Month: May 2016

We arrive outside of Washington DC Sunday evening. We are staying at a huge campground in the College Park area. They have several pools, playgrounds, putt-putt and so much more. B and I played at the playground while Mom and Dad visited the camp store. Mom got a text from B that I got hurt. I was sliding down a bar and slipped and smashed face first into the bar. There was a LOT of blood. Some of the blood was from around my new bottom teeth. Mom called the dentist back home and received orders to follow up with an x-ray locally. We made an appointment for the evening after we visited Gettysburg. Everything looks okay. You can see I am due to drop out a few more teeth soon though!

So we spent the day (before the dentist) exploring Gettysburg.

We arrived at the visitors center and opted to do a tour of Eisenhower’s house. It was the only house the Eisenhowers owned as a married couple. Both died in the home.

On the bus to the house we worked on our Jr. Ranger books for Gettysburg. We saw lots of battlefield areas out the bus window and listened to a very informative audio program.

We had a great tour guide and learned a lot about Eisenhower. Did you know if was an accomplished oil painter? He picked this land because he was interested in soil conservation.  The Jr. Ranger program for this site was actually a Junior Secret Service program. We had to decode messages, train to be agents and learn to be observant. It was fun! We earned out badges and headed back to the bus. On the way back to the Gettysburg Visitor’s Center we saw a cow laying down in a field giving birth!

Back at Gettysburg we watched a long film on the history of the Civil War and the significance of Gettysburg. We saw the cyclorama painting that depicted Picket’s Charge. We worked on or Jr. Ranger book.

We earned out patches. They do not have the badges here because the are “dangerous with the pins”.

It was really neat to see the battlefields and learn more about the Civil War.

Abraham Lincoln was quite an amazing man. I was speculating how our country would be if he wasn’t so set in his choices and stood up for his beliefs.

We were shocked to learn that 51,000 people were injured, killed or captured during the Battle of Gettysburg. People died all over the battle field. Many died at the stone wall on the 3rd day.

We saw statues dedicated to those that died or fought. I liked the spring. Too bad it was closed and we couldn’t get a drink from it.

They had some replica cannons near an observation tower.

We climbed the tower and could see lots of the battlefields.

Oh, there is Baymax… 

 

Lunch before the road. My bottom tooth is so wiggly I can’t eat. I just scream out in pain with all my food options.

I managed applesauce and yogurt and was happier. We loaded up in “Luna” (the motorhome) after lunch and hit the road. I enjoyed riding in the back bedroom, the sofa and especially under Mom’s feet.

We drove all day and then pulled into a Flying J to fuel up. Mom found out we could boondock in the lot after we fueled. We parked for the night and had dinner at Denny’s. I downed some nice soft pancakes. We all got a good nights rest. In the morning I asked for a cup of water and my tooth just FELL right out!

Mom keeps calling me Toothless!

So I will add this to my collection of “Teeth lost in strange places”.

We were off on the road again. We enjoyed watching and reading the signs for South of the Border. Mom and Dad both remembered it from YEARS ago. We opted to stop to heck it out. We rode the elevator to the top of the sombrero.

We could see “Luna” down below. She is the one with the solar panels on top.

The stores were all silly. We opted to not buy a souvenir. Everything was really overpriced. 

We did like all the funny statues.

I did spend a quarter on a few bumper stickers.

We pulled in for the evening to a Yogi Bear Jellystone campground in Virginia. The pool was closed but we had fun playing putt-putt.

They also had a giant jumping pad. Everyone jumped. Mom and Dad included!

So far we are off to a great start. I can’t wait to get to DC and get to the National Zoo!

We had a really bad storm this week. The whole house was shaking. I ended up curled up with Mom in bed reading books until the sun came up. Dad had to go to work in the middle of the storm but he snuck out in between bands of the storm. We had an all time high rain rate of over 10 inches per hour! We only got 3 inches of rain but that is still an insane amount for May.

We went to the Dali museum free parts with friends before and after a theater show at Mahaffey. I love the little bird with a mustache. 

Duke Energy gave out free sunglasses to everyone. We pretended we were spies and secret service agents. The show was good. It was a science show with Dr. KaBOOM! He was really funny. I felt bad he had to spend so much time getting kids to be quiet.

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I have a little blue cube radio that Grandma Susie gave me for Christmas a while ago. The cat chewed the antenna and it no longer works. Uncle Matt had sent me an Amazon gift card and I used part of it to buy this cool Sony radio. I carry it everywhere now around the house. I have picked a favorite station. I really like two. I like the Spanish channel because the music has a good beat to dance to. I also like the pop rock station because I know most of the songs.

We have been having car issues lately ever since Mom fueled up. We ended up stranded at a dealership in Sanford. They got us a rental car and got us on the road to home while they kept the Jeep to get her fixed. The dealership had a soundproof kids room with surround sound, movies and games. They also had a ice cream counter and coffee bar that was all free. It was very fancy!

We stopped at Disney Springs on the way home and stretched our legs and visited a few shops.

I loved all the games that people made at the Lego store. I really liked the labyrinth set. I think I want that for Christmas!

We found Jungle Book things!

I liked sneaking looks between the walls to see the construction at Planet Hollywood.

We did find out what caused the Jeep issues. The gas station Mommy got diesel from had a delivery of the wrong type of fuel! OOPS! That was a costly mistake for someone. Thankfully insurance is helping us out. Mommy called FDOA and the gas station main company and started claims process. The insurance company will take over! The car is going to need very expensive things to fix it, including a new gas tank!! WOW!