June 29: Kirtland, OH

I didn't take a lot of pictures this day for some reason.

Monday morning we were up and on the road bright and early.  After a quick stop to fill up the cars, we were headed north to Kirtland, OH.

Kirtland is an important city in our church history.  Jay and I had been there several times before, but this was the first trip for the kids.

It was another chilly, misty, gloomy day on our drive up.  After a quick stop for lunch, we started at the church history sites just outside Kirtland.

We were greeted at the visitor center by a senior couple who were from... Katy, TX! They were from another ward in a different part of the stake, but were thrilled to see us.  They handed us off to our tour guides for the day, who were two sweet sister missionaries.

We started off by watching a movie about the events that happened in Kirtland and the surrounding areas.  Then we stepped out to tour the different buildings.

First was the Whitney Store, where Joseph Smith and his family lived for awhile.

The whole gang in front of the Whitney Store.

We visited the other buildings on the property, then headed up the road to the Kirtland Temple.  We had very enthusiastic tour guides and a lengthy visit there.

Ben actually fell asleep on my lap during that tour; he was done with all this history.

We decided to drive out to the John Johnson farm, which was another home for Joseph Smith and his family.  By the time we got there, the kids were really getting antsy and tired, but we continued our tour.

Originally we had planned to drive into Amish country for dinner, but it was getting later and later.  We had a hotel reservation in Amish Country, but stopped at Bob Evans on the way.  As we left the restaurant, Ben announced that his stomach really hurt.  We gave him a bag and he fell asleep again on the way to the hotel.

We got in late, and as soon as we made it to the room, Ben crawled up on the bed and fell asleep.  Apparently he had caught Abigail's bug.  We had a great day, but another late night!

June 28: Sweet Sunday

Everyone was tired Sunday morning, but we managed to get the kids up and dressed for church.

It was great to walk into our old ward in Lancaster and see so many familiar faces.  We had a great morning catching up with friends.  The kids were a little nervous about going to Primary with people they didn't remember, but quickly found friends and were pretty happy by the time church was over.

After church and lunch, it was definitely time for a nap.  Jay and I definitely fell asleep; the kids played quietly for awhile before deciding it was time for us to get up and moving.

It was a beautiful day, so we spent the early evening at Rising Park.  The park hasn't changed much in four years, and it was great for the kids to have some running around time.

Jonathan peeking through
the playground equipment.

Jonathan and Emily climbing a big rock.

King and Queen of the hill!

It's Abby!  On a horse!

Merry-go-round

After playing for awhile, we took a walk up the "mountain" to look over the city.

View from the top of Mount Pleasant.

Cute kids at the top of the mountain.

After a good walk, everyone was ready for pizza at Grandma's house.  A few more things checked off our Lancaster list!

June 27: Flint Ridge, Ohio

 Our morning started with Abigail coming in looking for a drink, then getting sick.  More excitement than we needed first thing on a Saturday!  She went back to bed looking pale and miserable.  The rest of us got up and started getting organized for our outing for the day.

Poor Abby.

Jay's Uncle Gary and his wife Peggy live just outside of Flint Ridge State Park, about an hour from Lancaster.  They have a lovely property with trails through the woods.  When we lived in Ohio, we loved going to visit them for family parties.

By the time we were ready to go, Abby was feeling enough better to ride the hour to Gary and Peggy's house.  She snoozed on the way while the rest of us enjoyed the view of the cornfields waving in the wind.

Another thing we don't see in Texas!

The cousins out by the lake.

We had a TON of food for lunch and enjoyed catching up with Gary and Peggy.  The kids were also thrilled to spend the day with their cousins.  Abigail didn't eat much lunch and ended up falling asleep on the couch.

Ben waving to me from the loft.

The weather really through us for a loop at this point.  After being miserably hot the entire time we were in Philadelphia, a cold front blew into Ohio as we got there.  The kids were wearing shorts and t-shirts for this outing, and we had to scramble to find sweaters because it was COLD.  (We've become wimpy Texans, too, which doesn't help!)

After lunch, the kids were in and out playing and enjoying the gorgeous woods. Ben bonded with Morgan and Morgan's girlfriend, Rachel.  Ben announced, "Now I have two Rachels.  One in Philadelphia, and one in Ohio!" 

Morgan and Benjamin playing together.

Sorry, Morgan--it looks like
you have some competition!

Benjamin stole Morgan's hat.

All the kids loved being on the four-wheelers, even Benjamin (who of course had to ride with his favorite Morgan and Rachel)!

Emily and Landon, Rachel and Morgan

All my boys in the back, Landon and Emily in front.

Not quite big enough to drive!

Meanwhile, Abigail woke up and felt well enough to play with the dog for a little while.  The dog wasn't necessarily sure about her at first, but eventually they got along.

Abigail and her new friend.

At the end of the day, we attempted to get some good cousin pictures. Trying to get 6 kids to all look at the same camera at once proved to be a bit of a challenge.

Emily, Landon, Morgan, Benjamin, Abigail, and Jonathan.

The cousins plus Grandma and Grandpa.

It was a late evening heading back, and everyone was tired from fresh air and fun.  Abigail seemed to be mostly better, but was still happy to fall into bed.

June 26: Chilling with Grandma and Grandpa

We spent a quiet Friday at Jay's parents' house doing laundry, cleaning out the car, and generally relaxing.  For lunch, we checked one thing off our Lancaster bucket list: Rally's hamburgers and fries.  Jay's nephew Landon was able to come over and play for awhile, which thrilled all the kids.  He and Jonathan especially hit it off.

Not much excitement for this day, but it was great to just relax and enjoy family!

Benjamin just relaxing.

Abigail, Jonathan, and Emily playing with Landon

June 25: King of Prussia, PA-Lancaster, OH

It was time to check out from our home away from home and move on to the next stop.  After waking up (some of us needed some convincing) and eating our last hotel breakfast (that everyone was tired of eating) we hit the road.

Benjamin had trouble sleeping ON
the mat.

The hotel lobby where we ate breakfast every morning we
were in Philadelphia.  

After our big adventures, everyone was actually ready to drive for another day.  We took what we thought would be a slight detour to go to Hershey, PA.  It ended up being farther off the turnpike and involved lots more country roads than expected, but we finally found it.

One of the best things in Hershey is the street signs.  I would
move here just to live on Cocoa Ave.

Hershey's Chocolate World!

So many chocolate obsessed
tourists!  We were kind of
shocked at how busy it was.

We decided that we didn't want to spend all day (and a ton of money) on various "chocolate experiences", so opted for the free ride that talks about how Hershey's products are made.  

In the tour car.

Our tour was narrated by singing cows.  The kids were singing
"Hershey's Milk Chocolate" for hours afterwards.

The tour ended with a free chocolate, so everyone was happy as we headed out.  We didn't buy anything in the (super expensive) gift store, even though we were tempted by all the goodies.  

We hadn't stopped for lunch before our tour, and after smelling chocolate for an hour, we were all starving.  We found a little park to have lunch before continuing on down the road.

The drive through Western Pennsylvania was gorgeous.  We really enjoyed the mountains and trees, since we're short of both in Texas.  Especially exciting were the few mountains that we drove THROUGH rather than up and over.

Really cool set of bridges.

Going through the mountain.

Mountains!  Trees!

Going through another mountain.

One really long tunnel.

The weather slowed us down quite a bit; we kept driving in and out of rain. Sometimes it was so heavy that we couldn't see the car in front of us.  But we finally made it to West Virginia, where we stopped for dinner before making the final trek into Lancaster.  

Finally to Ohio!

It was after 9 when our exhausted crew pulled in to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  The kids got a second wind when they saw their grandparents, but all of us were happy to finally fall into bed.