A Last Visit?

***Fair Warning...I may have overloaded this post with pictures***

What do you do the day after you defend your dissertation?  And parents are visiting?  And your home is spending its first Saturday on the market?

You go to Valley Forge...at least that's what we did last Saturday.  It was a nice fall day and my parents had not been there yet and we wanted to enjoy a bit of PA that we knew we might not get to visit again.

 A beautiful fall day at Valley Forge~

We sure did enjoy sharing this beautiful place with my parents...they had never been to Valley Forge.  We visited some of the highlight spots in our "overview" tour of the park that day.

First, we stopped at George Washington's Headquarters...

A great day spent with Oma and Opa~

Sophia at the train depot at Washington's Headquarters~

Harvey and George...good friends~

Bella and Oma at Washington's Headquarters~

Oma and Sophia~

At the depot with Bella~

Inside the train depot/museum...Steve is SO relaxed!

I love my Opa!

The General's house~

Me and Baby G~

George and the gang...well, most of the gang~

I love this picture of my family.  It was taken one day after Steve defended his dissertation...we were all so relaxed...and so thankful...what a great day!

Then, we stopped at Washington Memorial Chapel.  We had never been there, but have wanted to visit this beautiful chapel for a while.  Construction on this Episcopal church was finished in 1917 and it stands as a gorgeous example of Gothic architecture.  A wedding was taking place while we were there, so we couldn't go inside the main chapel, but it was still a nice visit.

Washington Memorial Chapel~

Inside part of the chapel...the girls loved the stained glass~

Dad found his flag~

Beautiful architecture...beautiful kids~

Washington Memorial Chapel~

Washington Memorial Chapel~

So pretty~

So pretty~

Gracia was having a fun time too~

We headed to the Muhlenberg Brigade so my parents could see more of the cabins that soldiers built and lived in...always interesting.

Oma, checking out Muhlenberg Brigade~

Sophia the Soldier~

Then we were off to the Memorial Arch.  My Dad teased the girls that he knew how to get into the "secret" attic rooms...apparently, he had even lived in them...Bella wasn't buying it, though :)

National Memorial Arch~

The girls had fun playing on the low branches of this tree~

And the Visitor's Center was our last stop.  We enjoyed the history exhibit/museum they have in the center...there is always so much to see and learn.

Valley Forge finally wore her out~

We will miss Valley Forge...it has become one of our favorites places to visit.  It really is fascinating to walk around and see where some of America's first soldiers spent a rough and difficult winter, to consider how they survived (access to proper supplies, food, clothing, etc. was a very serious problem for the Continental Army) and how they were trained, to know that after that winter, Washington and his men left Valley Forge in pursuit of the British...and the tides of the American Revolution had turned in favor of our country.  

Make a plan to visit some history~
Rach