Fort McHenry

ON the Wedensday before Labor Day, our homeschool group took a fieldtrip to our local jewel, Fort McHenry birthplace of the Star Spangeled Banner. It was a lovely day, for a great trip.








we did this as a self-guided visit since field trips don;t officially start till after Labor Day. But the rangers do a talk everyday, and usually don;t have anyone to listen. Well today they where thrilled to have 5o kids eagerly follow and listen to the story of the battle of 1814. They asked great questions, and the ranger, was glad to have such an eager group.- he said the ps kids rarely ask a question at all, and tend to be a bit disruptive to the program,-.







the soldiers quarters, and the jail for prisoners of war. We had a few ourselves that day:-)




Since we had a huge group with us- over 5o kids plus adults- the rangers brought out the big flag 42'x33', for the flag program it was a lot of fun. The ranger told many interesting facts about the flag that was flown over the fort during the battle of 1814- it was the same size as this one-. I wondered about the lady- Mary Pickersgill- who made it in her small Baltimore townhouse, and the logistics of fitting such ahuge flag inside and working on it. Had to be quite a challenge.And the fact she and her helpers never gave up and did this huge flag by hand in two months is amazing.





we had a wonderful time exploring the fort and learning about its history. we are hoping to go again for Defenders Day when they reenact the battle at the fort.

Never Forget

Today is a day of reflection and prayer. We are going to a prayer service at the local county courthouse. Take time to day to remember , those who lost so much. And for our country, God Bless Us, we are the greatest nation on earth.






today remember those who are fighting for us , and those who are not with us any longer. The Marines above are one still in Iraq and wanted to show how they felt:-)Prayers for those families who will never forget those they lost.

Have a wonderful Labor Day-god Bless America:-)

Happy 42nd Birthday My Love

My sweetheart turned 42 yesterday:-) We had a wonderful time celebrating. He is a wonderful father and hubby who is the glue of our family. He works tirelesly to provide for us, and always has time for a game of tickle wrestling. He thinks I am still pretty with 40 extra baby pounds, and my wrinkles.Happy Birthday to a guy we love so much, and who we'd be lost with out. I thak God everyday for our wonderful union and our family.


WE had a small group of very good friends come and enjoy the day with us laughing and being silly. they are a great group of folks, very down to earth, and a lot of fun. We swam ate yummy ribs and corn on the cob, listened to loud 80's music- shows how old we are,lol- laughed alot and relaxed.










we had yummy Ravens colored cupcakes. We are a football family:-)Everyone loved them,







Shawn provided some entertainment, the kids painted themselves up with some facepaint markers given to them by sunday school- I will get even with that teacher:-)And Shawn in his rocker look jammed on guitar.




It was a fun day, filled with lots of love for daddy. he is our rock and my best friend. Have a wonderful year sweetheart:-)

Monster Truck Jam

Grace, Adam, and Doug are headed up to Lancaster Pennsylvania for a monster truck jamboree, at Bucks Motorsports. It should be a fun time it has drizzled all day and poured last night so should be a very muddy show- it is all outside-. Adam's favorite truck is Grave Digger though he won;t be there tonight, but Bounty Hunter will and he likes him to . They are going to get there in time for the pit party, where they can go around and meet the drivers and see the trucks very up close. I hope they have a fab time.Then they are going to Willow Valley to stay the night, should be a fun date for dad for those two.

Madeline,Shawn and I are going to my moms for a Ravens pep rally, they have a preseason game tonight,so we will be all purple and black hurrah:-)So we should all have a wonderful night.

Hope all of you are having fun this weekend too.

Riding the Rails

we went to the Straushbugrh railroad with my mom and stepdad two weeks ago, after our visit to the Choo-Choo barn we went to ride the big trains.




Having a cool drink in the shade while we waited for our ride to come. And some of the big engines across the street at The Strausburgh Train Museum.





Here comes our train:-) The kids where very excited to see this old iron horse come around the bend:-)



All Aboard!!!For a fun ride:-)






some of the farms we rode through it was a very scenic ride.




Our conductor collecting tickets.. when we jokingly said Grace did not have one he said all the kids with no tickets got to go to the candy and chocolate car:-) Very funny, Grace laughed :-) She is my sweets girl so just a joke will make her eyes light up:-)


This was such a fun trip, the kids liked the trains and it was not very hot, a perfect afternoon.

Choo-Choo Barn

We spent most of our morning here at The Choo-Choo Barn. My kids are big into trains so this was wonderful for them. We go to all the local train displays around the holidays each year, but this was amazing




some of the trains and models we saw, there was so much I could never post it all here. The boys got birds eye views on Doug and Pops shoulders and the girls loved all the scenes. And of course we could not leave with out a photo of Thomas.








This Amish barn raising model was amazing every person on it moved, either hammering, climbing ladders or sawing, really neat to see, there was a sign that said this took 100 hours to build.



when we left and had lunch at the restaurant next door the kids hoped on Thomas for a quick ride:-)




After we left the train displays we headed up the road a bit to Strausburgh to ride the big trains, will post those pictures tomorrow.For my train loving kids- Doug included- this was a perfect day. They do come by it honest, my father, step-dad and father in-law are all train buffs.