Virginia Continued. . .

To continue: In Pennsylvania we stayed in the Steamboat Inn and then went to Strasburg to the Railroad Museum.

Warning: There are A LOT of pictures in this post. I figured I would let the photos do the talking for the most part.

Here is the Steamboat Inn that we stayed at Tuesday night when we arrived. We finally made it to Lancaster PA after an interesting drive through the seamier side of Baltimore trying to find a Rainforest Cafe that closed a month or two before. These are the times when having a GPS does NOT come in handy.

In one of the rooms we had there were bunk beds and the kids loved climbing all over them. Ayden was ready to sleep with Tate and Mikie.

My kids happily climbed up and down from the top bunk but Mikie and Zach didn't like it as much.

The next morning we headed out to Strasburg to The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. A train lovers heaven!!

Super Boagie in action.

Because it was Mikie's birthday they let us climb up into this train. Normally you are not allowed to get on the trains here.

The whole train.
This is why Tracy's mom is called Super Boagie. She can tackle all the children and has boundless energy. The entire week we were there she slept less than me (and that means VERY little) and I swear didn't sit down!



Ok, this one was actually the last night we were there but it's just a fine illustration of why I named her Super Boagie, plus it's a great shot. I should have gotten a picture of the shirt Tracy and I had made for her, it's perfect for her.We got a picture of us next to a doodlebug train car, (although we didn't realize it at the time that that is what it is called) because Tate goes to Doodlebugs Academy preschool.
They had a place to look under the train.
Cute and happy boys.

We found a train with a horse on it!
They even had a cat walk to look out over all the trains. I really wish I had gotten a shot looking out so you could see how many trains they had in this large warehouse.
Then they have an intereactive area so the kids can play with all sorts of trains.

Lego city.

Model trains.

Thomas and friends.
Even GeoTrax.



Here is a picture of Tate with the Doodlebug train sign.

Here we all are eating after the Railroad Museum. Do we have enough people or what?
Loving the corn on the cob!
After we got in the car to head home, everyone was asleep almost instantly.

So when we got back to Fredericksburg we headed over to Chuck E. Cheese to have a little dinner, but mostly to let the kids play after being in the car for many hours.

Skeeball was a favorite, especially for Mikie.
Tracy, I just couldn't help it. I HAD to post this. At least I refrained from posting both of the pictures of this.




This is Tate after he won a bunch of tickets by getting a home run on the Line Drive game.
Ayden just wanted to play this game. I kept asking her if she wanted to play something different, but she always said no. She loved winning tickets.
She pulled them out, folded them up and. . .
stuffed them ALL into her pocket. I bet she ended up with more than 100 tickets in her pocket. Needless to say, it was full!
Here is Tate driving Miss Tracy.

I got Tate to push Ayden up each level of the climbing structure. That is definitely the way to go, that way I didn't have to get up there! Tate is such a good big brother!

Tate found a horse ride and wanted to ride C.C.


So in the intervening days leading up to Mikie's party we made cakes, cupcakes, lots of food, little flags, decorated, moved a LOT of rocks many times, and stayed up WAY too late. (But of course it was all fun too!) Since Tracy already posted the general pics of his birthday here are few of the kids having fun:
The bubble machine was a big hit.
Tate loved the crafts and after he was done wanted to do more.
We got to see Carrie, Gunner and Hudson. (We got to see Lenny too, but I didn't get a picture of him. Sorry Lenny!) Carrie looked gorgeous as always. Thanks for coming up to the party so I could see you (I know you did it all for me ;), I'm so glad I got to see you and the boys again.
How cute is this little guy?
Gunner practicing to be the next Tiger Woods.
Tate doing yet another craft.
All the kids really loved the practice green, especially Mikie because you could see the numbers as you added up your score.
My kids really enjoyed the food. What else is new!?!?!

All the kids really loved the 'sand trap' on hole 2.
Just like they all loved climbing in the 'waterfall'.
After a few hours of rest for Tate, Ayden, Zach and I we all headed out to the Verizon Center to see. . .

. . .what are we watching? . . .(you might have to click on this picture to make it bigger, but do you notice all of the ear plugs? It was something very loud!!). . .
. . .so exciting, I promise. Notice how the kids won't even look at the camera?. . .they are looking at . . .
Monster Trucks!!We managed to be in the second row, so we got excellent seats. (A little scary for me I might add!)

Here is a little taste of what was going on:



Because it is so hot inside the trucks there had to be several intermissions. Here is what went on for those (I cut out the wrestling-like play acting at the end. You're welcome).



And my son most liked the 'after' show which consisted of this:




The party and monster trucks were on Saturday and on Sunday Tracy had her bible study kids over to play more miniature golf. The rest of the time was spent cleaning up and visiting. Thanks for having us over Tracy!

Our plane trip home, while not as nice as when we arrived, was still a good flight. It could do with saying a few things on this:
1. United sucks. Alaska rules.
2. Dulles airport is not all that it's cracked up to be. Use Reagan if you have the chance.
3. People are not meant to fly.
4. Thank you to our Captain who kept trying to keep us out of all the turbulence. You made a valiant effort.
5. I never realized how truly stressed out I get by flying, until this trip.
6. I am so thankful I am on the ground again.