Day 20--Gettysburg, PA and Philadelphia, PA

It was a early and sad departure from the Farmer's house this morning.  The kids fell right back to sleep in the car as the Town and Country rolled through the Virginia countryside.  By the time they woke up they were able to experience being in 4 states in the span of about an hour.  We passed through Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania and the kids thought that was pretty cool.

This part of the country was beautiful.  Rolling green hills filled with small towns, farms, barns and covered bridges like this one.

The destination this morning was Gettysburg National Battlefield to see the site of the pivotal battle of the Civil War.  They've done an incredible job of preserving the field so that it feels a lot like it must've felt 150 years ago.  (As long as you don't look too far to your right and notice the golden arches of the Gettysburg McDonalds).  For you history buffs we stood on the ground of Pickett's charge and climbed to the top of Little Round Top.

For those of you who aren't history buffs, I'm not going to explain the significance of those battles just to tempt you to run out and pick up a history book and get excited about U.S. History!  

After Gettysburg, we piled back in the mini-van to drive into the suburbs of Philadelphia to visit my cousin, Geremy, his wife Daphne, and their 4 boys.  

We couldn't have had a better evening with Connors!  The kids loved playing together in the backyard.  Cade and Bryce learned a new sport, lacrosse, and tried to get the hang of it.

Meanwhile, we couldn't peel Brady off of the Connor's dirtbike. 

We had some great BBQ and then washed it down with smores that we cooked over an open flame in the backyard firepit.  I think Macy and Bryce liked them....

The night came to an end with a fireworks show (ok, it was a package of fireworks from Target, but it was still a lot of fun!).  Here we are with Geremy and Daphne before we got crazy with the pyrotechnics!

History Question of the Day that Dad Wasn't Quite Sure Whether to Laugh or Wonder if My Kids Just Don't Get It....(Courtesy of Brady while walking through the Civil War Museum during a very somber explanation of the number of the casualties that day)  "Hey dad, did they have smoothie-makers back then?"