Gettsyburg, July 2nd, 2009

Sad, but true... Keagan's favorite part of Gettysburg...
the out house that had the talking "dummy" in it. He said things like, excuse me someones in here, this is only a 1 hole -er.. He opened and shut the door several times to show us all and laughed every time! BOYS! :) Melissa wasn't too thrilled with it, which made it funnier, I know I'm a mean mom, but I had to tease her and tell her, well maybe this will be the Christmas card pic...

Where a cannon went into the barn

Melissa and Colin overlooking the battlefield, Little Round top close to Devil's Den.

Climbing the rocks at Little round top

We took the tour bus - on the upper deck and listened to head phones about the battle, I realized how little I know, I think I need to do some homework on my American history!

The cemetery in Gettysburg, I think the total was around 30,000 that died in the battle at Gettysburg!

There were several different monuments there, this one is the only one dedicated to the north and the south.

Ray's mom- Grandma Jackie and the kids getting ready to ride the bus.

We had a great time learning and seeing Gettysburg, next time when we come we are going to drive it ourselves so we can get out and see everything we want. We had the perfect weather! It was in the mid 70s, like home in WA! Not even an hour after we left it down poured.. how lucky are we!

Harrisburg, PA Capitol

The Capitol of Pennsylvania, in Harrisburg.

The capitol is beautiful! But I think the kids had more fun flicking water at each other.

Ray, talking to the tour guide and comparing notes. This is the House chamber. It was very interesting, especially since Ray works in the capitol in Olympia.

It is very ornate! They told us that it was built in 1906, took 3 years to build, it was the 3rd capitol built and 3rd location, and cost $13 million to build. Now it is priceless. (not even a visa commercial..)

They have several stained glass windows.

The chandeliers weigh 2 tons!

The inside of their dome.

The grand stairway entering into the capitol.

PA state museum

Today we went to the PA state museum. It is in Harrisburg, right next to the capital. It was pretty interesting. The kids weren't that excited by it, though. It was more for little kids. They thought the best part was the petrified poop.. sorry I didn't get a picture of that. :) It had 3 or different floors with all kinds of things about PA's history. I could of spent a lot more time looking and reading over things (sure sign of getting old..)
One of the more favorite parts is where they could try on period clothing. Here we made Melissa try on a hoop skirt and dress. The look on her face was priceless! She was pretty funny, how do you sit in these things and walk..! Love it with the flip flops!
Keagan in the wool coat, he said this is pretty itchy! I was trying to a picture of them together.
Colin is just soo happy to have the wool coat off! Melissa isn't too happy with him. LOL!

Keagan doesn't look to thrilled, either, which of course being the bad parent I am makes me laugh.

Colin

Mackenzie (Ray's youngest brother - Danny's daughter, she is a couple of months older than Keagan)

liked putting on the hoop skirt

Mackenzie

Ray is almost as tall.. and skinny as Abraham Lincoln.

Here they all are telling me to hurry up!

This is some of the displays they had.

There was a huge mural!

Cousin Colin

We arrived in Pa @ 1:30 a.m. (eastern time). We left our house @ 7:30 a.m. our time - which is 4:30 eastern time on Monday. We are still trying to figure out what time it is.. but Tuesday had a great time seeing most of the family. Of course I forgot to get my camera out when there were 15+ people here.. but Colin has been here most of the time and we have really enjoyed being around him!

Colin is the youngest son of Ray's sister/brother-in-law Theresa/Jace. He is 5 weeks younger than Melissa.

See, it is a Shoop gene, tall & skinny, check out that curly hair!!!

Smile, Colin!

I like this one!

strawberry jam

Before we went on vacation, we bought 2 flats of strawberries and made jam. I made 5 batches, 20 pints and a couple of half pints. Yum! Last year I made 6 batches with 2 flats... I think we ate more berries this year. Spooners strawberries are the best! Last year I made just enough to last until now, we have 1 half pint left.

Lightning Bugs

One of my favorite things about being back east is seeing the lightning bugs. Keagan doesn't really remember them from last time we were here (4 years ago) He was fascinated by them, just like me! I couldn't capture the little lights on the camera.

Keagan learning to skateboard?!

This is outside Aunt Darlene's house in Camp Hill, PA. Keagan's cousin Colin is trying to teach him to skateboard.