6 Lopsters: August 2018

Sunday, August 19, 2018

East Coast Trip Day 1 - Valley Forge

We are here in Pennsylvania and SOOOO Super Excited!
We arrived on Wednesday, June 20th in the evening.
On Thursday, June 21st we went to Valley Forge.
It was such a special place and definitely had a feeling of sacredness
When we arrived we had a picnic lunch at these benches and Grace was able to find this HUGE leaf!

Valley Forge functioned as the third of eight military encampments for the Continental Army's main body, commanded by General George Washington. In September 1777, British forces had captured the American capital of Philadelphia. After failing to retake the city, Washington led his 12,000-person army into winter quarters at Valley Forge, located approximately 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Philadelphia.They remained there for six months, from December 19, 1777 to June 19, 1778. At Valley Forge, the Continentals struggled to manage a disastrous supply crisis while retraining and reorganizing their units. About 1,700 to 2,000 soldiers died due to disease, possibly exacerbated by malnutrition.

We loved visiting the museum.

There are tons of hiking and biking trails to do but it was a little hot for that.

We were able to do a driving tour around the Valley Forge National Historical Park.

You could drive and then get out and tour different stops.

The kids really enjoyed the replica cabins where the soldiers slept in.

Inside General George Washington's quarters.

They had a formerly active train station on the property. It was very cool!

Replica Artillery

On our way home we searched for something called "The Witness Tree"

We found it!

It is believed to so old that it was around during the Revolutionary War.

It took us a while to find it but boy was it worth it.

It was beautiful!

You can read more about it here

That night back at Melanie and Brandon's house we saw the most beautiful sunset!

We are loving Pennsylvania and spending time with our family!

Dance, Swim and Cub Scoup Day Camp

We got summer off to a good start.
After we got back from Pismo our life became consumed with Dance and Swim.
Grace danced in her recital on Monday, June 11th.
We always love this show and love to watch her shine :)

Grandma Lops came up to watch her perform.

The next night Grace and CJ had a swim meet.
We have loved doing swim this year.
I had always shied away from it because I thought the time commitment was too much.
However, the kids have loved it this year..

The week of June 11th was cub scout day camp.
CJ loves this week.

jlkj

Monday, August 13, 2018

Pennsylvania HERE WE COME!

AHHHH!

We are so excited...

Heading to Pennsylvania to see my brother's family!

We're here...heading over the Delaware River!

Summer is HERE!!

The Last Day of School...
It has finally arrived!
I couldn't be happier to have my kids home with me and to be a little "less busy".

Our blackberries from our garden!

The first official day of summer we rode our bikes to the donut shop!

Then, later that week, Wednesday, June 6th my good friend Tiana took us to Pismo Beach.

We stayed in the Lighthouse Inn and Suites with Tiana and Zoe and Aubrey and her kids and we had the best time.

Other than insane winds the kids had a blast!

It was the perfect was to kick-off our summer vacation!

We finally gave up on the beach and went back to our hotel to let the kids swim.

The proceeded to have an epic bellyflop contest.

The Hotel was awesome!

We went to a DELICIOUS Pizza place for dinner named "Giuseppe’s Express" - it was AMAZING!

SO MUCH CHEESE!

Allie brought her friend Sophie with her...

On Thursday, June 7th we woke up and went on a hike.

We found this cave that was really cool...albeit a little nerve racking when the kids got a little too close to the edge.

We found this fun beach (which turned out to be a nude beach) thankfully there were no other people around - so the children (and us) were not traumatized!