Jamie had a training thing in Harpers Ferry the first two weeks of June. Adrian and I went with him the first week and then Fritz joined us the second week.

Adrian couldn’t get past a “bump” in the play place at a Burger King and insisted I come in and help him figure it out. It turned out the bump was actually just footholds for climbing up a tube, kind of like a ladder. Climbing in a play place is not easy when you are not a small child, by the way.

Adrian and I spent a whole day at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. He insisted on wearing a Burger King crown the entire day. It is a little odd for people to address your child as “King Adrian.”

Adrian had no trouble navigating the very old, carved into the side of the hill, rock stairs up to the old church. I, however, was rather grateful for a nice rest sitting in the cool church after that climb.

We walked across the bridge next to the train tracks a few times. It’s part of the Appalachian Trail, close to midway between Georgia and Maine.

He insisted I take his picture taken on this random corner and wouldn’t move until I took it.

The story of John Brown (well, pretty much anything in a museum) really caught Adrian’s attention. We went to the John Brown Wax Museum, a little, rather dusty place with wax dioramas and descriptions of what each scene represents from John Brown’s life. Adrian wanted me to read every word to him. He was fascinated.

The boys did a lot of swimming. We went to the hotel pool pretty much every day. (By the way, those frog life vests are one of the best inventions ever. It made it much easier for me to take two non-swimmers to the pool alone and also allowed them both a little more freedom in the pool.)

Fritz tried sushi for the first time. Verdict: He loved it! (Yes, that is the chunk of raw fish – salmon – kind.)

We went back to Harpers Ferry National Historical Park before heading home, this time along with Jamie and Fritz. The year markings show how high the flood waters got in each of those years. Jamie’s almost 6′ tall and then Adrian on his shoulders with his arms up adds a couple more feet. Those were some pretty deep floods!

We had a really good two weeks (and I hear the big kids had a lot of fun with their grandparents while we were gone, too)..