Big Day in D.C. - Part 1

After a side trip to Gettysburg, we spent another day in D.C. trying to see as many things as we could. Looking back at these pictures, maybe we tried to cram a little too much into a single day. Whew! The first stop was Ford's theater. They were setting up for a Christmas performance on the stage. If we had it to do over again, I would have spent more time in the museum before you enter the theater.

Books written on Abraham Lincoln

After taking a peek at the White House, we walked all the way back to the Smithsonian area and met up with Meme and Pop at the Air and Space Museum. It was Nate's favorite stop! He LOVED the flight simulator.

We didn't get a lot of great pics of the mall. The Capitol was in scaffolding and there where white tents and port-a-potties lining the mall in preparation for a big Veterans' Day concert. On a positive note, we got to hear some of the performers practicing for the concert. Jennifer Hudson singing the national anthem in the background as we walked from museums to monuments was my favorite moment of the trip.

We made a second quick trip to the Museum of American History to see Dorothy's ruby slippers and few other things we missed the first time. 

Nate was disturbed by the archaic Apple II. 

Ashley wanted to go back to the First Ladies Inaugural Gown exhibit. She especially loved the dresses worn by Jacqueline Kennedy and Nancy Reagan--two of the more fashionable first ladies. She remarked that Michelle Obama has some big feet! ;)

Gettysburg

First Trip to D.C.

We decided to take the kids out of school for a new days in November for a quick trip to Washington, D.C., with Wayne and Phyllis. We only had 2 full days in D.C., so we hit the highlights on the kids' first trip to the there. We started with a quick trip through the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. 

The next stop was the Museum of Natural History. Both kids loved this museum, and it's one of my favorites too. Nate was fascinated by all the bones, and Ashley could have spent all day looking at the  rocks and gemstones.

The next stop was the first of two trips Museum of American History. Nathan was fascinated buy the WWII exhibits, and Pop showed us where he was sent during the Vietnam War. We also saw the original Star Spangled Banner.

We ended the day by walking down to the Washington monument before catching the subway back to our hotel.

Halloween 2014

Sweet little kitty

Nate (Ghostbuster) ditched us to hang out with the Collins

The Time We Got Stuck on a Roller Coaster

Mom invited us to Magic Springs' Halloween event, "Magic Screams". The water park was closed for the season, but most of the other rides were open and some had a Halloween theme (black light bumper cars, haunted houses, etc.) I've never known my parents to be amusement park thrill seekers, but they went on almost EVERY ride -- upside down, twist and turn, you name it! Of course Mom was green around the gills after a couple of them, and I didn't even ask how Dad's back was doing the next day! 

Under the category "There's a First Time for Everything", we got stuck on the top of a roller coaster! I don't know if it happens a lot or if this is just required safety precaution, but there was a sign posted right beside us telling us what to do in the event that the ride has stopped. They eventually unloaded one car at a time and took us down the emergency stairs and trail through the woods. 

Nate's 12th Birthday - Part II

We continued the birthday celebration on Saturday (Nate's actual birthday) with a big tailgate at War Memorial. Nathan planned the menu which included brisket from Whole Hog and red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.  He also saved a special "Share a Coke with Nate" bottle to crack open on the big day. We enjoyed the great weather, great food, and great friends! 

Happy Birthday, Nate Dog! Looking forward to the next dozen years! Love, Mom 

Nate's 12th Birthday - Part I

The school calendar conveniently had another 4-day weekend scheduled around Nathan's birthday. We started his super-sized birthday weekend with a sleepover on Thursday night. Since a traditional birthday cake was on the menu for Saturday, Nathan requested birthday pie. I tried to spell "Nate" on them, but the peach one didn't show up very well. 

This year, they are still into Nerf guns and their iPods, but also invented a new game called "The Ebola". It was pretty much like tag but instead of being "it", you caught "The Ebola". It could be prevented by wearing a mask (think Spiderman or Darth Vader) or cured by Axe body spray and breathing into a Ziplock bag. I do not claim to be an expert in understanding 11 and 12-year old boys.