September 29 Gettysburg was where we went today. We saw lots of cool stuff there. There was a museum, movie theater, and cyclorama. A cyclorama is a very, very large circular painting that is not flat on the wall but is tilted. There was a circular platform we stood on in the center of the building. On the ground they had a cannon, sand, and a musket or two. You couldn't tell where the painting ended and the sand started. They told the story of the Battle of Gettysburg and highlighted the parts of the painting they were talking about. The movie was about about the Battle of Gettysburg, the Lincoln Address and all the places the battle took place in. We bought our gifts at the gift shop. I got a small flashlight with Gettysburg. It was a place we could get a stamp in our National Parks Passport. We got a guided car tour with a guide named Phil. Here are some of the things he taught us. Green cannons shot one mile. Black cannons shot tow miles. His name was Phil . (He asked us that a lot.) We saw the California regiment monument, where Picket's Charge started and ended. We saw the cemetery and the 91 graves that Elizabeth Thorn dug for the soldiers. We went up to the top of Little round top and saw the value of "high ground."

September 28

Mt. Vernon is where we went today.  We had to ride in the car 3 hours to get there.  We saw the original Mt. Vernon house and took a guided tour.  We saw the large dining room that was bright green, five bedrooms, the kitchen house that had dead birds hanging from the ceiling and a very large fancy outhouse.  There was a movie theater in the museum that had very special effects like smoke, the ground moving, fake snow and flashing lights.  I got a fancy compass as a souvenir from Mt. Vernon.

 We drove another 2.5 hours to a Wendy's where we had dinner.  I had an oreo parfait.  We drove another half hour to get to my great aunt Marlene's house.  She had a dog named Luna, a very warm swimming pool and lots of swim toys. 

September 27

Today was still another non-history day.  We went to the beach at 10am and stayed for three hours.
I built two sand castles but the tide didn't come up high enough to test if they were strong enough.  Grayce and I went looking for shells and ran in the waves.  We saw a horse crab on the sand but it wasn't moving. We found a whole lot of sea shells.  The sea gull ate our fishy crackers.

 I went to my cousin Will's boy scout recruiting night.  They had bottle rockets and a bounce house.  In the car we were all moaning because Christopher didn't get to go on the bounce house (Christopher started it!).

September 26

    Today was another non-history day. Instead of going to some historical museum or something, we took out a boat and went dolphin watching. We saw a pod of about 15-20 dolphins. We mostly saw their dorsal fins and backs, but once in a while we would see them jump or we would see their heads. When we got back from dolphin watching, Christopher and my grandpa went to buy Christopher a toy. GramB and I went to the store to get my birthday party cake when they got back ( we bought a lot of other stuff too.). Only some of my cousins came, they were the only ones invited. We played one game, got a few glowsticks, and got  3 presents per person. I got a bunch of presents. My favorite one was Cartoon It, a game where you get to draw your own cartoon character. I drew a couple of cartoon characters but this guy was my favorite.

September 25
      Today was a non-history day. Instead of going to a museum today, we had a water day.We    played in the hot tub, swam in the pool, fished, and boated. My cousin and I played DSs'  too. When we were fishing, no one caught anything but Grayce, who caught a crab that got away. Today was pretty wet!

September 24
      Today is a new day and more adventures await! Fort Monroe in Hampton, Va. is where we went today. Fort Monroe is where the president of the Confederate States was held prisoner. Everyone had to come. At first we saw some headstones (they made me feel a little sick!). Once we got into the museum, we saw a bunch of Civil War stuff including: model canons, muskets, uniforms, and china ( the dish kind, not the country). We had National Park Passports and we got ours stamped at the gift shop. I got a mini model canon pencil sharpener and a thing you sew on your clothing.

September 23, 2012
Today I went to Raleigh N.C. We had to drive for 3 WHOLE HOURS! Christopher didn't come because he wanted some time alone without Grayce, but in the morning Grayce didn't wake up early enough to get her clothes on, so she didn't come either. Now that leaves Mom and I. In the car, I played my D.S.I. and my Kindle Fire H.D. to pass the time. When we got there, we went to a place that had a really long list of breakfast items on their menu. We met our friends Henry and Claire there, their parents too. When we were done eating lunch, we headed over to the History Museum. When we were there we saw lots of Revolutionary and Civil War stuff, like mini diaries and swords. After the History Museum, we went to the Science Museum. We saw a small dinosaur exhibit and  a live butterfly exhibit. I got an arrowhead as a souvenir.