vacation

Our vacation to Pittsburgh went so fast. But I am thinking we need a vacation from our vacation. We had a bit of a stressful day on Saturday. We got caught in construction and ended up in the car for quite some time with five fighting kids. But we had a lot of fun and we made a ton of memories.

We spent 2 hrs. in Cabela's. It was awesome. The kids had a great time and it was like being in a zoo with dead stuffed animals. MAN they must have spent a ton of time setting up that cool store.

Friday night we stayed in Don's cousins cabin. It was a bit further than we wanted to go but it was fun. We did a few things on Saturday and then stayed in a motel that night so we could get ready for church the next day. We went to the ward that Don grew up in and gave his missionary farewell in. It was nice. I loved hearing people speak so highly of Don's dad. It brought tears to my eyes to hear what an amazing person he was. He did part of the electrical work on the church and built the HUGE toy box in the nursery. He also did part of the electrical work at one of the malls in PA.

We set up camp that night. Then the next day we had the best time. Monday is when we did all the fun things. Don wanted to show me the "mountains" they have here and compare them to the ones in Washington. We drove to a ski slope and the hills were pretty wimpy in comparison. But they were having some activities and we let the kids choose one thing. It was a HUGE slide that was 1,980 feet long. There were sled type things that you sat on and slid down. You had to control the speed with a handle that sat directly in front of you. At first no one wanted to go except Rachel and I. SO I paid for both of us and you had to ride the ski lift in order to get up there. That was HIGH. Rachel started getting a belly ache because of how high we were. But finally we got to the top and we rode down FAST. It was a blast. Once we got to the bottom the boys and Don wanted to go. They LOVED it. WE may end up going back to this place next year and staying over night so we can do the other things they had. SO FUN.

We visited Ft. Necessity. That was interesting. WE watched a movie and then saw a live demonstration of the guns they used. We visited the Cavern there and learned alot about the war. I really admire George Washington for so many things.

Our last place on Monday that we visited was the Laurel Caverns. WOW. I can't believe how HUGE these caves were. When we walked into the building there were about five bats that were stuck to the wall. The kids were hoping to see some in the caves but sadly they didn't. Those were some amazing caves. We were down the length of 17 flights of stairs. It took an hour to get through them and we didn't even see it all. It was very cool. The kids just loved it and wanted to stay in there. That was our FHE for Monday night and then we stopped at McDonalds for icecream for our treat.

I love vacations. I love taking time with the family and exploring and spending time as a family. It was fun. It was a bit hectic with the fighting but such a great time. I would never change these times together. On the way home we rocked out to Rascal Flatts.

More pictures to come of the things I didn't put here tonight. I took some pictures with my camera and Don used his to do the rest. The others are on his camera.


These are not the best pictures but it was so fun looking over Pittsburgh. It was SO stunning at night. Here is Don and the kids. Our camara doesn't take the best pictures at night. We rode the Incline up to the top and walked a bit to get up to this point so we could look over and see this amazing sight. We then rode the Incline back down. The kids really had fun that night. It was a late night. In fact every night I don't think we got to sleep before 11 or 12. The Incline is the 2nd or 3rd most romantic spot in the U.S. at night. I can see why.
Isn't this gorgeous?
Here I am with the kids.
This statue was so cool. It is George Washington facing an Indian. The kids had to have their picture in front of it.

The camping begins. Setting up tent. We did some lake swimming. WE tried to roast hot dogs and smores. Long story that someone in particular doesn't want told. We will just put that down and remember the funny memory. Zach on the ground working on the tent. Caleb is holding the pole in the back.
Mayah and her very excited self. She rarely keeps her pony tail in her hair and it ends up looking pretty ratty.
Caleb working on building the fire.
Don with his boys. They sure enjoy being with him.
This is our camping trip to Laurel Hills State Park in Pennsylvania. This is where Don's dad would take them camping quite a bit. It was beautiful and the kids had fun. Does Rachel look excited?
Mayah and Rachel heading into the tent.
Don holding his girls with Ethan looking on.
Don was SO amazing at helping the boys and teaching them to put up the tent. He instructed only. The boys did it all by themselves with only a tiny amount of help.
Don instructing boys on the tent.
This was the end of our vacation. We were on our way home and we pulled over to do some rearranging. This was in West Virginia. I read this cool sign and loved this and had to have a picture with Don. I LOVE this man.