Overly ambitious- part 2

Oops, I forgot to write about the second half to our overly ambitious road trip!  Well here we go.

From NYC, the boys and I had the shortest but most harrowing leg of the trip-- a 125 mile drive from Manhattan to Connecticut.  It turned out to be 4 hours of heavy traffic, and Christian cried for 75% of it.  We finally discovered that playing old voicemail messages from John would calm down Christian.  By the time we rolled into my sister's driveway in Connecticut, the 4 of us were resigned to become squatters in her backyard and never sit in a car again.

Tara and her family have a way of making us feel sane though, and we were soon back to our baseline normal.  Here we are taking a Sunday stroll at Avery Point with the Haglunds and a few of their friends.

I'm so glad Benson has cousin Zaya to discuss everything with.  

Quin + Christian, photo #1.  Quin is a super-devoted cousin!  He was always giving me breaks while he took care of Christian. 

We toured the U.S.S. Nautilus submarine, waved bon voyage to a different submarine, and discussed submarines more in those 4 days than the rest of my life combined.  I learned a ton!

Connecticut is lined with gorgeous beaches. We enjoyed sandy sandwiches one afternoon at Waterford Beach. 

We love our Haglund cousins!  Here are Ivy, Quin, Zaya, and future politician Alistair.

Cool Cole

The kids almost dug a path to China!

Quin + Christian, photo #2.

Tara and I felt super ambitious when we left the house at 5:30 one morning to run on the US Coast Guard track.  Turns out the cadets had already been outside exercising for hours!

Here we are doing another morning workout.  Who needs a gym membership when you have the Thames River right behind your house, complete with kayaks and all the gear you need?

Tara is a pro!  These guys are out on the river all the time-- Evan actually kayaks to work at the Coast Guard Academy.  His only gripe is when a submarine passes underneath-- those subs really disturb the water and he nearly capsizes (or nearly gets shot) every time!

Every morning at 8:00, we'd stand at attention as the neighborhood speakers played the Star Spangled Banner reveille.  At night we'd retire the colors while Taps was played.

We experienced Fraulein Maria fervor while running through the lush Connecticut College Arboretum.

Quin + Christian, photo #3.  We're planning to mail Christian to Connecticut every summer so these two cousins can hang out! 

Can't wait to visit Connecticut again!

Our last destination was Palmyra, NY, to rendezvous with all the Babbels (Haglunds, Hahls, and Tyson), minus my parents who were in China.  It was a 6 hour drive from Connecticut.  When we arrived, we headed to Joseph Smith's childhood home and the Sacred Grove behind his house.  It was so lovely and peaceful in those woods. 

Our hotel was next to the Erie Canal, and we loved strolling along it every day. 

This may be small potatoes to everyone else, but my sister Elise and I actually had a book signing one day!

Here we are!  Some people thought we were selling cookies instead of books, but besides that it went pretty well. 

After the book signing, everyone headed to the Hill Cumorah to get ready for the pageant.  It's like a Book of Mormon musical, but not THE Book of Mormon musical.  This is me with my old mission companion Martille Nohle, who drove up for the day. 

Here are some of the cousins with Hill Cumorah Pageant cast members.  We are definitely signing up to be in the play in about a decade.  My boys were MESMERIZED during the pageant, and it was such a wonderful, uplifting experience.

The following morning the 4 of us packed up the car for the final time to drive back down to Virginia.  We were relieved to roll into town 7 hours later with our wits somewhat intact, and with John cheering and running to greet us as soon as we pulled in the driveway.  Hooray!