Jill Visits

In October a couple of my dearest friends came to visit. I love Runner Reunions. This is the second time that Jill has visited me in Maryland (first here) because she is just the best.

Jill arrived on a Wednesday. The next day we drove into Baltimore to meet her brother and his girlfriend at the Walters Art Museum. Felix was a really good sport with all the grownup activities that day (a museum and a long lunch). Luckily, it was a homeschool day at the museum, so he did get in a little playtime.

On Friday, the whole family went to Harpers Ferry. It's basically my favorite place on earth, and it's tradition for the Stephens to take a Harpers Ferry trip every fall. I really wanted Jill to experience the splendor that is Harpers Ferry.

We did all of my favorite things. We had ice cream and lunch at the crab cake place. We walked through the John Brown Museum and strolled along the river. We crossed over the train tracks and walked on the Appalachian Trail.

But I got to do one thing in Harpers Ferry that I had never done before. I finally got to hike up to the overlook.

After we crossed over the train tracks we took the trail down to the Maryland Heights Trail trailhead.

Along the way we found the perfect spot to throw rocks in the water. So Jill and I left the boys there and booked it up the trail.

On the hike:

And then we reached the top. Check out the great panoramic shot that Jill got. You can see the town, both rivers, and the surrounding hills. This is why I wanted to do this hike.


I'm pretty sure that Beckett will be ready to do this hike by our next visit to Harpers Ferry. I'm excited to do it again.

After lunch and ice cream with the whole crew, Jill and I split off on our own again to do some of the less kid-friendly things. We stopped in a couple of museums. Of course, I had to take Jill up the rock stairs to the church.



Meanwhile Beckett and Felix were back at the river with Nate.

This was our view as Jill and I caught up with them at Virginius Island.

 I think they had a pretty good day too.

On her last day in town, Jill and I went to Washington and museum hopped. Which is apparently what I like to do best in Washington. We started at the Native American Museum, which neither of us had ever been to. We saw a really interesting Inca Exhibition there. Then we went to the Hirshorn, which was not Jill's favorite. We hopped across the mall to go to the National Gallery and found out that it was closing in 30 minutes! Yikes! The other museums were open for another hour, so we were kind of blindsided by that. Time for a super speedy tour. I took Jill to see the Leonardo (the only one in the U.S.), the Cassatts and the Impressionists, the Rembrandts, and of course, the Vermeers. I think we did okay for only have 30 minutes. Afterwards we took a break on the mall, where I took this picture and then proceeded to break Jill's phone when I dropped it on the gravel. Sorry, Jill. I still feel embarrassed about that, but I am glad you had Apple Care.

We tried not to let the phone incident get us down. So we went to the Smithsonian American Art Museum and looked at some of the paintings from my dissertation. Then we drove home, picked up some dinner and cake ingredients so that we could celebrate Jill and Nicole's birthdays after I picked Nicole up from the airport that night.

Up Next: Nicole Visits

Fall Means Harpers Ferry

We have a tradition around here: every fall we go to Harpers Ferry. There's really no place that I love more. This year we visited all of our favorite spots and did all our favorite activities:

1. Ice cream in our favorite courtyard.

2. Throwing rocks in the water.




3. Watching trains! We were at Harpers Ferry for about four hours, and we saw FIFTEEN trains. That's a new record. There are two tracks in Harpers Ferry: one that goes by the station and one that goes along a trestle. We ran halfway across the town to watch the train go across the trestle because that is a rare sight.  Lots of trains makes for happy children.

We also did a few things that we haven't done before.

1. We finally hiked up to the cemetery. The boys were tired after all those stairs.

2. We checked out the ruins of St. John's Episcopal Church. The church was built in 1852 and was used as a barracks and a hospital during the Civil War, where it sustained heavy damage. It was rebuilt, but later abandoned when a new Episcopal Church opened in 1895.

3. We explored a little beach and the surrounding cliffs on Virginius Island.

 
It was a beautiful day.

P.S. So many more visits to Harpers Ferry: here, here, here, here, and here

Fall in Maryland

Fall is my very favorite season in Maryland.We moved here in the fall two years ago, and I think it made me like Maryland more because every day was so beautiful.

Fall has traditionally been our exploring season. The weather is finally nice again after a sticky summer, and we are eager to get outside and see new sights. This year was a little different because we had so many big events going on in the autumn months: Nate went to Alaska, we all went to Utah, and Nate had a big deadline at work. We still managed to squeeze in a few fall outings (in between me lamenting that the most beautiful season was slipping by).

Beckett had a field trip to a farm. The weather was beautiful and warm that day. Just the drive would have made the trip worth it--it was so pretty. 

All the kids got popcorn to take home.

Felix was a real trooper through the corn maze.

This was the best I could do for a pumpkin picture. Felix kept rolling his pumpkin down the hill. He thought it was a ball.

One Sunday afternoon we hiked to this bridge. We kind of stumbled onto this hike, and it was really quite a find. It's in the Patapsco Valley State Park and is really close to our house. The hike has almost everything our boys could desire:

A bridge

At the trail head. We will hike down to the base of the bridge.

Fall foliage

Okay, maybe this one was mostly for the adults.

Railroad tracks

And a train tunnel!

Everyone looks goofy in all the tunnel pictures. Best I could do.

And the hike ends at the river -- a perfect spot for throwing rocks into the water

Felix tolerated the pack.

Beckett kept telling us, "I am such a good hiker." And he really is. I was taking that kid hiking before he even turned two. When Beckett was Felix's age he had been on many hikes at the Ernie Miller Nature Center. Felix, however, is a lousy hiker. He's always sitting down, picking up leaves and rocks and eating them, and turning around and heading back.

Look! A picture of me makes an appearance on this blog. I step out from behind the camera.

We'll definitely go back. 

We also like to go to Harper's Ferry every fall. We went a little late in the season this year, so Harper's Ferry wasn't in its full glory, but we still had a good time.

Spiraling down to the Appalachian Trail.

Harper's Ferry is a great outing for the whole family. I think we saw seven trains this time, so Beckett was thrilled. Felix likes nothing better than being outdoors. Nate and I enjoy the scenery and the town. Everyone loves the ice cream. It's so nice to see the kids happy in a place that we can all enjoy so much too. (I guess this statement is a dig at all the places I take my kids that they love but that bore me to tears.)

We found this new spot to watch the trains.

Felix thinks he's suppose to sit down every time I pull out the camera.

A portrait of our stroller. Our first trip to Harper's Ferry is what inspired its purchase. It's also where we coined the term "Extreme Strollering." A sport at which Nate could really excel, if it were actually a thing.

Felix loves throwing rocks into the water.

As always, fall was over way too quickly.