Gettysburg

Gettysburg is a place I've always wanted to visit, but somehow it just has never happened yet.  Now that the boys are getting older and really interested in history, it was the perfect time to go.  Our NJ cousins were here, and they wanted to go. The perfect excuse for us to finally get up there and see it.

Wow, what an amazing place!  I was sad we couldn't spend the entire weekend..there was so much to see and do. We spend a full day roaming the museum and battlefield and will be returning again for sure.  Its a mere 1 1/2 hours from, and just simply amazing!

Zootastic!

Two weeks ago, Dylan and I were treated to a very special night.  My dear friend Ronda had two extra tickets to the Zoofari event at the National Zoo.  Its a very special night, when the Zoo closes to the public and all the best area DC restaurants set up fancy tents and sample delectable foods. There is live music, and lots of special viewings of the animals.  We met Ronda and her friend, and it was so much fun for Dylan - even more so since it was on a school night!  Here are a few photos of the night.  Dylan said repeatedly how much fun he had, and that he couldn't wait to go to school the next day to tell all of his friends!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for a great night Ronda!

 

 

 

 

 

 

taking it in

I finally got around to downloading some photos I took weeks ago, and had forgotten all about an excursion into the city.  We tell the boys all the time how lucky we are to live where we live, and how people travel from all over the world to visit Washington DC.  They are really enjoying history and museums more than ever.  In fact, over the summer we're thinking about a long weekend to Gettysburg, which isn't too far from here either.  There is so much history near us, and so much to see and do.  I love it!

A few weekends ago, we had some mild weather and ventured into the city to the American History Museum.  The boys really loved the transportation exhibit, and I really enjoyed the black history March on Washington/Emancipation Proclamation exhibit.  Super interesting!

 

 

This exhibit about food is super interesting too, and included Julia Child's kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

Mt. Vernon

A couple weekends ago we had some mild weather for Januaray.  We decided to take advantage of it and journey to Mt. Vernon for a nice little day trip. It was a little rainy and I guess for once not many people had the same idea because it was more or less deserted.  No lines and we got to walk right into the houses and the museum. Excellent! The boys really enjoyed it.  Dylan is learning all about Virginia history this year and knows so much about the French and Indian War, George Washington and Native American history. So this was right up his alley!  He gets to go again this spring for the 4th grade field trip so he'll be a pro.

illuminating!

Yesterday was a rare day around these parts lately.  Andrew was home from work early, the boys didn't have much homework, and there was no Odyssey of the Mind, taekwondo or Webelos keeping us busy in the evening.  It wasn't very cold out, either, so we decided to hop in the car and check out a new walk thru holiday lights exhibit at a beautiful park in Vienna called Meadowlark Gardens.

These photos don't do it justice.  Trust me, its spectacular in person! And at the end, they have a giant bonfire where you can make s'mores!

Meadowlark Gardens Winter Walk of Lights turned out to be fantastic.  We all enjoyed it, and I highly recommend it to local friends!

 

 

 

I loved the purple lights the most, it reminded me of the Magic Kingdom at Disney last holiday season.

 

 

 

I don't know...maybe the blue ones were my favorite.  So pretty!

 

 

 

Happy Holidays!

shootin' turkeys

No, we didn't shoot our own turkeys for Thanksgiving but we could have.  Any visit to Grandpa Joe's these days is all about the main event for the boys - shooting guns.  See, Grandpa has a whole safe full of weaponry and we have absolutely none at our house.  Last summer, Grandpa gave the boys a lesson in Gun Safety 101.

I don't know how two boys born of my gun-hating flesh and blood can love guns so much, but at least if they are going to love them, let them learn safety from someone who is practically an expert.

We pulled up last Wednesday around lunch time and I don't think I had the car in park before the boys were already in the backyard checking out the pellet gun shooting range Grandpa had set up.

 

He had all sorts of containers filled with water, and as the boys shot and made contact, they shouted with excitement.  Dylan is actually a very good shot.  He and Andrew went with Grandpa and Uncle Chris to the real shooting range on Saturday to shoot real guns.  I stayed behind, but I heard he had a lot of fun.

 

 

My Dad had driven to Ohio and picked up Grandma Williams from her assisted living facility so she could spend the holiday with all of us.  I think it really did her well to be around all the great grandkids, although I'm sure she turned down her hearing aid more than once.

 

 

My Dad and Josh carved up one of the turkeys.

 

 

While Uncle Chris made his famous cranberry orange relish.

 

 

I whipped up my sweet potato souffle.

 

 

Grandma Bobbie sat down once the entire time we were there, I think. She has endless energy!

 

 

Another favorite for the boys each trip is helping Grandpa make chocolate chip pancakes.

 

 

 

Friday was a beautiful day, and I got Grandma Williams to sit outside with me for a bit.

 

 

And it must have worked up her appetite because later she had two pieces of pie!

 

 

Josh and Logan colored.

 

 

And we all did what we're so lucky to do ... spend time together, drinking a lot, laughing a lot and making memories.

 

 

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving too!

 

 

 

 

Air and Space Museum

We're so lucky to live 15 minutes from one of the absolute best museums ever - the Udvar Hazy Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.  We've been there many times through the years, but each time we see something new.  And as the boys get older, they appreciate it more as well. 

This past Sunday we needed to get out of the house for a few hours, and it was too chilly to be outside for long.  So we headed to Udvar and with great timing, stumbled upon a free guided tour with the most amazing tour guide.  I don't remember his last name, but Steve was his first name and he was so full of information and fascinating stories, he held our attention for almost two full hours. Great guy!  The museum has tons of docents who volunteer their time touring people around, many of them are veterans and have served in the military themselves.

We  hadn't seen the Space Shuttle Discovery since it arrived on top of an airplane this past spring.  Logan and I were lucky that day in April to be driving near the museum and saw the amazing sight of Discovery attached to the top of an airplane as it was flown into the Udvar Hazy museum for retirement.  You just can't believe how massive it is in person, and its just amazing it was attached to top of an airplane...how heavy that must have been!  You can see how they attached it here.

 

 

We brought along Midnight, the 1st grade mascot from Logan's class.  Logan kept a journal all weekend to share with his class about all the adventures we had with Midnight last weekend.

 

 

 

These are so big, I bet an Andrew and a half could stand up inside them.

 

 

 

Udvar Hazy also houses the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber used to drop the first atomic bomb at Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.

 

 

Also, since the museum sits adjacent to Dulles Airport, you can ride the elevator up and get a 360 degree view of the planes taking off and landing.  Midnight thought it was cool too.