valley forge

An afternoon stop at Valley Forge was next...we started out at the informative and fun :) visitor's center and then followed the tour around the sprawling acres and acres that comprised the colonials' camp that winter of 1777.

All things old...cool trees and bunk houses that housed 12 soldiers each...

After a good lengthy drive and seeing lots of fortified ridges and beautiful landscapes, we came to George Washington's headquarters for the winter.  Amazing and gorgeous...and the guide there was incredibly interesting and informative :)

GW statue.  Garner kept asking if she could see him in person.  "But I LOVE George Washington."  Hard to explain to a 4yo, but cute that she is so enthralled with him :)

I'm so thankful that areas like these have been preserved.  It's hard to understand the scope and size of a camp like this one without seeing and driving it in person.  It was much bigger than I had envisioned and had amazing rolling hills on the river.  My next study of it with Greer will be with a much different understanding :)

philly day

After the reunion, we headed home with B's Uncle Bill and Aunt Ginny to beautiful PA.  I'll share more about our time with them in my final post of this roadtrip.  But in the meantime, a few quick excursions to report on...outings the 5 of us took during our weeklong visit in the area :)

We started out with a day trip to Philadelphia.  Uncle Bill and Aunt Ginny live a quick train ride away so we parked and readied the kids for their first real experience with public transport.  They were so cute and excited :)

Gehrig just finished two years of studying American history, so the timing was perfect to visit many of the sights there.  We started with a carriage tour of multiple sights and then visited the Liberty Bell :)

With a few hours remaining before our time to tour Independence Hall, we hopped on the bus to head to the super fun science museum, Franklin Institute.  This was also the kids' first time on a city bus and they were hilarious...although we were the only ones on this ride of the day, they pretended the need for holding the straps ;)

An absolutely perfect weather day :)

Lots of traffic lanes to cross!

Made it :).  B still fondly remembers a visit here from his childhood...

So much fun learning about the brain...

And the heart :))

Electricity...

And a great chance for B to practice his meteorology skills :))

We only wish we had more time!  Hopping back onto the bus for Independence Hall...

Love all this history so much...

Yummy chocolates before we head home to Aunt Ginny's delicious dinner :)

And still excited about the train on the way back...

Such a fun day together!  It went too quickly, but was a great first glance at so many important places in our nation's history.  Loved it :)

meet virginia

What a fun and travel-y June :)).  With B home all summer now (yay!), we planned a couple of lengthy road trips and started out the first one with our normal trip to the Bourne Reunion in Virginia...

Mammaw, Pots, Aunt Gretchen and cousin Charlie were on the road too and we met up for a yummy Cracker Barrel lunch on the way :)

Gehr brought a page of license plates to check off...he ended up getting almost all of them before it was all said and done :)

Natural Bridge!  Oh, how we love it there :)

Cousin visitin' in and around the cottages.  So lovely these days now that we don't have to worry so much about bedtimes :)

Breakfast with the Old & Rare...we take up half the dining hall!

And gift shop time afterwards.  What a sad discovery to see all the toys gone this year!  Thankfully they still had the bear there or there may have been a Bourne family revolt ;)

More playtime before heading to the lake...

Virginia.  So lovely :)

Afternoon festivities at Cave Mountain Lake...cousin ultimate frisbee, lake swimming and adult visiting :)

Back at the pavilion...we toasted B's granddaddy with his favorite tastykakes.  Can't describe the legacy and sweetness and tradition these share.  I'm so grateful to be a part of it all

B's granddaddy's brother, Uncle Bill, turns 90 this September.  He is the patriarch and really grandfather to his many offspring and his brother's too.  I could never describe how amazing and cute he is using just words, but here's a quick peek from this year's talent show:

Northerns and Southerns honoring and celebrating family and this annual time together...love

No lack of fun there, for sure :)

Only a few missing this year...love this crew!

 We stopped by one of our favorite spots...the Shenandoah is beautiful!

And so sweet ;))

Finishing out Saturday at the cottages...

And wrapping it all up with sweet worship at Granny Tolley's Sunday morning...

We are blessed beyond words to be part of such an incredible family and so thankful for all who put such effort into getting us all together every year.  It feels like going home and all five of us love it :))