Kirtland

We woke up very early on the 4th of July and headed to Kirtland where we were meeting Lacey and Tyler.  It was about a 5 1/2 hour drive for both of us. We decided to make a quick stop in Pittsburgh to take some pictures for our wall since Pittsburgh is still one of our favorite places on earth.

Looking at the city from Mt. Washington

When the city came into view I had to stop myself from tearing up. 

It kind of felt like we were coming home.

It's funny to think that Kylee was almost three when we moved to Maryland and doesn't really remember living in Pittsburgh at all. And this was Livy's first time being in the city.

Cody remembers bits and pieces: the bridges, his school, the zoo.

Then we had some muffins and Doritos and gatorade and hit the road.

Livy calls Doritos burritos.

orange fingers? check!

Our goal was to get some pictures of the bridges for our wall. So Steve jumped out of the car and got some pictures and then we picked him up on the other side. There was no traffic at 9:00 in the morning.

While we waited for Lacey and Tyler to meet us at the John Johnson farm we had a little picnic...

...stretched our legs...

...and got our wiggles out.

It was perfect weather (not hot or humid).

The tour was great.

Everyone liked it except for Colton. So I played outside with him on the grass when he started to get sick of the tour.

The farm is so beautiful.

Then we decided to find us a campsite before it got too late. We found this beautiful little spot 20 minutes south of Kirtland in Headwaters State Park. We didn't realize that it was an Amish community until we started seeing road signs with horses and buggies on them. Right next to the parking lot for the campsite was a stable for the horses.

The kids were so excited to use our new tent in the actual outdoors and not just the living room.

Lacey got the kids to help her gather wood for a fire.

I Spy Kylee

After dinner at Pizza Hut we found the local high school and had a great time lighting fireworks. Lacey and Tyler provided what seemed like an endless supply of fireworks and let the kids help. They were in heaven.

The Roman candles should really be called magic wands. They were trying to light the other fireworks by shooting them with the flames from the Roman candles.

Tyler and Cody were Pyro Buddies.

We decided to save a few fireworks for when it got dark. So we headed back to the campsite. We met up with a Ranger who was so nice.

We started with a lantern.

And then we did some "big bombs" that were a great finale.

We ended the night with S'mores!

In the morning we stopped by the Kirtland Temple to take some pictures.

Then we headed to Historic Kirtland and got the tour of the Newel K. Whitney store, the Whitney home, the Johnson Inn, the Sawmill, and the Ashery.

Sawmill

Our last stop before heading home was the Stone Quarry.

We are so glad we were able to fit a quick trip in and that Lacey and Tyler live close enough to do things with. 

It was a great 4th of July!