A Visit from Grandma and Grandpa!!

It has been nearly two years now since we have been in Delaware!!  During that time we have had lots and lots of Harper family visitors!!  It was been so wonderful for us :)! However, Ryan was extra excited when we heard that his parents were going to come and visit us- the first visitors from his family.  Ryan's parents came a few weeks ago and stayed for a whole ten days.  We had many different adventures together and had a blast!!

We spend a whole day in Washington DC and literally saw just about everything!!  We did A LOT of walking but it was so worth it. We went to Ford's Theater, which was really amazing. 

Right across the street, you could see the very home where President Lincoln spent his last few minutes before he died.

There was a small Lincoln museum right before you entered the theater which was really fascinating!! Here is the very gun that John Wilkes Booth used to kill President Lincoln.

This is Lincoln's suit that he was wearing the day he passed and the stained pillow that he laid on as he died. It was so sad but truly amazing that they still had these items.

Inside the theater, you could see the booth in which Lincoln would always sit during shows.

Here are Kelly and I with Jane and Beckham in front of the Capitol.

While we were waiting for our tour of the Capitol, we stopped in at the National Botanical Gardens.  They are beautiful.  There is a kids garden that Jane and Beckham had a blast in.  They could fill up water cans with a water pump...

...and water the flowers!!

Jane and Ryan in the Bamboo garden.

One of my favorite things inside the Capitol was this statue of Brigham Young!! There was a statue of someone to represent each of the states.  Seeing Brigham Young's statue right inside the capitol representing Utah was really cool!! It made me proud to be a church member!!

This is a terrible picture...however, here are Ryan, Jean and Kelly in front of the White House (even though you can't see it at all :-/).

Here is the gang in front of the beautiful Capitol building.

While Ryan's parents were seeing the Lincoln memorial, we let the kids run around for awhile. There was a high school choir singing and the sun was shining. It was a beautiful day.

Another day, we went to Rehoboth Beach!! It was a little windy and cold but the sun was still shining and the kids were still having a blast in the sand!!

When Jane discovered how warm the sand was, she couldn't get enough of it:)

The rest of us just ate our french fries on a blanket while we watched the kids play.  It was really nice!!

We spent another whole day in Pennsylvania which started at Valley Forge!! This was truly an amazing experience :)

Here is a beautiful memorial to the soldiers who resided at Valley Forge.

These are replicas of the cabins they built for shelter.

This is the house that George Washington rented and stayed in at Valley Forge.  It was really beautiful and amazing to go inside and see where he slept and worked during such an important time in out history!!

Going to Independence Hall was another favorite for me.  Just knowing that we were in the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed was awesome!!

Here is the front of Independence Hall.

Later that day, we ate at a tavern where George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and other important people ate. It was a neat experience!!

Another day we spent at the Air Plane Museum near Dover Air Force Base.  Here are Jean, Jane and Beckham sitting inside one of the huge planes!!

A view from the radio tower at all the cool planes!!

Here's the gang inside the tower.

Ryan took us around to several different near by beaches and towns.  I just loved this picture!!

 

 

Jane and Beckham loved getting so much love and attention from grandma and grandpa!!  They bought Jane and Beckham these wind mills among many other goodies and treats:)!! They were so sad when the time came for Grandma and Grandpa to have to leave and go home to Utah:(  This trip created some wonderful memories for all of us.  Hopefully, we can make make more soon!! I am so grateful for Ryan's wonderful family. Thanks Jean and Kelly for making the trip out and for being so sweet!! We had tons of fun!!