Easter in Philadelphia

 We headed up to Pennsylvania for the long Easter weekend.  We headed to Gettysburg first.  Caden is reluctant to take pictures these days.  

The Gettysburg Museum and Cyclorama is incredibly impressive.  The painting is 377 ft long and 42 ft high.  The way they light the scene and tell the story is so neat.  The real objects leading up to the painting make it hard to tell where the 3d ends and the painting begins.

After the museum, we drove to all the battlefields and monuments.

We headed to Eastern State Penitentiary the following day.  A selfie in outside the front of the prison.

Inside the hallways.

Over to the Rocky statue.

The kids and Laura ran the stairs.  Laura beat Caden by a hair.

Over to Valley Forge.  The kids weren't too happy when I made them take this picture.

A pic in front of Washington's headquarters.

A pic with the Liberty Bell with Indepence Hall in the background.

President Caden in the Constitution Center.

And President Annabelle.

Caden was not interested in taking pictures this trip.

The Constitution Center had an area where they walked through history.  A pic of Annabelle in living room from the 1950's.

Supreme Court Justice Ananbelle.

Pretending to be sworn in.

A few pictures with the Founding Fathers statues.  It is such a neat room that all of them are life size.

The kids with George Washington.

A selfie with George.

View out the window at the Constitution Center looking toward Independence Hall.

Next to Ben Franklin's gravesite there is a "Chronology of Benjamin Franklin".

We took a tour of Betsy Ross' house.

A selfie over in Elfreth's Alley.

Pretending to sign the Declaration of Independence.

A selfie in front of Independence Hall.

Bear met the Easter Bunny at the Pet Resort. :)

A few pictures inside Independence Hall.

Last Fieldtrip of Grammar School

We have finally decided what to do with our backyard.  We have been debating for years.  We have decided to build a sport court.  Here is the before picture.  We will clear out the big rocks, remove the gazebo, and cut back or take out the bamboo.

Laura chaperoned the last fieldtrip of 5th grade.  They went to the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.  

They have a really cool exhibit in their stairwell.  The kids looking up as they were learning about the artist.

Pictures don't do it justice.

A picture of the entire grade during lunch.

A selfie with mom.

A class photo.

The girls being silly.

Annabelle went to her friend Hadley's birthday party at the circus center.  Here are a few pictures of her on the trapeze.

 A few moms took a turn, also.

The girls holding the birthday girl.

5th Grade Play & Hoops in the Highlands

 The 5th graders put on a Texas play during chapel.  They sang a few songs.

Annabelle played drum like music for the Mexican dancers.

A pic with all the girls after the show.

Annabelle stole a mustache from one of the boys.

Most weekends are pretty busy with basketball.  Last Saturday Annabelle played in a tournament in Denton in the morning, and then had to leave the last game with a few minutes left in the game to get to Hoops in the Highlands.  Her Triumph team won, so they photoshopped Annabelle and Ashlyn into the picture with the trophy.

Annabelle and Ashlyn's team won the championship game in overtime over the other team that had her Triumph teammates on it.

Annabelle, Everett Heis, Evelyn Yeager, Charlie Slye, Taylor Trampe, and Ashlyn Tompkins.

One of Annabelle's classmates, Christian Swann won the 5th grade boys division.  Much to their dismay, we made them take a pic together to show their teacher.

The NCAA Women's Final Four will be in Dallas this year.  Goodwill is giving away a bunch of basketballs, and Annabelle's team spent one Sunday afternoon inflating all the balls.  Back row: Annabelle, Elise Sunio, Annabelle Strohbehn, Paige Nardo, and Paige's sister Elizabeth.  Front row: Juliet Chan, Ashlyn Tompkins, Peyton Smith, and Everett Heis.

Taking a snack break.

Spring Break 2023: Birmingham, AL & Springfield, TN

 We decided to take a road trip for Spring Break.  Our first stop was Birmingham, AL.  We saw Abby, who is a freshman at Samford, but we forgot to take any pictures with her on campus.  A family selfie at Vulcan statue.

Inside the museum, you can see how large the feet of the statue are.

A selfie with his bare backside.

A view from the top.

Annabelle likes to take selfies.

We went to Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark.

After spending a few days in Birmingham, we headed up to Springfield, TN to see Laura's childhood friend Rebekah.  She and her husband bought a farm last summer.  A selfie with some of the cows.

Annabelle had fun feeding the horses.

Annabelle spoiling their dog Chai.

A selfie while shopping in town.

Listening to a few old records.

Making Chai work for his treats.

Some basketball and S'mores.