Gettysburg

I'm posting this day in reverse.  So, before we went to the firefighter memorial, we visited the Gettysburg Battlefield.  Matt and I both read Killer Angels this year and so I enjoyed our trip much more than the last time we went.  It has been awhile (since Nate was a baby and we went with Nana and Missy)  and now there is a wonderful new museum to explore.   The park ranger was especially nice and let us in for free--maybe for the holiday???--and the boys enjoyed the movies and computer screens to touch.  It was very cold and windy but that didn't stop them from having fun and reenacting battle scenes.  

Skidmore's Charge

The battle was fierce.

The view from the South's position with Big Round Top in the background.

From the rocks on Little Round Top.

Virginia's Memorial and my little soldiers.  Aren't stick guns the best.

Sittin' on the giant boulders the men would have fought from.  

Giant Firemen

On President's Day we went on a day trip to PA.   Our last stop was to find these statues that my grandpa did the engineering for.  They are in Emmitsburg MD and I thought that because it was a small town we would be able to find them easily.  Well, it wasn't as easy as I thought and so after we drove through the whole town we drove by a gated compound that said FEMA.  Then on a tiny plaque it said something about a firefighters memorial.  We went through the gate to the security guard and asked him if he knew where three giant firemen were.  So, we found it and they only had to take our IDs, frisk us and sniff the car with their dogs.  Just kidding, they only took our licenses.  Once we got to the memorial it was neat.  It is to recognize the firefighters who died in the 9/11 attacks, and they really are huge.  So, good job grandpa, they are still standing tall.

Fredericksburg Battlefield

We visited a new battlefield with Ru. It was humbling to learn about the awful battles there in Fredericksburg and the surrounding areas during the Civil War. Those men seem incredibly brave to me! It is a beautiful area now, and it was neat to see part of the original sunken wall that was there so long ago. The cemetery wall still shows signs of being hit by canonballs and bullets.










After the battlefield we walked around Historic Fredericksburg and had lunch at a fun place called Sammy T's that had very interesting food. Ru had to buy us some fudge to eat on the way home, mmmmmm.