On Vacation

This week the kids and I are on vacation. Poor Marc has to stay at home and watch the dogs(and work). At least this is his long weekend off work. What I wouldn't do to have the family go away for the weekend and leave me at home. Imagine how much (or how little) I could get done!

We are visiting my parents in PA. We spent the first three days touring Gettysburg and the battlefields. We do this every year and it seems they enjoy it more and learn a little more along the way.

While visiting the Eisenhower Farm it occured to me that Contessa could earn a Girl Scout badge while on this trip so we got the requirements and set to work.

Contessa and Winston became Junior Secret Servicemen. Here they are in the playhouse speaking to the Secret Service office.

Next we were off to the National Cemetary. This was a very interesting self guided tour done by the Girl Scouts. The tour begins by setting the scene after 3 days of fighting in Gettysburg. After the battle the surviors packed up and left for home leaving the wounded and dead behind for the people of Gettysburg to tend to.

Many men had no identifcation on them.One gentleman died clutching a picture of 3 children. A local doctor took it upon himself to have the picture printed in the newspaper. A woman in New York recognized the picture of her children and was able to identify her husband. They were finally able to give him a proper burial. We were able to locate this gentleman's headstone at the cemetary.

After the Civil War, men received dog tags to wear so that no one would die unidentifiable.

Next stop on our tour was The Little Round Top and Devil's Den. The view from Little Round Top is amazing. This is one of my favorite places from my childhood.

Winston absolutely loved Devil's Den. He bought this little plastic sword at the gift shop and was off to fight the war. My weekly challenge over at Scraplove was to make a clear layout. This was a little challenging. The most challenging part was not having supplies. Remember, I am on vacation. I had to purchase all my supplies and use what little tools my mom has at her house. I am really pleased how it turned out!
"Sittin' On Top Of The World"
My background is an overlay as well as the overlays over the right two pictures. I used my Cricut to cut stars and the word world out of a transparency and painted around the edges. Who needs to buy ghost letters and shapes any more??? How's that for a cool tip?