Family Trip (part 2)

Here are some more pictures of a few stops we made along the way:

Abigail making her Grandpa Birx proud

This is Cumberland Gap.  It was made famous by Daniel Boone as the passage through the mountains from Virginia into the Kentucky frontier.  It is also the location where VA, TN & KY meet.

Ahhh...

The girls LOVED climbing on all the rocks

This was a cool rock we found on our hike up to the Cumberland Gap overlook.  Somehow it stayed balanced like this on top of the other rock (notice Rebecca peeking her head around the tree) ...

... and here is Rachel holding up the precariously perched rock so it doesn't fall onto her big sister!

Chuckle

Here are the girls in both Kentucky AND Virginia at the same time!  We don't waste any time when we travel!

It just wouldn't be a true Birx family trip without a cannon  :)

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Here we are at the Natural Tunnel near Duffield, VA.  We rode this ski lift down to see the tunnel.  Talk about steep and scary with 4 little kids!  This picture really doesn't show just how steep it was.  No seat belts, just a bar that lifts over your head.  I asked the guy how many people had fallen off and died on this lift and all he said was, "Well, none this week!"  Very reassuring...  :)

We arrived down saftely and boy was it worth the scary trip!  It was beautiful!  This is not the Natural Tunnel -- this is man made so the railroad could go through.  That huge rock wall on the right wraps all the way around to the Natural Tunnel...

THIS is the Natural Tunnel (see Daniel with the girls on the left to get an idea of how huge the tunnel is!).  The tunnel was cut by the creek through the mountain; a railroad and the creek both pass through the natural tunnel.

We even got to see a train go through -- very cool!

We also stopped at this bridge -- New River Gorge Bridge.

It carries US-19 across the New River near Fayetteville, WV.  It is the 2nd highest vehicular bridge in the world.  You could stack the Washington Monument and (2) Statues of Liberty under it and still have 20' to spare!  Amazing!

Family Trip (part 3)

Camping!  We met Daniel's 4 brothers and their families, Daniel's Cousin David and his family, and Daniel's parents at Kumbrabow State Forest in West Virginia for our annual camping trip!  We had great weather -- only about 1 1/2 days of rain and the rest was beautiful!  We really love this time with family!

Our cute little home for 5 days

Hannah and Lillian

Uncle Mark putting Rachel to sleep... ahhh

The Birx Bunch looking good in their camping gear

The 2009 babies

Philip Christian -- Rachel Clara -- Luke Nathanael

Playing in the stream (a favorite pastime)

Grandpa reading one of his stories after lunch

We really enjoyed meeting Luke for the first time -- what a keeper!!

Happy FIRST birthday, Luke!

Rebecca hanging out with Daddy

Cousin Jonathan didn't want to get his fingers messy with the smore -- pretty tricky!

The girls had a mass grave site for any bugs/lizards that died during our camping trip -- may they rest in peace

Sharing old camping memories from days gone by  :) 

Drew showing me one of his many funny faces  :)

It's hard work playing all day long

The girls would literally fall asleep as soon as their heads touched their pillows...

... Rachel, too

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On the way to Daniel's parent's house after camping we stopped at this church.  It claims to be the smallest church in 48 states 

"Our Lady of the Pines" -- Horse Shoe Run, WV

Here are all the Birx grandkids minus Luke and the baby in Sharon's tummy  :)

Family Trip (part 4)

Here are some pictures of the girls having fun around Grandpa and Grandma's place:

When Grandpa weeds his garden he means business!

Abigail and Cousin Drew hanging out with Grandpa on his tractor

Don't go anywhere, Grandpa!

Rachel trying out another one of Grandpa's tractors

Rebecca frolicking in Grandpa's garden

Posing by Grandma's pretty flowers

Daniel jumping over all the girls... why not, right?!

Getting some yummy sno-balls with Uncle Josh, Aunt Alisha, Hannah, Drew and G&G Birx

I think they like their sno-balls!

We went to a park near the BWI airport and watched the planes fly over

Family Trip (part 5)

We took the Lightrail into Baltimore's Inner Harbor with Daniel's parents.  While there we toured 3 different ships, did some shopping, and enjoyed the scenery.

Getting ready to tour the USS Constellation

Lillian trying out a sailor's bed

The Chesapeake Bay in the background

I think this picture is so funny!  It reminds me of a picture you'd find in a magazine of some celebrity who's being followed by the paparazzi  :)

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Another day we toured the Herr's Chip Factory in Nottingham, Pennsylvania.  You can't buy this brand here in WI so Daniel always stocks up on their crab chips!

Looks like Phyllis doesn't have to cook anymore... there's a new cook in the family!

After the Herr's tour we went to Daniel's brother's house (Nathan) in PA.  As always, we had a really nice time with them!  Thank you, Nathan and Sharon!  

Rebecca and Sarah Beth enjoying some ice cream together

I think Philip liked his ice cream too!

Family Trip (part 6)

We went to Stratford Hall with Daniel's parents, the birthplace of Robert E. Lee, and then drove through George Washington's birthplace (all in VA).  We spent most of our time on the beach of the Potomac River looking for shells and shark's teeth!  The girls thought that was really fun!

The Potomac River in the background

It was a little sunny  :)

If you're on the beach you're in Virginia, but if you go into the water you're in Maryland!

Mmmm... yummy sand!

Grandpa, Daniel and the girls digging for shark's teeth

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This is what we looked like traveling back home to Wisconsin -- all packed in with no room to spare!

We had such a fun time with family!  The two weeks went by way too fast.  We now look forward to traveling back out there for Christmas in only 6 months!! 

Thank you for everything, Tim and Phyllis!