Kirtland, Cleveland & Cedar Point, OH

Continuing on our early church history tour, we stopped by to Kirtland Temple.  We again didn't time our arrival well and ended up not being able to catch a tour.  We also ended up at the wrong visitor's center where the kids laughed because they saw a picture of a woman baptizing a girl in a swimming pool.  It's a good thing I prepped them about how the temple was not owned by our church, but by a church who had broken off from it after Joseph Smith was killed.  Next time we're in the area we will be sure to go to the LDS visitor's center.

Kirtland Temple

 After stopping to see the Kirtland temple, we had the best corned beef sandwiches at Slyman's Deli in Cleveland (another find through trip advisor).    We figure if it was good enough for a former president to eat there, then it was good enough for us!  Our next stop was The Christmas Story House.  Yes, who knew that the house they used in the infamous movie was in Cleveland and was now open for tours?!  To our disappointment it was closed the day we tried to go, but Duane ended up feeling under the weather and we added a day to our trip, making it so we could go the next day.  It was definitely a highlight of our trip because we are huge fans of the movie!

The Christmas Story House

Evan as Randy
The person who played Randy was on the tour and answered any questions we had about the movie.

When Ryan was younger a lot of people would comment about how he resembled Ralphie.   My hope was that I could convince Ryan to put this on, but he wouldn't, so Olivia was happy to do it.

Sewing Room

The boys' room

Be sure to drink your Ovaltine!!

Will he go blind if he puts this in his mouth?

How about Olivia?

They all fit under the sink!

Mmmmm....smells like turkey!  Are the neighbor's dogs nearby?

He has been asking for one of these the last couple of years and I'm sure you know what my answer is.....You'll shoot your eye out!!!!

The original leg lamp
Duane stayed back at the hotel to get some more sleep, so I picked up a souvenir  for him.  It was a Christmas tie with this on it.:)

 After the kids and I got back from touring The Christmas Story House, we decided to head an hour south to the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH.  It just happened to be the weekend of the induction ceremony, so it was quite the site!  We had a great time looking at all of the memorabilia and visiting the gift shop.  By this time we had worked up an appetite and thanks to the magazines in the hotel we spotted an Amish restaurant that we wanted to try.  Being from PA, not too far from Amish country, I knew that this family style meal would be a good one!  After being on our trip for two weeks, eating out, we were overdue for some home cooking!  The Amish Door Restaurant was fantastic!!  We ate until we couldn't eat anymore and then went to the bakery for treats to take home.:)

NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame
Canton, OH

Jim Thorpe

Ryan's favorite team...

which is also the family's favorite team!

As always, all great things must come to an end, but before we headed home we spent the day at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, OH.  If you've ever watched the travel channel and seen any of the roller coaster shows, then you've heard of Cedar Point.  They have five of the top ten roller coasters located there and it was a place we had been wanting to go for years!  This was the third amusement park we had done over the summer (Busch Gardens in VA and Carowinds in NC) and Duane and I discovered that we are getting too old to spend all day riding roller coasters.:(  Miranda and Ryan couldn't wait to ride all of the roller coasters and are young enough to ride them all day.  Miranda spent weeks riding the roller coasters via YouTube, so she wasn't afraid to ride them.  Olivia was devastated that she was a 1/4" too short to ride some of the roller coasters, but spent the day riding the rides with Evan.  We spent 12 hours at the park, skipped the water park portion and still didn't get to ride all of the rides!  It was definitely a fantastic way to end our already fabulous trip!!  

Olivia and Evan had a great time riding the rides!

Miranda, Duane and Ryan waiting to take off on the Top Thrill Dragster!

If asked if we would do this trip again...the answer is...YES!!!!!!  We all had our moments, but we loved being able to see and learn so much and spend time together as a family!  Our 15 day road trip was filled with memories that will definitely last a lifetime!:)

Palmyra & Niagara Falls, NY

After a quick visit with friends at Ft. Drum, NY, we headed down to Palmyra to continue our tour of the early history of the church.  Our first stop was the Whitmer farm.  We were able to go into the home and see where part of the translation of the Book of Mormon took place.  Our next stop was the Palmyra Visitor's Center next to the Hill Cumorah.  We also made stops at the place where the Book of Mormon was printed, the Joseph Smith farm and the Sacred Grove.  The kids enjoyed learning about the church in its infancy and being able to see the places that they've only heard about in Primary.

Whitmer Farm

The Hill Cumorah

Hill Cumorah

Where the Book of Mormon was first published

Joseph Smith Farmhouse

Palmyra, NY Temple 

Joseph Smith Frame House

Before we entered the Sacred Grove we asked the kids to be reverent and walk through it just as they would the chapel.  For the most part they did as we asked, although they kept speculating as to where the exact spot was that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ.:)  We all enjoyed the peace that we felt in the Sacred Grove.

Once we had finished our tour of Palmyra, we headed west to Niagara Falls.  Duane and the kids were really in awe of the majesty of the Falls.  It is amazing what nature/God can be responsible for creating!  We couldn't leave the Falls without going on the Maid of the Mist that took us as close as you can get to the falls, without of course going down it in a barrel.:)

Sharon, VT, Ben & Jerry's & Palmyra, NY

We really enjoyed our rest day, but it was time to move on!  Our next stop was Sharon, VT, the birthplace of Joseph Smith.  Unfortunately, we didn't time it properly and they were not yet open for tours that day, so we walked around and drove to see the remnants of the homes on the property.

Joseph Smith Monument

The landscaping was beautiful!!  Color, color everywhere!!

Sharon, VT

After seeing Joseph Smith's birthplace, we headed an hour north to Waterbury, VT to visit the Ben & Jerry's factory.    We enjoyed the tour and the ice cream that we got at the end!  We also went to a cider mill and the Cabot cheese store while we were in the area.  Duane is a huge fan of Tillamook cheese and swears it is the best, so when the Cabot sign claimed they were the best, we had to stop.  Inside the shop were at least two dozen different kinds of cheese to try and after trying his fair share, Duane determined that Cabot cheese could definitely compete with Tillamook cheese.:)

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour

Duane's favorite flavor!  Every time he has it, I try to convince him not to eat the entire pint because it gives him a tummy ache, but he rarely heeds my warning.

Waterbury, VT

After our beautiful drive through New Hampshire and Vermont  (the scenery there is really gorgeous),  Dorothy (our GPS) took us within 5 miles of the Canadian border as we headed to NY.  Being so close to the border, knowing that the kids had never been to Canada, we couldn't resist crossing over.  We brought our passports and crossed into Canada, but realized mine and the three older kids' had expired in March while we were waiting to get back into the USA.  We were sweating bullets in line waiting to see if they would let us back in and wondering why the Canadian border patrol officer hadn't noticed this.  To our surprise we got back into the USA without a problem, in fact not even a mention about the expired passports! 

Lexington, Concord, Salem, Gloucester, MA & Kittery, ME

After a full day in downtown Boston, we headed over to Lexington and learned more about America's early fight for independence.  We then spent time at the Minute Man Visitor's Center, where the younger two kids had a blast participating in a skit and dressing up like a colonist while the older two watched the movie doing their best to fill out their Junior Ranger packet.  Each National Park has the opportunity for kids to fill out a booklet, looking for information about the place they are visiting and when they are finished they can turn it in for a badge.  They were great for the kids and they did many of them throughout our trip.  We also gave them trivia questions to help them learn from the places that we visited.  They both helped them to be interested in the places that we visited.

Lexington, MA

Lexington, MA

Minute Men Visitor's Center 

Louisa May Alcott House
Concord, MA 

Old Sleepy Hallow Cemetery 

Salem, MA

Salem, MA 

Fisherman's Monument, Gloucester, MA

After a week of going, going, going, we took a day to relax in Kittery, ME.  We spent the day shopping at the outlets, swimming in the pool and visited a nearby beach.  It was definitely too cold to swim in the ocean.  With a water temperature of 65 degrees, we could barely stand to put our feet in it.  It must be because we've spent too long in warm climates!  We enjoyed exploring the beach (which had a really dark colored sand) and looking at all the beautiful homes in the area.  I loved the architecture of the homes in the area!

York Beach, Kittery, ME