fix bayonets, and charge!

we just so happened to visit gettysburg on the 150th anniversary of the last day of the actual battle, which meant that it was very crowded, but absolutely amazing.  to keep with the theme of our vacation thus far, our morning in gettysburg was a very wet one.  super rainy, which worried us at first, but then we decided we wanted to do a driving tour, and then we weren't worried anymore.  before we made that decision, however, we were wandering aimlessly and ran across a large group of actors who were participating in the reenactments, and i have to say that it was the perfect thing to get us in the right mood and state of mind to do some historical adventuring.

our first official stop after driving around like chickens with our heads cut off was the visitor center to buy our driving tour cd's and take some pictures.

there were so many people dressed up!  i'm a sucker for any kind of dress-up in the first place, but i especially loved it in this situation.  it really helped us to visualize and imagine what took place 150 years ago.

we paused our cd and stopped a lot so that we could get out and get a good look at the scenery.  talk about beautiful!  but kind of a bittersweet view when you realize what took place on this ground.  and so much of it!  i mean, it was just HUGE and knowing that they were hoofing it while carrying their weapons and everything they needed, as well as were possibly injured.  unbelievable!

my favorite time that we got out of the car was when we ended up being part of the reenactment of pickett's charge.  i didn't really understand the significance of what we were doing until we got home and watched the movie gettysburg, but in the moment i did appreciate the significant humidity and heat.  we saw them set off the cannons, and then we booked it to join our troops.

we were running a little late, so we may have taken a little shortcut.  didn't feel like one (especially with strollers), but it was.  i shouldn't complain about strollers, i know.

we finally met up with our troops, and let a couple of rebel yells with them.

after watching the movie, i just really can't believe general lee's stubbornness in making this charge up the middle.  they had to go over multiple rock walls and fences, and they were right out in the open.  it broke my heart when in the movie gen. lee tells maj. gen. pickett to return to his troops and he said that he didn't have any.  i don't know if any of that dialog actually happened, but it definitely helped me to understand what we helped to reenact that day.  so sad.

when we started the trek back to our cars we finally realized just how far we'd come.  and it was far.  eventually, the boys left the girls and kids to get the cars and bring them back to us.  our heroes.  they both found ticks on their legs, which freaked me right out, and i swear i felt ticks all over me the rest of the day.

we were clearly a hot sweaty mess the whole day.  like i said, it was humid and hot, and as a result so were we.  although the boy looks incredibly miserable in this shot, he was a super trooper all day!

our last big stop was the national cemetery.  the spot of president lincoln's gettysburg address.  it was the cherry on top of a pretty cool day.

possibly not the most respectful thing to be doing in a cemetery, on sacred ground.  i realize that now as i look at this picture.

HEEEEYYYY!  that is what i yelled at these poor fellows as i ran after them to stop them and force them to take a picture with me.  richard was a little embarrassed, but he laughed about my stalker/attacker tendencies for the rest of the trip.  i live to entertain him, and am obviously very good at it.  even though i'm just trying to live my life for real.

it was a long day, but we loved it.  and we were surprised yet again by what a perfect baby we were blessed with.  the best sport in the world, which was perfect for this crazy trip we were on.  we headed back to aunt mary's to get some rest before the big finale:  4th of july in washington d.c.