Connecticut State Capitol

Ah... Hartford, Connecticut.  Very impressively large Capitol Building.  With an underground walkway system leading to more offices. 

And proudly displaying their replica of the Liberty Bell.  Each Capitol was given one cast from the same mold as the original.  Most have cleverly PAINTED on the crack that is only in the original (you know, in Pennsylvania.  You saw National Treasure, right?)

The "new" part of the capitol...

Back in the original building, The Genius of Connecticut protects the rotunda.

A tree trunk that has been preserved and put on display as it sports a cannon ball from the Civil War.

The Hall of Flags

Click on the picture below so you can read about Layfayette's very cool bed...

Inside the massive House of Representatives.  We loved all the beautiful stained glass windows and light fixtures. 

Interior of the Dome...

Look closely at the white portion and you can see the spiral staircase leading to the outside.  My boys REALLY wanted to climb up there... not allowed.  Rats.

The Senate

The Charter Oak Chair... also known as the Wishing Chair...

... and not just because Little McGregor's made wishes there...

... they weren't the only Wishers this day!  I'm pretty certain Ben was Wishing the tour would be over soon!

Back in the "New Part"... we loved the floor!!!

Optical Illusion!

You know how we are about the historical details! 

Beautiful flowers and grounds...

Amazingly beautiful building!

Notice the statues...

... and the empty spaces.  For Future Famous People.

... or according to Carly, "A statue of Carly!"

The view from the side...

...and back

... and Ben so appropriately rolling down the back lawn of the Capitol Building.  I'd say we can't take these kids anywhere, but I'm pretty sure I told him he could!

... and the newest McGregor obsession.  Being Statues.  All you need is an empty slab of concrete... You will be seeing this again.  Note Ben's Sonic pose.  Nice.

There was a small museum in the Supreme Court building (behind the statues)... and I felt pretty old when I realized that I used to have that curling iron (although, it was brown, not yellow!), the hair dryer, makeup mirror, and can opener.  Grrrrrr.

North Carolina Capitol

It wouldn't be a McGregor Vacation without a trip to capitol buildings... Yes, we planned out our trip to hit as many as possible!  Our first stop was Raleigh, NC.  The first thing we noticed about this building was how WONDERFULLY symmetrical it is!  I love order.

As we are finding, most Capitol Buildings have BEAUTIFUL grounds... this time Ben and Carly discovered many cannons and guns, which they thought were pretty cool.

This was a REALLY moving statue... I actually caught my breath when I looked up and saw it for the first time...  A Vietnam War Memorial.

                                    

We were visiting right after Father's Day, and someone had put these cards in the gun.

And a flag that was in the grass at the base of the statue.

Inside.  When we first went in, a receptionist was standing behind this desk explaining the "Self Guided Tour" to us... she went over a brief history of the State House (NC's is now a just a museum).  She brought up that the first one was made out of wood, and burned to the ground (a common issue with MANY of the State Capitols) so "they built this one to be FIREPROOF".  And probably no one will find this NEARLY as entertaining as we did, but please, appreciate the fire alarm pull station which we were staring at while she was telling us this.  Ok, we are admittedly easy to entertain.

The Library... it has been refurbished to how it looked in 1859.  Loved it.

The House of Representatives.  Ryan got ahead of me at this point and I called out, "Ryan, where are you?" and he answered... "I'm in the House".  Again, easily entertained.  They do not pass bills here anymore.

Looking up into one of the smaller oval shaped domes.

Senate Chambers... again, restored to 1859 era.  Loved the top hat! 

We also enjoy all the old light fixtures...

And I personally enjoy all these cute people.

Carly with our Capitol Book now bearing the North Carolina stamp!

The Fire Proof Lady was kind enough to snap our picture as we were about to leave.  They have a very interesting statue of George Washington in the rotunda... the artist who sculpted it in the 1800's was Italian and had obviously never seen GW, so he went with a picture someone sent him, and decided he needed to look like a Roman Emporer. 

Fishers of Men... ok, of Mackeral

Another great day... after church this morning, Tim took Ryan and Ben and Jeff "Deep Sea Fishing".  Apparently, they had a GREAT time.  Ben caught the first fish! 

This is the picture I got on my cell phone!  He was pretty excited about his catch.  He took a few pictures with his camera...

(well, I think Ryan actually took this one!)

That's Jeff on the left... he doesn't look happy in the picture, but I know he had a great time, too!  The boys were pretty happy he could go with them!

While they were gone, Laurie and I and the girls went shopping.  We went to the Apple Store where Laurie very efficiently got her iPod touch replaced, and Kristin showed my how to send text messages with photos to facebook.  That girl is always giving me techno-tips!

Carly checking up on her Webkinz!

When we got back to Laurie's house, we rinsed out and dried out tye-dyed shirts from yesterday.  They turned out REALLY cute (I mean, if I do say so myself!!!)...

The one on the left is the one I made for Laurie, and the one I made for Carly.  No way was I letting her use the dye herself.  Carly, not Laurie.  I made hers because SHE was making us dinner at the time... and seriously, I do have priorities!

Top left is mine, and it's a Bullseye style, and beside it is Ben's (spiral, like Laurie's and Carly's) and Kristin's on the bottom, which was "scrunch".  They were pretty fun to make!

As we were finishing up our project, my aunt and uncle came over!  Pretty excited to see them, although I didn't get a photo of Aunt Syl.  I always get Carly's picture with Uncle Ike because they have the same eyes!  She definately has his same shade of Pale Baby Blues!  We had a really great visit with them, and are looking forward to them coming back after our Big Camping Trip!  Carly and Kristin spent the afternoon baking (you know Carly's Mama doesn't bake!!!) and Carly "helped" Kristin make Uncle Ike some Macaroons!  Mmmmmm.... Another really great day.