Abby and Matt--ready to go!

Abby and Olivia...right at the moment of takeoff. So excited!

Olivia hard at work on her journal. Here is her entry for today: "6:40 am. We are geting redy to fly now and it is geting exciting. and I am siting in the middle seat by Abby and Mom. And I wunder what is going to happin when we are getting off the plane. and we are going to washington D.C. And we are mooving in the plane and it is exciting and we took off. I feel like a truck and a modersicle. And it is so exciting to. I wonder what we are going to do in washington d.c. This is the best day ever. (about an hour later) And it is a cool day and it is getting exciting today and I love it. I relly want to get off rite now. it feels like I am never going to get off now! (after we boarded the 2nd airplane) It is a good day now relly and I am on the nexted plane I am waiting to go."

She took the words right out of my mouth. Can't wait to get on, can't wait to get off.

hey Chloe...peekaboo

Hannah snags the window seat.

Knock Knock...who's there? One more reason why it is great to be a triplet...someone who appreciates your book of knock knock jokes!

2 rows, with Kresten on the opposite aisle seat. The whole airport experience felt very Brady Bunch goes Hawaii. We were definitely the only large family traveling on a Tuesday morning in October (thank you School Calendar!)

Cute little ladies

Is that my CHILD on the FLOOR of the AIRPORT????

So tired...all that 4 am excitement has caught up with them. Cute little sleeping kittens.

Rounding up the luggage at the baggage claim...7 checked bags. Thank goodness we booked the flights while those were still included! :-o

Aaah...finally a real meal. Chicken noodle soup and an apple. Mmmmm.

The Big Trip

Well, we are setting our alarms for 4:00 am. We have been planning for this vacation for a very long time--it is hard to believe it is finally here! We have been packing, cleaning, and doing errands all day.

Here is what is in our suitcases:
*2 short sleeve shirts
*4 long sleeve shirts
*6 jeans
*1 jacket
*1 skirt (for 5 of us that is!)
*sandals
*swimsuit (in case there is a hotel pool)
*socks/underwear
*pajamas

They are wearing their tennis shoes on the plane to cut down on the bulk in the suitcase. I really love packing light. That is tricky to do with 7 people, but probably all the more necessary the more people you have!

Everyone also has a backpack with the following:
*blanket
*journal
*book
*gallon ziplok with snacks
*empty water bottle (we'll fill them up after security)
*little pack of kleenex (they loved that for some reason!)

We also borrowed 2 personal dvd players for the airplane. Thank you Welches!

The Plan
Here is our itinerary. We will try to update with pictures and information as we go.

Tuesday
fly to Baltimore
rent car
find our vacation rental...a 3 bedroom condo in Washington DC

Wednesday-Friday
tour Washington DC. Smithsonian, Treasury, Capitol, Washington monument, etc. etc.

Saturday
Gettysburg
Hershey
stay in Harrisburg/Hershey PA

Sunday
Drive through Amish country
Stay in Philadelphia

Monday
Independence Historic Park...Liberty Bell, US Mint, etc.
drive to Ocean City, New Jersey
Stay at a bed and breakfast a block from the beach

Tuesday
Drive to NYC, find Cosmopolitan hotel, drop off rental car, visit Jennifer, Robert, and Ruby!
Tour the Statue of Liberty

Wednesday-Friday
NYC sites--Central Park, Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum, Times Square, Walk the Brooklyn Bridge, Chinatown, World Trade Center, Wall Street, Central Park Zoo, etc!

Saturday-Tuesday
leave NYC, rent another car, drive to Palmyra
visit church history sites--the Sacred Grove, Hill Cumorah, etc.
visit Palmyra temple

Tuesday
visit Niagara Falls--tickets for the Maid of the Mist
fly home from Buffalo airport