Flume Gorge

"For this is what the Lord says -

he who created the heavens,

he is God;

he who fashioned and made the earth,

he founded it;

he did not create it to be empty,

but formed it to be inhabited -

he says:

"I am the Lord,

and there is no other."

Isaiah 45: 18

As we visited Flume Gorge in Franconia Notch State Park today, I could not help but be amazed by God's beautiful creation. I was reminded of his glory and thankful for both his love and mercy. As Blake said, "God made dat." to his daddy I smiled and thanked God for these blessings. How beautiful heaven must be.

Thank you Father.

Picking a Good Campground

Well, we learned a valuable lesson this week. You can not trust a website to provide an accurate visual picture of it's facilities. When looking for a place in Massachusetts we found one who had a nice website with beautiful pictures and glowing descriptions. So, we made reservations for two weeks. Tired from several weeks of busy sight seeing we were looking forward to relaxing and taking it easy. However when we arrived we discovered that there were a lot of aspects of the campground that had conveniently been left off of the attractive website. See photo for exhibit A. Most if not all of the sites there were full time residents who did NOT maintain their campers or sites. Web designers who make places like this look so appealing should really be called magicians in my opinion. Needless to say we did not stay the planned two weeks. We found a campground in New Hampshire that a friend recommended so we knew it would be clean and safe.

After our experience in Massachusetts we will be much more diligent in checking out campgrounds before we book them. For any of you out there who also like to camp here are two websites that are helpful: www.rvparkreviews.com & www.thatscamping.com We have always looked for reviews online but for some reason we let it slide this time. I guess we were in a hurry or something. Trust me we will not make this mistake again.

New York City

So wonderful to see our family again! After being apart for over a month everyone was really missing each other. The kids were especially excited about seeing their cousins. For 4 days we drove about an hour one way from our campground to their hotel and then took the bus into the city together. We took a double decker bus tour that allowed us to see the majority of the city and get off when we wanted to see something more up close. We also took a cruise on the Hudson River where we got great pictures of the skyline and passed right by the Statue of Liberty.

Of course the kids would probably say that their favorite time was riding the ferris wheel in Toys R Us or playing the giant piano in FAO Schwartz. Blake was a little shy about playing on the piano, but finally got into it. Then of course he didn't want to stop. He went again with Carley in the next group. The adults just enjoyed being inside with AC since it was in the 90s again!

We couldn't tell you about our time in NYC without mentioning our visit to ground zero. What a humbling and sobering place. Even though we all watched the coverage on television and saw pictures in the newspaper it is still amazing to see the place in person. They are currently building a memorial there, so there is lots of construction on the actual site. We went across the street to St. Paul's church. This is where many of the rescue and recovery workers went after working on the pile for hours and hours. They would be fed here and could sleep on cots. Now there is a little museum there around the edges of the sanctuary. They have included pictures of victims, notes and memorabilia sent from people all over the country. It was really a neat place to visit, but that seams like the wrong way to say it. It made us remember how we felt and where we were the day the towers fell. May America never forget...

Crayola Factory

For some odd reason our family really enjoys factory tours. Of course it helps when they have really cool things for the kids to do as well. While in Flanders, NJ we were only a half hour from the Crayola Factory in Easton, Pennsylvania so of course we HAD to go. Since John & Jennifer went with their girls at our last stop our kids had heard all about it from Morgan & Maggie. They were so excited! It was a nice drive and a wonderful day. Different craft projects were in each room and the kids were able to take everything home with them. They also received a small pack of model magic, crayons and a marker.

As a bonus there was a Canal Museum on the 3rd and 4th floors. We didn't think the kids would enjoy that, but we were wrong! Each child is given their own boat and they float them around raising and lowering the locks to make the boats float through a small canal. The boys could have stayed there forever! I think they went through the process three times before we said, "okay enough". In another room they had a working train with a small city. Blake thought that was fabulous!

We are anxiously waiting for Jay's family to arrive. They are flying to NY and we are going to meet them in NYC for a few days. The kids are excited about seeing their grandparents and cousins who they have missed so much!

Sick Babies & Saying Goodbye

This week we were looking forward to seeing all the historic sites in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We planned to see Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell etc... but that was not to be. Instead we were catching puke, cleaning up diarrhea, going to the doctor and taking antibiotics! Carley ended up having Strep Throat (again). She was running 100 to 103 degree fever, so we took her to a walk in clinic near the campground. Blake's sickness was a little more interesting however. He was playing at Uncle John's camper one night when he found Morgan's gel deodorant. It had a fruity smell, so before anyone knew it he went through the entire tube. We aren't sure how much he got into his system but evidently it must have been quite a bit. He didn't start having problems right away, but around 11 p.m. I heard a strange sound. I didn't figure out what it was until a few minutes later I detected a horrific smell as well. When I followed my nose I found Blake laying in a pool of poop. For the next 36 hours he had diarrhea and throwing up off and on. He slept a lot. We are just thankful that the Lord answered our prayers. He is now 100% back to normal. He is eating, playing, laughing and throwing fits just like his old self! :)

Once the kids were feeling better they were able to play outside and met some amazing new friends. They spent countless hours riding bikes and looking at the duck and turkey families that kept walking through our campsite. It was actually nice to slow down and relax a little after going non stop for so many weeks. Jay was able to work and we were able to plan the next leg of our trip. This morning as we left we said farewell to John, Jennifer and the girls. We are so thankful that we were able to have this time with them. Everyone got along well and we were able to see many unforgetable things.

Washington D.C.

Even with temperatures of 103 degrees we had a wonderful week in our nation's capital! All the things we have seen in books and on television we were finally able to see with our own eyes. It is hard to put into words how you feel when looking at the Lincoln Memorial or seeing where Martin Luther King gave his "I have a dream speech". But by far I think three of our favorite things were visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Solider, Mount Vernon and Ford's Theatre where President Lincoln was shot. We feel extremely blessed to be making memories with our family.

Colonial Williamsburg - 4th of July

While visiting the Historical Triangle we were continuously amazed how history came alive before our eyes. We were immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of history. It was wonderful to visit Historic Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, the Powhatan village and Yorktown Battlefields. All of us especially enjoyed spending the fourth of July at Colonial Williamsburg. We listened to a patriotic concert of fifes and drums and then watched the most awesome fireworks show we have seen anywhere! I don't know when I have ever felt more patriotic. Hope all of our friends and family had a wonderful holiday as well. We miss you!