After lunch at Cafe Rio in Denver and a peaceful car ride to the Springs, while we waited for my mom to get home from Chorale camp, Nate settled in for a nap, Beckett stayed home and played, and my dad and I took Felix to the park where he pushed Grandpa. After my mom got home we went over to Sue's for dinner. There we heard Megan's big news! Excited for May 14th.

Traveling west with small children is a real killer. The full first day, especially, just about does me in. We were so tired from the jet lag and the early rising kids that everyone was perfectly happy to spend the whole day at home. It worked out fine because my mom had to work that day.

These were my brother's LEGOs from the 1990s. He took such good care of them that Beckett and I were able to build the whole castle with very few substitutions. (Apparently what I like to do on vacation is dig through a huge pile of dusty LEGOs all day. Ugh.) That evening we went to Freddy's. One of the few items on my Colorado Springs to-do list.

Nate's old high school friend, Julienne, recently moved to Colorado Springs. So, we went to see her. She lives in a neighborhood where a bunch of my high school friends lived. As an aside, I made up this hairdo and wore it a lot on our trip. My mom called it a good Catching Fire hairdo.

When we got back from Julienne's the weather was so nice that we decided we'd better go down to the park before it started raining. So we loaded up and went to Monument Valley. When we got there, there was a train waiting on the track. Perfect timing. We went to wave to the engineer before he started driving again.

Then I handed off my bag to my mom and Beckett and I booked it to the pedestrian bridge so that we could see the train from above.

Over at the playground we blew bubbles,

and played softball. The kids got lots of good ball practice in while we were with my parents. I enjoyed throwing the ball around too. I think it would be fun to get some mitts.

Because they know how much Nate loves donuts, my parents were eager to take us to Amy's Donuts. They have so many varieties.

The next day we had a picnic at America the Beautiful Park. Megan came too, and we enjoyed the weather and the beautiful view.

The kids played in the fountain. Felix got in trouble for running and got sent back to my dad for awhile. As he was looking at the pictures just now, he relived the entire experience with me. He remembers everything about breaking the rules, running, getting in trouble, deciding to behave, and being invited back to the fountain. It's such a relief when I win a battle or two.

After the park we stopped to see the train near the old station. Engine No. 168 is a narrow gauge engine that pulled the first Denver & Rio Grande passenger train from Denver, Colorado to Ogden, Utah on May 21, 1883. The engine ran for 50 years and was retired in 1933. We would make it to the other end of the line before the trip was over.

Beautiful Colorado. This is the view from my parent's driveway.

Up Next: Glenwood Springs

Summer Fun

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 20:16:00 +0000

Playgroup at the tire park:

One thing we love about summer is playgroup. Beckett's best friend is my best friend's daughter. We used to get together every week, but then Miriam started kindergarten. We got the kids together as much as we could, but we were really excited to summer playgroup and play dates. We got together twice week.

Ice cream for Beckett's birthday:

Sleeping on his mother:

Hiking at the nature center: This was another playgroup. Beckett loves hiking (I mean running), and he and the other kids quickly sped through the hike.

Visiting the park with the fake trees. We went to a lot of parks this summer. Beckett really wanted to visit the park with the fake trees, so we made a special visit. I realized at the end of the summer that we hadn't repeated a park all summer. And we went to the park at least once or twice a week. I think that's seriously impressive.

Climbing real trees with friends:

Ice cream after haircuts:

Swimming at North Point. Last year we went to North Point at the end of the season, and it was so much fun that I knew I wanted to go back this year. North Point is in the bay and the water is really shallow. Beckett can stand way out from shore. I ended up going with a couple of friends later in the summer, and I wished that we had gone every week.

Dancing at the Ice cream place:

Dutch Wonderland

noreply@blogger.com (JoLee) — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 18:42:00 +0000

In July we went to Dutch Wonderland with the Hansons. It was a trip that had been in the making for a long time, and we are sure glad it happened. We had so much fun.

The boys in the caboose.

Carousel smiles.

A peaceful log ride.

The whole Hanson crew.

Last ride of the night.