I started this blog at the end of the Summer in 2017, and quickly realized that I had no business trying to keep up on a blog. But I’m going to try a little harder this year. There were a couple of adventures that never made it here, but the backpacking trip with my youngest did make it to the  FFA Facebook Page.

So in an effort to get things going again, I’ll post about our recent trip to Gettysburg, PA. We were actually going for a wedding, but we extended the trip a couple of days. Imagine, if you will, exploring Gettysburg in sub-zero wind chills. There was a lot of time in the car, for sure. We drove all over Gettysburg National Military Park, and it was pretty great because we were basically the only ones there. Also, we were sure to stop for this epic selfie at the visitor center. The boys participated but were cringing inside.

Evenings were spent in our hotel room playing games. We usually bring Risk along when we travel via car because it’s a family favorite, even though my husband wins 98% of the time. It gives us something to do after a long day of sight seeing and/or traveling, and keeps the kids entertained enough.

When we were making plans to be in Gettysburg at the end of the year, I looked into the town’s New Years Eve plans. I was thrilled to learn that the Majestic Theater, right off of Lincoln Square, would be showing National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation! And it was free!! I was sure to reserve our tickets in advance. There were also plans for live bands and other entertainment in the Square throughout the evening. New years eve also happens to be our anniversary, and this made 16 years.

We had booked rooms at the Inn at Cemetery Hill, which was within a mile of Lincoln Square. It was pretty nice – the rooms were small, but they did the job. Also, it was not at all haunted, which is funny because Gettysburg is absolutely filled with ghost and haunted house tours. But this hotel – adjacent to an actual cemetery – was completely free of spirits. This was also the first time that we had booked a room for the boys to share alone. It worked out pretty well, but I think I prefer a suite to two different rooms.

We choose this hotel with the idea of walking to and from the festivities. But  4° F was the low that night, so we decided to drive. We headed to the theater and got our popcorn and our seats. The boys had never seen Christmas Vacation, and they were skeptical, but they ended up enjoying it, of course.

After the movie we spent an hour or so watching the performances. Hundreds of Thousands played, and they were great! I was amazed that they managed to play instruments in the cold. I could barely hold my hot chocolate, and they were playing guitars.

We didn’t stay at the square until midnight because the kids were pretty adamant that we head back to the hotel at around 10:45. But that was fine because I couldn’t feel my toes by that point. Back at the room, we played dozens of games of Uno, and taught the boys how to play Blackjack. After midnight hit, we all went to bed to rest up for the drive home the following day.