Thursday was for PLAYing

We woke up Thursday morning at 10am.  The entire family, in one hotel room, slept until 10am!  We must have been tired.  When we finally rolled out of our beds, we settled on powdered sugar donuts and hot chocolate made using the hotel room coffee maker!  Did you know you could do that?  We didn't either.  Once everyone was full, we let the kids go for one last swim, and I did my second of two vacation, hotel-treadmill-runs.  That was the goal, and it was accomplished.  We let Darin stay back in the room and figure out what the plan for Thursday should be.

When we got back, he had everything packed up so we checked-out.  We vaguely thought we were going to head north already towards Niagara Falls, since that was the last place on our vacation to-do list.  But when we unexpectedly decided to drive around the block of our downtown Rochester, NY hotel (so we could say we "saw" Rochester), we happened upon the National Museum of Play.  Darin and I looked at each other, did a quick google search to see what it was all about, and when we saw that it was featuring an exhibit called "The history of video games", we were sure that the NMoP would have something for everyone.  And just like that, our plan for the day changed.  Oh how I love vacation!

In beautiful Downtown Rochester, NY 

The kids were thrilled with our last minute change of plans.

The highlight ended up being this wacky room that is designed on a tilt, and has so many patterns on the walls and the floors that instantly your equilibrium is out-of-whack, and you go crashing into the walls.  The kids couldn't get enough of it.

Sometimes playing is super serious business.  See below. 

Do you recognize where Ruby is standing?

She's on Sesame Street!

And we all got a kick out of sitting in front of the green screen and making it appear as if we were sitting and talking to muppets.  

And a huge part of our time was spent in the best mini-grocery store we have ever seen.  This one was seriously at the top of it's class.  Complete with the final receipt printing out and everything.  The girls were in heaven.

It's was a charming and relaxing day.  We shut the museum down.  When it closed, we left.  We were just a couple hours away from Niagara Falls, so we started driving north so that we could wake up Friday morning at The Falls.

Come back for Friday's update when I finally get to take my family to Niagara Falls.  Something I've been dreaming of, ever since I had a family ;)

Wednesday was awesome.

Late on Monday, I got an email from best friend Kim Newton saying that their family had just landed in Buffalo, NY, and that it seemed like somehow we could meet up somewhere along the way.  We zeroed in on Wednesday as the ideal day for both of our families to be in Palmyra.

What a treat!  We've spent a portion of our summer vacations with the Newtons for past three years in a row.  It only seemed right that we'd find a way to insect this summer too.  We met up at the Hill Cumorah visitor center.  After watching a movie inside, we all walked up to the top of the super steep hill.

Then back down to stake out the perfect seats to watch the pageant, later that night.  

There was lots of walking and talking...

Followed by lunch at "Brad and Dad's".  Followed by the tour of the printing house, where the first 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon were published.  Somehow we didn't end up with a single picture there?!

And finally we walked into the Sacred Grove.  

After a full day together, we had to send the Newtons off.  They were on their way to their grandma's 60th birthday celebration.  

After our good-bye, and "see you next summer", we went and checked into a hotel in Rochester.  We let the kids swim and relax a bit.  Then we drove back to Palmyra to watch the long anticipated Palmyra Pageant!

We were not disappointed.  That is a great show!

The pageant ended around 10:45pm.  Another hour to get out of the parking lot and back to the hotel, I'm pretty sure it was Wednesday night when George announced to the family, as we all laid down to try to fall asleep, "Hey look everyone, the clock says 12:34am!  Get it, 1-2-3-4!"

It was maybe the longest day of our vacation, but it was also one of the greatest!  So many fun things all piled into one epic day, as George would say.

Baseball Hall of Fame Tuesday.

We helped make one of Darin's dreams come true today.  I'm not sure having his whole family with him as he toured the BBHoF was part of his dream, but he was a good sport about it.  No doubt he should be writing this update, but he's snoring in the hotel bed right now.

Suffice it to say, I have a bit more insight into why he was voting for the names "Henry" and "George" all those many years ago...

The internet is going way too slow for me to want to upload anymore photos.  But so far, Cooperstown wins the prize for being the most charming New England town we've seen on this trip.  It's to die for!  I have more pictures.  Hopefully I'll add them...I wish I were snoring in the hotel bed right now too.

The trip begins.

Monday morning we woke up at our cousins house in VA.  We wanted to start from a more northern position for our grand trek northward, so we drove to their house Sunday evening.  Waking up with cousins is always a good time:

By lunchtime we were in Gettysburg, PA.  This trip to Gettysburg felt so different to me.  I know I went several times as a kid, and I studied it for a year in 8th grade.  But I'm not sure I really felt much about it until this trip.  We might need to frame the Gettysburg address...

I am quite certain this trip to Gettysburg didn't have the same affect on my children.  But I will not give up on them.  Besides, I can hardly blame them, they knew that Gettysburg was the stop right before Hershey!

Where Henry and George got selected to be official kid taste testers...

And we all went on the "create your own candy bar" tour.  

Umm...it was all very delicious.

  

The day ended at a Cracker Barrel outside of Scranton, PA.  Which set us up nicely to be at the Baseball Hall of Fame first thing Tuesday morning.

It was the 4th of July!

Which the kids claimed was the funnest one yet!  I guess they don't remember ever doing sparklers or the driveway variety of fireworks before?!  But they will remember it after this year!

Also, the Fitzgeralds came which made it extra fun.  I only wish I had photographed them more often.  Every time they walked out of their room, they were dressed in patriotic colors.  Such color coordinated packing is nothing to take lightly! I love a sister who loves the festivities of holidays so much, and reminds all around her to enjoy them too.  

The sister update is at Ana's this week.  You won't want to miss it.  Sarah had to utilize walkie talkies over the weekend in an official capacity.  Christine is safely back in America, and Zack might have multiple California based job offers!  Hurry, click!

But we are all still waiting for the grand opening of the "Brother's Update".  Hey look guys, I have the first perfect picture to get your updates started.  It would be hilarious.  It really would be.  Can you even imagine what things would make their "this week" and "next week" lists?  I'm so genuinely curious I wonder what I can do to help them get it up and running?!

Finally, while Darin ushers some 40 youth to and from some white water rafting high adventure tomorrow, I will be busy at home making a new mini quilt wall hanging, doing 15 loads of laundry and packing.  I wonder exactly what time Darin will be back home?  I want to make sure I'm done sewing  we're all packed before he gets home (wink!).

Long Live Summer!