New England Trip! (part 1)

From July 2-12 my family went on vacation to New England! I can divide it into three parts, so I decided to post about it in three posts because I have so many pictures. :) Also we stayed at three different campsites. Our first campsite was near Boston; therefore, the first section of our trip was in Boston....of course. The first main thing we did in Boston (after taking forever to find the subway station and make it into the city) was to walk the freedom trail. All you have to do is follow the red brick trail down the middle of the sidewalk and stop along it to see some of the main historical sites there.

One of the quieter streets in Boston

 The grasshopper on top of Faneuil Hall, which was one of America's first public meeting venues.

 The Paul Revere house was one of the more interesting stops along the freedom trail, but we couldn't take pictures inside the house.

Old North Church, where 2 lanterns were lit to show that the British were coming by sea, not by land.

beautiful hydrangeas by the street on the way to Bunker Hill.

 Looking out from one of the windows of the Bunker Hill Monument, commemorating a battle that was actually mostly fought on one of the hill's near Bunker Hill. We climbed up a LONG spiral stairway that was kind of tiny, especially when people are coming down when you're going up--294 steps!

 Whale watching was definitely a huge highlight of our trip. This is the boat we rode. We had a very successful time and saw a humpback whale with her baby! 

As we were driving back we got a gorgeous view of the sunset and the Boston skyline. 

 Along with our two days spent in the city of Boston we spent part of a day in Plymouth which was a relaxing break from the many crowds in Boston.

 We went on the Mayflower II, a reproduction of the original. It was even taking on a voyage from Plymouth, England to Plymouth, Boston!

A view looking out over Plimouth Plantation, a living history museum where you could talk to people acting like they were living there in that time period.

 We had enough time to finish off our first leg of the trip with some time at the aquarium. We saw a lot, and I took a lot of pictures, but the penguins were cute so that's the picture I decided to post! :) (but we also saw sea lions, jellyfish, sea dragons, sea horses, fish, sea turtles, and more!)

On July 6th we left our campsite and headed on to the next campsite and part 2 of our journey! (And yes, we were at Boston on the Fourth of July, and no, we did not see fireworks :))

The Liberty Bell and more...

I know it's been awhile since I've posted and a lot of things have happened since then! So it might take me a couple posts to catch up with all the exciting things that happen at once. "When it rains it pours"... :P

event number one: ;)

We went to Philadelphia to see the liberty bell and independence hall and a couple other places. My camera battery died at the liberty bell though, so I didn't get many pictures, but you can check out my brother's blog to see more pictures. (click here) It was a really cold day but we had a good time!

 event number two: ;)

 I got together with some friends and we made food! We did a cooking challenge thing where we were given certain ingredients and had to make something without a recipe. It was an extra challenge because our stove wasn't working, so we had to use a griddle for some things...It was all so delicious!

And then some random pictures that I just felt like posting.... :P

I find eyes so fascinating, all the different shapes, sizes, and colors. This is my sister and I.

 I want warm weather!!!! :P

More later!

-Selena

Our Capitol

And my third post to catch up on my time away is a little different...Not in the woods but in Pennsylvania's Capitol building. This was for school...and we got to ride the train there! :) I can understand why it took 4 years to build and 21 years to decorate!!!

Out the train window... it was sort of a rainy day, as you can see.

And a random picture to tag on here :P The other day we watched a praying mantis laying her egg pouch. It was really awesome!

from above: A Bigger Perspective

Last Saturday my parents surprised me and my siblings with a ride on a small plane! It is my mom's cousin's plane and he flew us. I have only ridden on a plane once before when I was 1 and a half, and I don't remember it at all, so this was so exciting and fun! =)

This was a cemetery. They (along with most things =) ) look so interesting from above.

We flew over my grandparents house...

And our house!

The tan one with the pool =)

My brother took these last two pictures....getting on the plane 

and the wind turbines.

It's amazing getting such a different perspective on where I live, seeing the "bigger picture" from above.

a day at my grandparent's home

The other day we went to my grandparents to help shell peas from their garden and just hang out. This is me and my cousin:

 Grandpa had a surprise for us -a go-kart that he bought from a neighbor and fixed up!

PS. This was the day that I learned you could make homemade marshmallows! look it up, i'm not joking! 

Thanksgiving! Etc.

Hope you all had a marvelous Thanksgiving! (That's my substitute phrase for Happy Thanksgiving since Thanksgiving already passed ☺) I did! We traveled out to Ohio where our cousins live... and stayed at their new house for Thanksgiving. They have a dog....and I love dogs ☺. It was the first time I had a dog sleep on the same bed as me ☺. And I loved seeing their new house and my cousin Emily's room....and her recent artwork! And watching the little plays my sister and a cousin her age did for us☺. And planning and doing a mystery meal for everyone with my cousin Emily. ☺☺☺☺☺☺☺ Yes, this is a smiley post ☺.

Well. to rewind a little bit. I'd like to give you a little summary of the what Ken Ham talked about when we heard him speak at the Creation Museum.
He spoke about Genesis.

He asked the question, How do you tell Atheists about Jesus?

You start in Genesis! In the beginning. Often we start with the gospel and revelation. But Genesis 1:1-11 is the foundation to the rest of the Bible.

Revivals aren't seen much now because the culture changed. Revivals worked when people thought of God as God. They didn't hear the word God and say, which god??

The culture then was what Ken Ham called the Acts 2 culture. The Jews started with God's Word. Their stumbling block was the crucifixion. They had foundational knowledge.
“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
Acts 2:22-24

Now we see more of an Acts 17 culture. It starts with man's word. There is no concept of the fall, or Adam and Eve. It's evolution based. These people need the foundation before you tell them about how Jesus came, and about salvation.
For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’
Acts 17:23-28

Churches often approach people like they used to be more, the Acts 2 culture. But not how most are today, the Acts 17 culture.

God gave us the beginning first, because it's the beginning! It's important we tell the foundation, then about the Savior.

That's where we had to walk out 15 minutes early to meet with the rest of the group, so I didn't get to hear the conclusion. But that was something you can think a little about, just some food for thought.

Johnstown!

On our way to the Creation Museum (I posted about that here) we stopped at Johnstown to visit the flood museum and the world's steepest vehicular inclined plane! And when we got there we were told it was CLOSED to the public...!! What? They changed their hours on their website...it must have been right after the moms planned our trip to Johnstown. But they were super kind about it and we even got a tour! The tour guide was very knowledgeable and so nice! While we were waiting to know for sure if they would let us in we ate lunch in a park in the middle of town, pictured below.

When we walked into the museum the whole back wall looked like that ↓. It shows how full of debris the water was when it his Johnstown. Not exactly beautiful beach water....

 There was an awesome 3d display case thingy that showed how the water broke through the dam and flowed down through the mountains and into Johnstown.

 

 It showed it with moving lights. And the red is the fire that happened at the stone bridge when all the debris clogged up. There is a picture of the stone bridge later on, so keep reading :).

 This is a famous picture portraying the extreme damage that happened.

 This is some water in a bottle from the flooding. Yuck.

facts about the flood: (a sign in the museum)

 

 

 

 Above the museum there was an old running track. It was super small. The guy who donated the building for the museum was fond of physical and mental strength. Therefore, a track and a museum. 

 Looking at the pictures

 A little house next to the museum. After the flood they brought in mostly pre-assembled houses like this one for those whose houses were destroyed in the flood. They were called an Oklahoma house because that's where the houses were brought in from. Tiny! The families who would have lived in these were bigger also. Imagine living with approximately nine siblings in that ↓ house!

 And....

 And that's what it looks like ;)

 High water mark sign on a bridge!

 Going up!

 This is the stone bridge I was talking about earlier.

 And the view of Johnstown from the top of the incline plane. The incline plane was built after the Johnstown flood so that in future floods people could escape up the hillside faster.

 Mom and I at the top