New York City 2 - Andi

April 25, 2017

Dinner at Bill's Burgers

Yesterday we went to the pedestal at Lady Liberty's feet. We didn’t get to go to the crown because you had to get tickets three or four months before you came. Then we went to Ellis Island. I didn't find it very interesting. Then we got lunch from a food cart. I got a lamb gyro (y-r-o). We got a Wall Street walking tour and I learned that Wall Street got its name from the wall around it a long time ago. There was a wall because it was to keep the English out. Then we went to the 9/11 memorial and museum. The museum was about how two huge planes hit the twin towers. We also went to Fraunces Tavern. I tried on olden day clothes. Oh I forgot to tell you that Fraunces Tavern is where George Washington said good bye and then left. Then we had dinner at Bill's Burgers. Then we went home and went to bed.

Big Bus Tour

Guggenheim Museum

Today we got bagels from Daniel's. Then we got tickets for the Big Bus tour. We got on and did a tour. We got off and went to the Natural History Museum. We saw really cool gems. The rest I didn't find very interesting. Then we had lunch. After we got back on the Big Bus Tour and turned the channel to number 2. Then we went to the Guggenheim Museum. It wasn't very cool but the building was. It was a spiral going up or down. Then we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We saw the paintings of the person who made the pictures I have in my room. Then we went home and had dinner then had a cookie and then read Harry Potter.

Madison Square Garden

April 27, 2017

Yesterday we went to Madison Square Garden to ask when our tour was and to ask where a good place to have bagels was. They said "Zaro's". We went to Zaro's and came back for our tour. We got in Madison Square Garden and got in the line for the tour and then we started the tour. We went up to the sixth floor. There were dates all around the floor and we found my birthday. Then we went to the boxes. They were really nice. After that we went to the highest floor. It was bar seating but not a bar. Then we got to the end of the tour. Then we saw a submarine. It was really cool. Then we saw a boat with a kids’ area on it. Then we had lunch at a barbeque place. Then we went on a boat tour. It wasn't very interesting so I just looked out the window and played with Nick. Then we went home and I went to bed.

April 28, 2017

Yesterday we went to Grand Central Station. It is the biggest station in the world. Then we went to Central Park. We found a playground. We played with two kids named Brandon and James. Then we got falafel. It was really good. After that we went to Chinatown and got fried dumplings. Those were really good too. After that we went to the skyscraper museum. I didn't really look at it or read it. I looked at a couple pictures on a computer they had on display. Then we went home and had dinner and watched Sully with popcorn. Sully is about the plane that crashed in the Hudson River.

Today we packed up and left New York and went to Connecticut. We got there and Nick and I checked out the mini golf and laser tag. Then we played laser tag. It was awesome. The laser guns were shaped like rifles. There was a boat, walls, boxes, and a truck that you could hide behind so that you wouldn't die. We did one round for mom and then we went home and had dinner. Then I finished my alligator report. Then we did math, folded laundry, and got rid of some of my clothes and organized my shelves.

My finished Alligator

New York City 1 - Andi

April 21, 2017

Yesterday we packed up camp and drove to New York City. Daddy, Nick, and I went to go check out the metro lines and get a pass for the Metro. But we didn't get one. Then we had dinner. After that we watched "Sing". Then we went to bed.

April 22, 2017

Brooklyn Bridge

Yesterday we took the ferry over to the World Trade Center. We bought our PATH and Metro passes there. We also picked up our city passes. Then we walked around Greenwich Village. We did a couple of geocaches. After that we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge. Then we bought bread from the bakery. After that, we went to the Museum of Moving Images. We went to the kids’ area and the rest I didn't find very interesting. Then we went home and had dinner.

View from the Stage at Radio City Music Hall

Today we went to Radio City Music Hall. We

got a tour of it. We got to see the stage. We saw back stage and we saw the part under the stage. We saw the girls lounge room. Then we saw a film about the Rockettes and we talked to one.

Roller Coaster at Coney Island

After the tour was done we did the SoHo tour. It was about SoHo, Little Italy, and Chinatown. We tried a couple samples. My favorite sample was fried dumplings. Then we went to Coney Island. Mom and Dad surprised us that we were going to an amusement park. We went on a couple of rides and then got hot dogs from Nathan's. After that, we walked on the boardwalk. Then we got on the metro to go to midtown. I think the city is cool. There are a lot of green taxis that I think are unusual. I don't think it is cool that mom is making me write extra in my journal. I also got to try Gelato. It was just like any other ice cream. I really like that if you stand far away from the buildings that it looks like they're all jammed together but they are really not, they actually have four lanes of traffic in between them. There are a lot of people in New York. There are very few private cars driving around. I like how the sidewalks change from different materials. Back to the journal. We saw the Rockefeller Center. We went to the top of it also known as "The Top of the Rock." After that we went to the Lego store and looked around. Then we went home and had ramen.

View from the Top of the Rock

April 24, 2017

Performers on the sidewalk as the Ride drove by

Yesterday we went to Krispy Kreme and got doughnuts. Then we got tickets for "The Ride." After that we went to the Eldridge museum. We saw the really old church and the museum. Then we rented bikes and rode them in Central Park. After that, we went on "The Ride." It was really fun and funny. It was kind of like a movie theater about New York. It had dancing, singing, and fun. After that we went to the Empire State building. We went to the 86th floor and looked down at the city. We could see where Times Square was easily. Then we went home and went to bed. One other note about Times Square, it looks like a new channel of day.

The bright lights of Times Square

New York City 1 - Nick

4/21/17

Our New York City Campsite

Yesterday we packed up our campsite in the morning and started the 3 and a half hour drive to New York. We did math in the car, we read, and we played our tablets for a little bit. We also stopped in a big parking lot for lunch. We had PB&J. Then when we got to New York we saw our campsite. It was practically just a parking lot with hook-ups. There is also a boat yard next to us. Then we kind of looked around the campsite. Then we went down to the metro station to see how long it would take us to walk there. It took us 15 minutes. Then we watched the movie Sing, which none of us have seen before.

4/22/2017

Yesterday, since we are actually staying in Jersey City, we took the ferry over to New York. Then we got our metro cards and our New York Passes. The New York Pass gets us in to a lot of things for free. Then we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It has 14,000 miles of wire (4 cables, 15 inches thick, with 3500 miles of wire per cable), and it was really crowded. The bridge was one mile long. Then we went to the bakery and we got some fresh bread, some cheese, and some really good sausage. Then we went to the Museum of the Moving Image. It was about all sorts of different movies. One of the parts I liked was a bunch of Star Wars action figures that were really neat. There was also a part about how they film live sports. I never realized it was so complicated. They have to switch back and forth between 14 cameras. It was really interesting. Then we went home and had the stuff we got from the bakery for dinner. New York City was really cool. It was like nothing I have ever seen. Everything was so big and there were so many people. It was really amazing.

Cathedral of St. John the Divine

Today we took the metro downtown and got some freshly baked cinnamon rolls and scones for breakfast. Then we saw the St. John’s Cathedral. It was huge. We found out that there was a fire in it in 2001. It is one of the biggest cathedrals in the world. 

Coney Island Roller Coaster

Then we went on a tour of Radio City Music Hall. It was really cool. They said it had the biggest stage in the world and they could play a pro basketball game on it. We actually got to go onto the stage and the tour guide said that he had been working there for 4 years and he only got to take 3 groups on stage. He also said that on some of their performances they had busses, animals, and lots of other stuff. 

Then we took the metro to Coney Island. On the ride there my dad said it was just an island full of wild rabbits, but when we got there we saw a roller coaster park and my parents said we were going there. When we got there we found out that the park was closing in 30 minutes because of the weather. We ended up getting in 6 rides. My favorite one was a roller coaster that accelerated really fast. The first time we did it, it surprised me. We also went on some water rides. There was another cool airplane that was upside down half the time. 

I forgot to mention, before the roller coaster park and after the theater we went on a tour of SoHo, Little Italy, and Chinatown. My favorite part of the tour was Chinatown. I thought it would just be Chinese food, but it was actually almost all Chinese people. We got a sample of fried dumplings and they were really good. We also got some samples in Little Italy. We got gelato which is kind of like ice cream. We also got cannolis. They are a pastry with some sort of creamy pudding stuff in the middle. Then after that we went to the Rockefeller Center. We got to go up to the 69 th floor. It was really cool. We could see the entire city. We could also see central park. It was huge. We could see the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center, and the 432 Park building. Then, because Andi wanted to, we went to the Lego store and looked around. We didn’t buy anything. Then we came home and had dinner.

4/24/17

Yesterday we went to Krispy Kreme. It is a doughnut place. I got two of the original glazed doughnuts. They were really good. Then we went to the Museum on Eldridge Street. It is an old Jewish synagogue. The building was really cool, but I did not find the museum very interesting. 

Then we went to Central Park. We rented bikes and drove around for about 3 hours. The bike the rental place gave me was a little small. It had 7 gears. It was kind of nice to get away from the city for a little while. 

The bus for "The Ride"

Then we went to The Ride. Andi and I both thought it was going to be a normal bus tour but it wasn’t. It had stadium seating, which means you are facing sideways and only one side of the bus has windows. That wasn’t what made it different though. It wasn’t really a tour at all. After we got on the bus there was really loud music playing and there were two people running the “tour”. The people running the tour were doing really funny dance moves at the people outside. There were also some people who we drove by who danced in front of the bus. One of the guys was doing flips and break dancing. There was a rapper, a saxophone player with a singer, and a ballerina. There was also a quiz they did, and all the questions were about New York. Their first question was “what is the tallest building in New York?” The answer was the World Trade Center and I said it first. I also won a couple of the other questions. 

Then we had dinner at the Hourglass Tavern. Andi and I shared shrimp Catalina and mushroom ravioli. They were both delicious. Our waitress was super nice and she made up her own drink for us. It had mango juice, orange juice, cranberry juice, and a little bit of seltzer water. We called it the Jardaine, because that was the waitress’ name. All the food and drinks were delicious. Then we walked around Times Square for a little while.

There were so many bright billboards and lights, it looked like day even though it was about 10:00 pm. Then we went up to the 86 th floor of the Empire State Building because that’s as far as our ticket got us. It was kind of like the Top of the Rock, but it was still cool. It was also night, so you could see all the cool lights.

Mid-April - Andi

April 13, 2017

Yesterday we went running. Then Nick and I played yard farkle and then our friends came over. We went on the island and got ready for the party we were going to have but it didn't turn out how I thought it would. Then we went home and had dinner. I had penne rosa noodles and chicken, a little bit of ramen (r-o-m-e-n), and a lot of french toast. Then we finished my alligator and then we did the money book we got. The money book is a book with a lot of things to learn about money. Then we read Harry Potter.

Fox at Bombay Hook

April 14, 2017

Yesterday we went to Bombay Hook. We went on a lookout tower. We saw a huge turtle that we could see from a long ways away. We also saw swans on our way out. There was a fox that ran across the road and he looked tired or sick. Then we went home and rode bikes. After that, we had dinner. Then we played Monopoly and Nick beat all of us.

April 15, 2017

Yesterday we drove back to Louise Cosca Park. Then we drove mom to the airport. We said good bye to mom, then we went to a couple of stores. We had ramen (r-o-m-e-n) for dinner, then we went to bed.

April 16, 2017

Yesterday we moved to the Assateague Island campground. Before we moved to Assateague we played at a big playground. Now back to Assateague. Assateague has wild horses just roaming around the campground like it's theirs. We set up camp and went out to buy firewood. Then we had a campfire. We roasted hot dogs over the fire and had marshmallows. Then we went inside and got to bed.

April 17, 2017

Two days ago, we woke up at Assateague. We packed up camp and drove over to the beach. We played on the beach for a couple hours and then we parked our camper at Francis Scott Key hotel. That's where we are going to stay. We went swimming at the pool and then went home and had Nuke-a-meals and then we watched Hop in the lobby.

Yesterday we flew our kites at the beach, then we played on the beach. We went back to our hotel and swam. We had pizza and then went swimming again. We went home and got ready to watch Moana and then called mommy.

April 19, 2017

Yesterday we went to TC's Diner. I got french toast stix. Then we went back to the hotel and swam while dad did laundry. Then we went mini golfing. One of the holes was where you had to hit it up a hill into a skeleton's mouth and then it would come out as an automatic hole in one. Then we went swimming again. After that we went to Carrabas. I split a pizza with Nick. Then we went to Dumser's Dairy Land and got ice cream. It was the best malt in the world. Then we watched Trolls in the lobby.

April 20, 2017.

Yesterday we played Wii in the morning. Then we went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. Then we packed up and hitched and got in the car and drove to Louise Cosca Park. Once we got there we played until we had to go get mommy. We got an Easter bag from our Nana. Then we went to bed.

Mid-April - Nick

4/14/2017

Yesterday we went to Bombay Hook National Park. We did some education on the way, mostly math. When we got to Bombay Hook, Mom told us that it is a bird viewing place. We drove to a trail through the woods. At the end there was a lookout tower. I saw an eagle through our binoculars. I also saw some type of swan. We also met some people who brought their dogs with them and they were training their dogs to hunt by having them sniff out turtles. They would put the turtles right back. Then we went on some more trails and saw some more cool birds. On the way back home, we did some more education. When we got home Andi and I rode our bikes around for a little while. Then we played Monopoly. I came in 1st, Andi 2nd, Dad 3rd, and Mom 4th. We also had ice cream.

4/15/17

Yesterday we woke up and had breakfast. Then we started to pack up the camper. I got to help dad by going on the roof and brushing off the leaves on the slides. Then we drove back to D.C. so mom could fly home. We stopped on some stores to get groceries. I also got some new shorts. Then we got back in and did some homeschool. Then when we got to the airport we said bye to mom. Then we got to a campsite in D.C. While dad set up the RV, Andi and I played at the playground. Then we had ramen noodles for dinner. Finally we had some ice cream.

4/16/17

Yesterday we went and played at a giant playground we found in the morning. We played there for about two hours. Then we found a geocache near there. It was deep in the woods. It was super hard to find and right when we were about to give up I found it under a log. Then we started the 3 and a half hour long drive to Assateague Island Campground. This campground was really cool because there were wild horses roaming around the campsite. There was poop all over. After we pulled into our campsite Andi and I rode our bikes around for a while. Then for dinner we had hot dogs over the fire because we had no electricity. Then we had s’mores after hot dogs.

Wild horses at Assateague Park

4/18/17

Two days ago we woke up at Assateague Campground. Then we drove to the beach. We parked our camper in the parking lot and then we went swimming for a couple hours. The water was super cold. Then we drove to the Francis Scott Key Hotel. It was only a 20 minute drive. We are staying in a hotel for 3 nights because my mom thought we needed a break. She chose this hotel because it had a really cool pool. We are in the North Carolina building in room 2424. After we got to the hotel we went swimming in the pool. I met some people that were really nice and I played catch with them. Then we went back to the hotel room and had these things called Nuke-a- meals. You pick out different types of food that come in a container, then you throw them in the microwave and they’re ready to eat. I had Salisbury steak and pizza. Yesterday we had breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. Donuts are my favorite food in the world. I got chocolate frosted with sprinkles and Andi got the same. Then we went back to the beach and flew our kites my Aunt Lisa gave us. Mine is double stringed and you can do really cool tricks with it. I was getting really good. A couple times I made it dive down, scrape the ground, and then I pulled it up at the last second. Then, when we were done flying kites we went swimming in the Atlantic again. It was even colder than the last time. Then we came back to the hotel and went swimming. I saw the same guys I played catch with and this time we played football. Then we ordered a pizza from the snack bar using our gift card. The pizza was really good. Then we went to the front office at 8:00 because Moana was playing there. We watched Moana. We also got free popcorn.

Today we ate breakfast at TC’s Diner. I got chocolate chip pancakes. They were delicious. Then we came back to the hotel and folded laundry. Then we went mini golfing. We played two rounds but dad only did one round. After the first round he wasn’t feeling very good. My favorite hole was one where you had to hit the ball really hard through a cannon. Then we went swimming. I met someone named Aiden. I played catch with him. Then we had dinner at Carrabas. I split a pizza with Andi. It was pretty good. Then we got ice cream at Dumsers Dairy. I got an Oreo malt. It was the best malt I have ever had in my life.

4/20/17

Yesterday we had breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. We got chocolate frosted donuts with sprinkles. Then we went back to the hotel room and played our Wii for a little while. Then we started our 3 and a half hour drive to pick mom up from the airport. We stopped at a Walmart on the way and dad got some stuff for his car. Then we drove to our next campsite, Louise Cosca. We have been here before. Then we figured out that mom’s flight got delayed by an hour. We played some more Wii to pass the time. When mom did get home, she brought a bunch of stuff with her. She brought me and Andi some more books to read. She also brought us some Easter baskets from my Nana and Granddad. I got twenty bucks, and a little toy.

Philadelphia - Nick

4/7/17

Yesterday we started driving to our new campsite in Philadelphia at about 9:00. While we were driving we missed a rollover crash by 30 seconds. If we wouldn’t have thrown our garbage in the dumpster on the way out we might have been in the crash. Mom had to get out and help the ambulance. Only one person was hurt and luckily it was just a really bad scrape on her head that wasn’t bad. It kind of freaked me out that we only missed it by 30 seconds. We kept driving and we stopped in a parking lot and made lunch. When we did get to our campground it was time for dinner. We had fish and then we started watching Iron Man 2.

4/8/17

Yesterday we went to the Philadelphia Mint. That is where they make all the US coins. In the time we were there they made 24 million coins. We actually got to see them make the coins. First they have a big sheet of metal to start and a machine punches out a circle the size of the coin it is making. The scraps are used again for more coins. Next they were heated in a machine and then another machine washes them. Then the picture gets stamped on with the force of 3 high speed trains hitting it at the same time. After the mint we went to the Chemical Heritage Foundation. We watched a video about scientists testing the reactions of some metals with water and air. Some of them started on fire and some of them went crazy in the water and would smoke and bounce all around the water glass. Then we had lunch at Sonny’s. They are famous for Philly cheesesteaks. I tried some of Mom’s Philly cheesesteak and it was good. For my meal I got a pizza cheesesteak. It was good. Next we went to Independence Hall and saw the Liberty Bell. It was not as big as I expected but it was still cool. Then we went home, did laundry, had dinner, and finished watching Iron Man 2.

4/9/17

Yesterday we went to Valley Forge. That is where George Washington kept his troops during the winter of 1777-78. This was in the Revolutionary War. The army had to build log cabins working in teams. They had straw for beds. The weather was so harsh that the army went from 12,000 men to 6,000 men. When spring came the army went from 6,000 to over 12,000 men. There were some reconstructed cabins where some people were dressed up as soldiers. We saw the hospital. There was a saw and the person there said it was for amputating arms and legs. There was also a guy who was talking about how their guns worked. He said that their muskets misfired 2 out of 3 times. Then we came home. I went biking with Andi, and we had dinner.

4/10/17

steel frames to represent where
Ben Franklin's house was located

Yesterday we went to the Visitors Center to get tickets for an Independence Hall tour. We were planning on getting a tour for 10:30 but we ended up getting a 1:15 tour. In our spare time we went and saw where Benjamin Franklin’s house was. The actual house wasn’t there but they know where it was so there are steel frames marking the outside of it. It was four stories high. It was pretty big. Then we went back to Independence Hall. The tour of Independence Hall was great. The person giving the speech was very enthusiastic. First we saw the court room. The person getting accused of doing a crime had to stand in a black cage. Then we went to the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed. The lady said that a guy bought a painting that he didn’t like, but he liked the frame. It was four dollars. When he got home he cut out the ugly painting and from behind it fell a copy of the Declaration worth $2 million. Then we came home and I played with Andi. Then I played football with my dad for a little while. Finally we made a fire and had s’mores.

4/11/17

Yesterday we slept in late. We had eggs, hash browns, and toast for breakfast at 10:00. We skipped lunch and just had some snacks instead. Then we went geocaching at a local park. We found five caches. Andi found 1, Dad found 1, Mom found 1, and I found 2. The first cache I found was pretty hard. It was in a tree that had a little hole in the tree, and it was two Gatorade caps screwed together. The next one Andi found was in the middle of a couple of trees growing together. The next one Dad found. It was in a hole in a tree just like mine was. The next one I found. It was really easy. It was just lying on the ground under a pine tree. The last one mom found. It was deep in the woods. It was in an uprooted tree and you could only see it if you were right up next to it. It was 80 degrees out yesterday so we were sweating the whole time. We went home and Andi and I rode our bikes around for a little while. Andi met some girls and she played with them. I kept riding my bike. Then we had pasta for dinner. Finally we started watching Captain America. It was too long to finish in one night.

4/12/2017

Yesterday we got going pretty early in the morning. First we went to the Ben Franklin Museum. It was a small museum but it was pretty cool. My favorite exhibit was about Ben’s invention of the lightning rod. It was about ungrounded and grounded lighting rods. Grounded lighting rods are where you have a chain attached to the lightning rod and when the lightning strikes the lightning rod, the lightning travels down the chain and into the ground. The house or building is unharmed. With ungrounded, there is no chain. The lightning hits the rod and destroys the building or house. Then we ate lunch at a park. There was a geocache nearby so we decided to find it. Mom got it. Then we walked the Ben Franklin Bridge. It goes over a huge river. It was 1.5 miles and 3 miles all the way. Then we went to the Federal Reserve Bank which is like the Bank for the Banks. We also saw a cart with a ton of 5 dollar bills in it. It had about 1.7 million dollars in all. Then we went and got ice cream at a place that makes the ice cream with liquid nitrogen. I went to a similar place in Texas with my second cousins Cooper, Jaxson, and Maddie. It was super cool. When they make the ice cream, the liquid nitrogen starts to steam. You can breathe the steam in through your nose and it tastes like whatever kind of ice cream they’re making. I got cookies and cream. It was really good. Then we came home. I met a guy named Logan and I played with him for a little while. Finally we had dinner and finished watching Captain America.

4/13/2017

Yesterday we went running in the morning which we haven’t done in a while. Then I had pancakes for breakfast. They are one of my favorite breakfasts. Then Andi and I played Yard Farkle. It is just a giant version of Farkle. You roll the dice out of a five gallon bucket and the dice are wood and the size of a small coffee pot. Some of our friends we met the day earlier came over by us and we played yard farkle with them. Then I rode my bike around with Logan for a while. Then I came back and did some math. Then we had leftovers for dinner. We also had some other stuff to use up so we also had some French toast.

Philadelphia - Andi

April 7, 2017

Yesterday we had a lazy day until like 9:00. Then we drove to Philadelphia. We missed a car crash by 30 seconds. The car crash was so bad that mom had to help. Then we kept driving. Once we got there mom and I worked on my alligator project. Then we watched a little bit of Iron Man.

the Liberty Bell

April 8, 2017

Yesterday we saw the United States Mint. That’s where people make coins. They had sheets that they would feed into a machine that would cut them into blanks. Blanks are the coins with no front engraving or back engraving. Then we saw the place where they did the engraving. Then we went to the Chemistry Heritage Foundation. Then we had a Philly cheese steak. Then we went to the Visitor Center. After that we went to see the Liberty Bell. Then we went home, had dinner and watched Iron Man with popcorn.

April 9, 2017

Yesterday we went to Valley Forge. That's where George Washington stayed with his troops. We saw a couple of the places where the troops stayed. Then we saw the headquarters that George Washington stayed at. Martha Washington also stayed there when she visited George Washington. Then we saw the outhouse and a couple more cabins where the troops stayed. After that, we went shopping. Then we went home and had dinner and ice cream a couple hours later.

April 10, 2017

Yesterday we went to Independence Hall Visitor Center. We saw the place where Ben Franklin's house stood and had a summary of what it looked like. Then a little while later we got our tour of Independence Hall. It was a great tour and this is what I learned. We went in and learned that the painters scraped through 50 layers of paint to get to the original color it was. We also learned that the person who was being convicted of a crime would stand in an iron box and tell the people there what he did. Then we went to the place where the Declaration of Independence was signed. We also learned that somebody found a copy of the Declaration of Independence in a picture frame. Then we went home and had dinner with s’mores and then we read Harry Potter.

Independence Hall

April 11, 2017

Yesterday we had a down day. We went to a park and did some geo cashing. Nick found the first one. It was two bottle caps put together with a spider glued on the top. I found the next one. It was just a container with stuff in it. But I was overjoyed because I found it. Then we did another one and mommy found it. It was a container with stuff in it. The next one daddy found. It was brown and camouflage. We tried to find another one but that was too swampy. We did another one but never found it because I had to go potty. Then we went home and played with the kids next door. Then we had dinner and watched Captain America. We only got half way through it.

Harper's Ferry and Gettysburg - Nick

John Brown painting at Harper's Ferry

4/1/17

Yesterday we packed up our camper and started to drive to Pennsylvania. We drove for about an hour and we did math. Then we stopped on the way at Harper’s Ferry. It is an old village from the Civil War times. The main thing that happened there was a guy named John Brown made an attempt to stop slavery but his attack was stopped and he was found guilty of murder in trial. He was later hung. After that we went back to the car and drove for another half hour to our next campsite. After we got the trailer set up Andi and I went and played on the playground for a little while. When we came back to the camper we had dinner. Next we watched a movie called Miracle. We had ice cream while we watched the movie. We didn’t finish the movie.

4/2/17

Yesterday we had an uneventful morning. We slept in late and had cereal for breakfast. Then we went to Gettysburg. Gettysburg is where a major battle happened in the Civil War. Many people thought it was a big turning point in the war. Then we watched a video about the battle of Gettysburg. The battle lasted 3 days. Then we saw a cyclorama. A cyclorama is a painting that goes 360 degrees. The cyclorama was saw was showing the 3^rd day of the battle of Gettysburg. It was painted by a man named Paul Philippoteaux. Then we went and saw the museum for a couple minutes. We didn’t stay at the museum for very long because it was lunch time. They didn’t allow outside food or drink in the café so we ate our lunch in the car. Then we went in an audio tour in our car. My favorite stop was a lookout tower where you could see the whole battlefield. Then we went shopping. We got groceries and I got a football. Then we went home and had dinner.

Part of the cyclorama

4/3/17

Yesterday we had cereal for breakfast. Then we went back to Gettysburg. Andi and I did our junior ranger thing. We got the highest score so we got a patch. Some of the questions were in the video we watched. The video was about all three days of the Battle of Gettysburg. My favorite was the 3^rd day when the Union army took the shape of a large fishhook on the high ground. The Confederates had way more men but the Union army had better ground. The Union army won the battle. We also saw the cyclorama again. Then we went back to the museum. Andi and I had some questions to answer in our junior ranger book. We had to answer some questions about the formations of the armies and stuff like that. We also had to answer some questions about different commanders. Then we turned in our junior ranger books and got a patch. We also had to take an oath. Then we came home. I played catch with a football with my dad. We had hamburgers for dinner. Then we read a book for a little while and went to bed.

Today we had cereal for breakfast. Then we did some math. Next we went to Gettysburg again. The first thing we did was go to Dwight Eisenhower’s old house. He was the thirty-fourth president. His house was on a 198 acre farm. He had 500 chickens! The first room we went to in his house was the dining room. There was a fireplace, a really nice coffee table, an antique rug, some pianos, and couches. My favorite thing in the living room was a circular couch that went 360 degrees. It was a model of a piece of furniture in the White House. We also saw the sun room where Mr. and Mrs. Eisenhower would eat dinner. There were 8 bedrooms in the house. We also got a junior ranger badge at the house. Then we went back to the Gettysburg battlefield. We started to do the auto tour but Andi and I both did not feel good so we went home. We had pizza for dinner and then had a camp fire. Andi and I each had two smores and I made one for my mom.

One of the Wisconsin Monuments
at Gettysburg

4/5/17

Yesterday we went back to Gettysburg again. First we finished the driving tour. We saw lots of monuments. We hiked up Big Round Top. That is a hill where the Union forces set up a defensive line. It was a long hike. There were lots of monuments on the way. Some of the monuments were Wisconsin monuments. Then we went to Little Round Top. That hill is where a general from the Union called Sickles was supposed to be guarding but he moved his troops to Devil’s Den because he thought it would be easier to defend. The Union got troops back to Little Round Top just in time. Next we went to Devil’s Den. That is where General Sickles moved his troops to. It was really just a big rock pile. Then we saw the Pennsylvania monument. It had the names of all the Pennsylvania soldiers. Andi noticed that it looked like R2-D2. We looked it up on google and she was the first one to realize that. This had nothing to do with anything else, but my favorite Union general was General Meade because he looked like a snapping turtle. Next we went home and had a campfire.

4/6/17

Yesterday we went back to Gettysburg for the 5^th time. The first thing we saw was the David Wills house. That is where Lincoln stayed before he gave his speech, the Gettysburg Address. It started like this: “Four score and seven years ago…” and ended like this “and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” It was a 2 minute speech and it was ten sentences long. We actually got to see the room and all the original furniture Lincoln slept in. then we went and saw the film and the cyclorama for the third time. Then we went back home. I played football with my Dad. Then we had fish sticks for dinner. Then we got our brand new telescope out. It took us about an hour to set up. When we finally got it set up it was kind of cloudy but we could see the moon. It was so cool. You could see all the mountains and craters. We tried to keep looking at it for a while but it got too cloudy. Then Dad and I got his night vision goggles out that they use in the Marines. They were really cool. You could see infrared light reflecting of the rear lights of the car that you couldn’t see with just your eye. Then I came in and read my book till I went to bed.

Harper's Ferry and Gettysburg - Andi

Trying on clothes at
Harper's Ferry

April 1 2017

Yesterday we went to Harpers Ferry. Harpers Ferry was a little town. There were a lot of museums. We went to the ranger station and tried stuff on from the olden days. Then we went to our new campsite in Pennsylvania. We had dinner and ice cream with a movie. We didn’t finish the movie.

April 2 2017

Yesterday we went to Gettysburg. We saw a video about Abraham Lincoln called “A Birth of Freedom”. Then we saw a cyclorama of the people who fought there. A cyclorama is a painting that is a circle around the room. Then we went a little ways in the museum. After that we went on our auto tour. We found a lot of Wisconsin memorials. We saw a lot of other state memorials like Minnesota or Texas or Michigan. We got the junior ranger books that we worked on. Then we went shopping. After that we went home and had dinner. We also finished our movie.

Re-enactment at Gettysburg

April 3, 2017

Yesterday we went to Gettysburg. We went to Pitzer Woods and watched a program about “How the people in the war held their guns.” Then we went over to the welcome center. We saw “The New Birth of Freedom” again. We also saw the cyclorama again. Then we had lunch. After that we went to the museum. We finished our junior ranger program and then we turned it in and got our patches. Then we went home and had dinner. Then we played Life of George. Then we read Harry Potter.

April 4, 2017

Pennsylvania monument that looks like R2-D2

Yesterday I went to Gettysburg. We saw the Eisenhower house. Then we started our auto tour but I wasn’t feeling good. We saw a little more of the museum and then we went home and I finished math while Nick and Dad got the campfire started.

April 5, 2017

Yesterday we went to Gettysburg again. We did more of the auto tour. We went up a big lookout tour. Then we went to see Little Round Top and Big Round Top. Then we went to Devil’s Den. Devil’s Den is where a General called Sickles moved out of the fishhook that the Union formed and then reformed it just in time that the Confederates attacked. Then we saw the R2-D2 monument. It was actually a Pennsylvania monument. We went to the top of R2-D2. Then we went to Culp’s Hill. After that we went to the cemetery. Then we went home and had dinner and a campfire.

April 6, 2017

Yesterday we went to the Wills House. That’s where Abraham Lincoln wrote and delivered the Gettysburg Address. That’s his “Four score and seven years ago”. We saw the bedroom he slept in. then we went to Gettysburg visitor center and saw the “New Birth of Freedom” again and the cyclorama. Then we went home and had dinner and used the telescope that our Nana got us. Then Mom and I played Life of George. Then we read Harry Potter.