Oh say can you see....

One of the highlights of this trip to Maryland was our visit to Fort McHenry. Francis Scott Key was in the Chesapeake Bay and saw the flag flying over Fort McHenry when he was inspired to write the words to The Star Spangled Banner that have now become our national anthem. It is a star shaped fort outside of Baltimore, protecting the city. We arrived in time to witness and participate in a flag raising. It included singing the National Anthem and saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Wow, it was inspiring. We then walked around the fort to see barracks, magazines full of gun powder and other aspects of fort life. The whole experience was neat. The uniforms they had in one section reminded me how small the men/people were back then.



Here are some photos of our visit to the place where The Star Spangled Banner was waving.













Thank you Brett for suggesting this. It was fun.

Mount Vernon

One of the fun things about visiting family in Maryland is that we get to visit historical places as well. Jeff, Emily and Julia's cousin, chose to visit Mount Vernon one day. It was neat for them to see where George Washington lived with his family. It has been very well restored and the grounds are also beautiful. One of my favorite parts is the chairs along the back porch that look over the Potomac River. Sometimes I wish I could live in a day when I could just sit on the porch and look at the river. We live too busy of lives now don't we?!



The Visitor Center and Museum had lots of things to see and do as well. Check out Julia in her 18th Century Garb.


There were quotes throughout the visitor center. I loved this one, so I share it with all of you.

Trip to Maryland 2

Cousin Fun!

One of the wonderful things about visiting family is getting the kids together. I love having my girls play with their cousins. Here are some random photos of cousin fun.
Julia enjoys Nutella with Charles
Julia Dresses up with Megan
Julia with Peter
Emily plays wii with Jack
Posing for me
With Amanda who just returned from 3 weeks on a student trip to Europe. She is one lucky girl to go to Europe at 15!

Trip to Maryland 1

For the past several years, the girls and I have taken a trip to Maryland in the summer to visit my family. My parents and 3 siblings and their families all live within 15 minutes of each other. It makes it convenient for my visits, but I do miss out on family get togethers. The main occasion for this visit was my sister Courtney's 40th birthday. My mother planned a surprise party with her female friends and my sister had no idea that I was coming in to town. So we were able to keep it a surprise and she was truly shocked. Not only were many of her friends at my mom's house, but there I was with my 2 daughters. It was a fun surprise. It was a nice ladies night together, eating and talking. And, the ladies decided they needed to do that more often.



Happy Birthday Courtney!

Zoo Fun!

In an effort to keep my children active and not spending the entire day in front of the Disney Channel, we went to the St. Louis Zoo. It is free, but you do have to pay for many extras within the gates. We skipped the extras...sorry girls. We did a few hours of free stuff, with one expensive cold treat in the middle, and then called it a day. Since it is free, we can go back and see more whenever we want!

Some of the highlights were:
For me the spider monkey (for those of you looking forward to the Twilight Movie in Dec. there is a part where Edward tells Bella to hold on tight spider monkey). Spider monkeys are kind of ugly.

For all of us...
The fighting hippos snorting water at each other.

The elephant with her young one.




The 17 day old giraffe (to the side of Emily's head)












The funny faced orangetan.







And the funny Chimps...I took several photos because I couldn't help myself. One of the ladies was apparently "in heat". We all got a giggle out of the funny "bum".

First Blog-Meet Me in St. Louis

The Carters have made it to St. Louis. We love it so far. Mike has started work at Barnes-Jewish Hospital as an anesthesia resident. He is officially a Doctor and is doing his intern year. The girls and I have been going to swimming lessons, the library, and running errands. Let's just say that setting up a house takes a lot of errands. The girls don't like the errands so much, but I try to throw in some fun. Plus, they now have cable with the Disney Channel which helps soften the blow. This is my very first blog and I will try to keep it up with photos and stories and such. Wish me luck.