Good Morning Baltimore

So I promise we do more than take trips.  But it hasn't seemed like it in the last month and a half.  Hopefully back to real life blogs soon. :)
When we went down to my parent's house for Thanksgiving, Scott had a business trip the following week in Baltimore.  Since it was just a little over 2 hours away, we decided to stay in NJ and drive down to Baltimore, rather than drive back home and then fly down.  I considered staying with the boys while Scott went, but my parents were nice and were willing to let them stay while we both went.  So Scott and I got to go to Baltimore on our own!  As an early anniversary get away, we headed out for a couple of nights- kid free.  Scott worked during the day, but I went shopping and sightseeing.  I didn't take pictures of the shopping (though it was sooooo awesome without kids that I probably should have) but here are some pictures of the sightseeing.

We stayed at the hotel where Scott's conference was located.  It was right along the waterfront and attached to a mall and then if you walked over this walkway, you went straight into another part of the mall.

The ship right outside of our hotel.  USS Constellation, I believe.  There were a lot of ships. :)

One of the only pictures we got of us. :) 

A picture of the harborfront.  We went to this Barnes and Noble one night and it was so cool.  It is built in an old power plant and had many original structures, etc.

In addition to getting a lot of Christmas shopping done, I went to Fort McHenry one day.

It was absolutely amazing!  So cool.  If you are ever in Baltimore, it is a must see.

The Star Spangled Banner itself.  The original was much larger, but this one did have the 15 stars.

It was super sunny, but here is an attempt to get me with the fort in the background. :)

When we were growing up, we would say that it wasn't a vacation if you didn't get a picture sitting on a cannon.  Well, there were these signs saying no climbing on the cannon.  And it was just me.  So I just took a picture of a cannon. :)

I also walked down to Oriole Park at Camden Yards.  They were celebrating their 20th year.  Seemed lame compared to the 100th year anniversary going on here.  But oh well.  It was a fun park.

Another part of the park and the Babe Ruth statue.  I almost made it to Babe Ruth's birthplace, but it was getting dark, so I headed back.  Didn't want to get lost in Downtown Baltimore. Perhaps another time.

 It was a super fun trip!  Our boys were awesome for my parents.  Apparently they slept better for them than they do for us.  We'll have to leave them more often. :)  It was very nice to get away and relax and spend some time together.  It was a perfect amount of time as well.  We were excited to see our boys again and I think they were excited to see us too.

Thanksgiving

So our Thanksgiving Trip wound up being a marathon trip this year!  We drove down to New Jersey on Wednesday afternoon after Joy School, and I feared the worst as far as traffic.  We went an entirely different way than we usually do (because we always have traffic) and ended off so much better off!  We went over the George Washington Bridge (still Alan's favorite. Still asked if the little parkway overpasses were the GWB) with absolutely no traffic.  Only snag was traffic from an accident on the Turnpike.  Go figure.  Oh well.
We were so lucky to spend Thanksgiving with my family who is still at home as well as with Michael, Sarah, and Micah!  It was so much fun to all be together.  On Thanksgiving Day, the boys played a little football in the backyard.  We had an absolutely delicious dinner.  Complete with lima beans, applesauce  and turtles.  Apparently these are unique Foulk traditions.  Well I know the turtles are.  We all love Grandma's turtles.  We also had some wonderful rounds of the name game to complete the day.

On the Friday after Thanksgiving we skipped the shopping.  By the time I got to looking at the ads on Thursday night, half of the stores had already been open, so I figured I'd missed the good deals anyway.  Instead we took a little trip to Philadelphia.  Michael and Sarah had wanted to go and my entire family crashed their party and tagged along.  We had a great time exploring the historic district.

I love this pic. (please ignore the fact that Scott is wearing a Red Sox shirt as he hugs the Phanatic.) 

Ben Franklin's Grave

Poor Richard isn't so poor anymore. :)  They charge you to go in the cemetery, or you can toss pennies from the street.

We had to get cheese steaks.  Delicious as always.

Classic map shot

Classic boy shot

Classic Philadelphia shot

Independence Hall

At the Liberty Bell

At the top of the art museum steps with the Rocky statue

Climbing the steps!  (or maybe going down. :)

Scott, Nathan, and Dad were also able volunteer with Mormon Helping Hands on Sunday.  They went down to Tuckerton and helped with Hurricane Sandy Relief.  They hauled debris to the road and some folks helped tear down a half standing home.  I think it was an amazing experience.  We are truly so blessed and pray for all of those who are still suffering.

And here are a few random cute ones...

Just sitting in the fridge reading my scriptures.  No big deal.

Cheeeeeeeese!