Memorial Day campout

A BREAK FROM TRIP PICTURES!

Since we were pretty sick of GOING places we decided to camp close to home -- the back yard! It was lots of fun finding all the camping stuff as we haven't camped in almost 4 years! The kids got the tents up and thankfully there weren't any holes!
Best campground around :) very clean bathrooms ha ha!!!


We enjoyed a hotdog roast for dinner with fresh watermelon -- YEAH summer is here!

Of course we enjoyed the traditional smores too :)so sweet and dainty and then.....doesnt he just say CAMPER??? look at all the DIRT!

Everyone slept pretty well I guess and we were just waking up when we began to hear sprinkles on the tent. We quickly got everything into the house and instead of making our own donuts over the fire we went out for them!!! As its supposed to rain again tonight I think we'll camp out inside tonight!

A huge thank you to all those who've gone before us
paving the way for our freedom!
As we celebrate family and our freedom
we remember it was not without cost.

Blessings from the campin' Quak flock!

Find us Faithful....

This is one of my favorite songs -- by Steve Green.

We had it sung at one of our children's baptism and
it's our desire to pass on to our children's children a faith-filled heritage!

We're pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road
And those who've gone before us line the way
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace
Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race not only for the prize 
But as those who've gone before us 
Let us leave to those behind us 
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives


Chorus:
Oh may all who come
behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our
devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live
inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come
behind us find us faithful

 After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift though all we've left behind
May the clues that they discover and the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find

Next stop...Niagra Falls

We were ending two weeks of travel and everyone was getting tired but we enjoyed an afternoon stop at Niagara falls. As it was before open season we couldn't walk down by the horseshoe falls but it was amazing even from above! Zeko was impressed we were "so close" to another country, Canada!
The ferris wheel over there looked pretty good to him!!! We thought that was all there was so we walked along for awhile then had our picnic supper, finally a beautiful day to sight see!!!

After we ate, we went for one more bathroom stop and realized the American falls were behind that building!

So we did a little more walking, oohing and awing :)

It made me a little nervous having them leaning over the edge!!!the rocky bottom didn't look too good to me!

The two little boys were mesmerized, as they'd throw a stick into the water on top and squeal with delight at it thundered down the fallsWhat an incredible display of God's amazing nature!!! To see the power and hear the thunder gives a little glimpse of the power of our Almighty creator!! The Lord God made it all!!!

Aboard the Mayflower 2!

Not sure what you picture when thinking of the Mayflower but it was WAY smaller than we had thought! Again the weather was wet and on the colder side. But much more realistic of what the voyage would have felt like! (we went back the next day which was sunny for some better pictures!)

The boys peeking out the back window. All the windows would have been shut on the voyage, as musty and dank as it was when we were there I can't even imagine WANTING to travel for months shut up in bottom of a boat like this!!!

They aren't really sure what the "cabins" were, they may have stacked beds like this or they may have just all lined up on the floor. There were 102 passengers which likely didn't get above deck until they had crossed the ocean!

a HUGE anchor rope

They look like a pretty good crew!!! The boys wanted to climb the rigging I was glad that wasn't allowed!!!

The girls look over the ship from the dock.
This was the closest we got to the ocean; plenty of shells and treasures at low tide! The official plimoth rock :) At least we can say we saw it!
Not really sure its the real thing but it was neat!

On the road again...

So after the Fort Mc Henry stop, we continued on up the East coast to MA.

We spent a few days in Plimoth (or Plymouth for you moderners!) It was not the best weather but made it all the more amazing to think of the terrible conditions those at Plimoth endured!!!

First stop: the Wampanoag Indian site - very neat to see what Indian life is like, preparing the fields, cooking lunch, building summer homes etc
They had burned out a new canoe (the one in the background) but it was too wet to "scrape" it the one the boys are admiring actually was taken out to the ocean by modern Indians and returned safely! This hadn't been done in well over 50 years! amazing in such a small boat!
the boys favorite -- an Indian with a hatchet!
Let go in and see whats cooking!
Walking to the English village you feel as if you are walking back in time. Each actor plays a person that lived in the village and tells you about life in their time. This is a view of the village from the fort/church buildingMending her husbands jacket - just going about "normal" life was fascinating to watch!
Lunch time - chicken with some rice. The children had played old fashioned games with Peregrine and Samantha before they had to go eat!

A dining area -- the houses are so small there is no such thing as rooms! some had attics where the indentured servants may live.
The girls got to try their hand at old fashioned cleaning!
a cradle would sit next to the parents bed which was the only bed the older childen would sleep on the floor maybe on matsSuch a fun experience to see what life may have been like at Plimoth plantation!!!
Next stop -- the MAYFLOWER!!!

next stop...Fort McHenry

We left Frederick MD Sunday and headed toward MA. As we were driving we saw a sign for Fort McHenry, I talked the driver into making an impromptu stop (that isn't always so easy!) It was a great day and turned out to be a great stop! Here we are at the entrance.
Cannons pointed out to the Bay. The boys were thrilled with all the battle stuff cannons everywhere how COOL! ( superman somehow got in our picture ?!?!)
As we are now "southerners" we got put in jail :( This weekend happened to be a civil war reenactment weekend which made it all the more fun!

How about some hard tack for lunch? or maybe not!

replica of the flag hanging when "Star Spangled Banner" was written;
as well as cannons that had hit the fort
Soldiers marching into fort. What a neat way to see history!
We enjoyed our long lunch stop that day! And have a bigger appreciation of all those who have fought for our freedom!!! THANK YOU!!!