We went on a family vacation (July 29th to August 8th) Virginia to visit Blake's family. We had an absolutely amazing time and thoroughly enjoyed it! We did so many things and I took so many pictures that it has taken me weeks to actually put together my blog post. (Well that and school started in between that time too. That will be a post for another day though.)
Day 1: Driving. We drove and drove and drove (21 hours straight ). We got lost in the backwoods of Maryland and I wouldn't recommend that. Blake kept joking (half joking) that the 3-eyed people were going to jump out and get us at any moment. I was scared to death because the road was narrow, winding, FAST, and dark. We won't go that way ever again. Amazingly, we all lived but were very tired when we finally reached the hotel that I never thought we'd see.
Day 2: Family. We hung out with the family catching up and letting everyone meet or get to know each other again. They have 4 kids: Samantha (9), Spencer (7), Jane (5 - she's 3 weeks younger than Elizabeth), and Nicole (2). Most of us hadn't even met the 4 youngest kids before this trip (Elizabeth, Caleb, Jane and Nicole). They have absolutely adorable kids and it was so fun for our kids to play with their cousins.
Samantha and Anna:
Jane and Elizabeth (aka Twins):
Nicki and Caleb:
I have one of Spence and Lydia, but I'll show you that one later.
Day 3: Arlington Cemetery. Very cool, in a sad sort of way. But unbearably HOT as you can see in these pictures. (Though not much different from KS lately).
John F. Kennedy's grave. (I took these for my mom - I think I remember her liking him.) See how hot we all were!
Samantha adopted Blake as her Buddy for the entire trip.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I normally don't post "place" pictures because you can find better pics on the internet. But this was really neat to see in person.
The kids were trashed. When we got back to the hotel, they ran ahead and this is how we found them waiting in the hallway for us. The germ-aphobe in me cringed, but I still thought it was funny.
Day 4: Deep Sea Fishing. We chartered a boat... this boat...
and took the family out in the ocean to catch fish. I'm terrified of water... and boats! And I had anxiety since the day Blake got this crazy idea. I hate water, especially deep water... and I get motion sick easily. I took Dramamine and it worked. Amazingly, I actually had a great time! Everyone caught fish... really cool fish: puffer fish, sea robins, blue something or other (Blake could tell you), bass, and even 2 sharks! My favorite part was seeing DOLPHINS!!! I love, love dolphins and so does Anna so I think they came over just to see us and give us a show. So, so cool!!! So I survived fishing in the ocean and even had fun. And no one fell off the boat (which I kept thinking would happen any second.)
Blake living his dream:
I gave all the kids Dramamine right before because I didn't know if any of them get sea sick. I figured sleepy was better than puking. It completely knocked out Michael and Lydia, which is sad because Michael was so excited for this trip:
He eventually woke up, but was in a daze the whole time:
Katie caught a
puffer fish!!! Nathan did too, but he never told me about it so I didn't get a picture of his.
Samantha and Aunt Brynn both caught
sharks! (SO jealous!)
Grandma and Nathan with scary hair. I didn't think it looked all that bad, but Grandma kept stressing about her hair. It was so hot and humid on this day that everyone had scary hair.
Elizabeth and Grandpa:
Brett, Brynn, and Nicole:
Caleb fishing with Grandma and Grandpa. He really got to know them during this fishing trip and was Grandpa's buddy after that. He still talks about fishing with Grandma and Grandpa. These 2 pictures totally made that scary drive through 3-Eyed Canyon worth it!
The whole family:
We ate dinner at a local crab place. We were SO TIRED and it was like 9:30, but we had to eat. Blake loves sea food so what better way to end a fishing trip than eating sea food on the coast? Just a tip, don't order pizza from a place that sells sea food. It's not very good. I should have gone across the street and had ice cream for dinner. The seafood loving people enjoyed it though.
Day 5: The Beach! We drove to Delaware (another 3.5 hours of driving) and visited Dewey Beach. It was beautiful and so much fun! My kids have never even seen the ocean. And thinking about it, I've seen the Pacific Ocean twice (never the Atlantic) and I've never actually played on the beach nor have I gone swimming in the ocean. I absolutely love it! I didn't swim (remember I hate water?) but I played in the waves and sand with my kids. It was incredibly fun to watch my kids play in the ocean and the sand and to see them having the time of their lives! I could have stayed a few more days and been completely happy, which is saying a lot. I say I "could have stayed", but that was before I tried to get the sand off them (and everything!) Sand is NOT my friend. I found sand in the strangest places for days afterward. Don't like sand!
Caleb experiencing a wave for the first time. Isn't this awesome?!
C
I got a pic of all 4 of the boy cousins in one spot at the same time... pretty hard to do.
Michael wants to live on the beach now. The Dramamine wore off and he was absolutely in heaven! He swam and also looked for shells in the waves as they rolled in. I don't think he came onshore at all, and I know he skipped lunch.
Looking for shells. He found some really neat ones!
Lydia. She spent most of the time "body surfing". I wish I would have taken a picture of that.
Uncle Brett made a sand sting ray:
Caleb loved digging:
The quote of the trip: Anna was getting ready to eat lunch and said, "Oh man, my hands have sand on them!" while she looked like this:
Michael helping Katie in a wave. Katie didn't stop laughing the entire time. She loves water and loved the beach!
I have to mention here that to get to Delaware, we had to cross Chesapeake Bay. And to do that, you have to go over the Bay Bridge. Remember my comment about hating water? I also don't like bridges because they go
over water. I was told it was a pretty scary bridge before I ever got there. When I saw it, I about had a heart attack. But the good news is that
I drove over this bridge... twice! Me! I'm so proud of myself. I read about it when I got home and learned it's ranked the 9th scariest bridge in the world and one of the longest too (like #20) I believe it's one of the scariest!!
This is the view that almost gave me a heart attack. "I have to cross THAT?!"
See how far up it goes?
And how long it is.
Day 6: Recovery and Shopping. We were all completely exhausted so we took a day to rest and just hang out with a family. We played cards and laughed and rested. Blake sent me shopping with his mom and Brynn in the afternoon while he watched the kids and made dinner. (Did I mention how good my husband treats me?) We went to some cute little shops in Middleburg, VA. I totally loved it - mostly for the atmosphere and scenery.
Day 7: National Archives, Museum of Natural History and Slumber Party. We decided to leave a few kids home with Grandma and Grandpa for this day. Gma and Gpa have already seen the monuments and didn't want to go out, and I knew Katie wouldn't enjoy all the walking. Caleb decided at the last minute that he didn't want to go and I thought it would be good for him to get to know the grandparents. I felt horribly guilty leaving them behind, but it turned out to be a good decision. They enjoyed themselves and got to visit with grandma and grandpa, and the walking would have been torture for Katie. She wouldn't have made it. It was really nice that we didn't need a stroller (probably the first time ever!), especially because it was super busy. Caleb really got to know Grandpa and sat on his lap from here on out. I love this picture because it reminds me of when the older kids used to do this back in Utah. I'm glad Caleb got the chance to sit and eat with Grandpa like they did.
We took the metro downtown. Lydia says this was one of her favorite parts of the trip. Being the dorky tourist that I am, I took pics of the metro. I've never been in a vehicle underground!
Once we got downtown D.C., we went to the National Archives and saw The Constitution. So cool! It's really starting to fade so we wanted to make sure we saw it since it will probably be too light to see it if we're ever back in D.C. They won't let you take pics, but here we are outside the Archives.
Then we ate lunch... from a cart on the street! I've never done that before... never even seen one. So I just had to try it since it looks like something I've only ever seen on a movie. (And yeah, I took a picture of it.) We ate on benches on the street with pigeons walking around us - another thing I've only seen in movies.
Doesn't this look like a scene out of a movie? OK, maybe I live a sheltered life.
My sister seems to think so. ;) But look Amy, we're doing fun things!
We walked thru some garden of sculptures (can't remember the name) to get to the Museum of Natural History. Nathan and I liked this metal tree.
And Anna had to see the fountain since it was the first thing she read about when reading the million books she read about Washington D.C. She was our tour/information guide everywhere we went since she did her homework. I was surprised at how much she knew!
We could have spent a few days in the museum alone. Michael was in his glory! He loved all the facts and animals and ran from one thing to the next and read every sign. The rest of us really enjoyed it too. However, by the end of the day, we all couldn't walk since we walked for 6 hours straight.
Shark! All my kids love sharks and we learned that Samantha does too!
Jewels!
And rocks! Or should I call them stones? Gems? I don't know. Geological stuff.
Nathan by a giant Topaz since that's his birthstone:
Hope diamond, the highlight of the trip for my Fashion Queen, Elizabeth:
Bugs!
Elizabeth and Jane checking out huge grasshoppers:
A fuzzy picture, but I love their faces.
Eeew, Nathan held a cockroach! Check out the look on the girl next to him.
Dinosaurs:
The ride back ... TIRED!
And because we weren't tired enough (haha), we sent the boys on a Boys Night Out and the girls stayed back and had a slumber party. No pics of Boys Night Out since I wasn't there (and they never even thought to take a pic). They were supposed to go see a guy movie, but were too tired so they went to the Cheesecake Factory and then to an electronics store (a very "guy" thing to do, I hear). The girls got their hair and nails done, watched a Barbie movie and ate Oreos. My girls were in heaven!
Mmmm, Orrreeeos!!
I should have said it was a Girls plus Caleb slumber party. He didn't get to go with the guys. Caleb got his thumb nails painted because he wanted to be included. Grandpa didn't like that much.
It's always good to rock out at a slumber party - especially to the end credits of a Barbie movie. They were hyped up on sugar from Oreos and aided by Aunt Brynn's enthusiasm for slumber parties. She's awesome, I love Brynn! Check out Lydia in the back there.
Day 8: Date Day and Monuments. All the kids stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa while Brett, Brynn, Blake and I went to theWashington D.C. Temple and then to lunch with no kids. It was really nice (for us, not so nice for the grandparents!) We went to see the monuments in the evening hoping that it wouldn't be as hot or crowded. We walked to see the Lincoln Memorial and drove around to see the rest.
Anna "holding" the Washington Monument.
Nathan is laughing because Blake kept sticking his finger in all the pictures I tried to take. Those two! They love to torment me.
Caleb and Grandpa (see how attached he is to Grandpa now?)
The girls thought it was hilarious that the building said "Bacon" on it (Henry Bacon, the architect of the Lincoln Memorial).
Looking for Kansas among all the states listed on the top of the building.
"We found Kansas!"
Katie really liked the wall with Abraham Lincoln and Freedom quotes. I thought that was really neat. She just came up to it all on her own and started touching it. She must just "know" it's special.
Day 9: Air and Space Museum. Hooray for air conditioning! I let each kid pick their favorite plane to have their picture taken next to.
Caleb liked the little planes because as he says, "I'm a little bit little."
Elizabeth picked the biggest... a space shuttle. Here she is standing under the back. This thing is massive! I thought it was funny to see such a tiny little girl by such a big plane.
Lydia picked a yellow plane:
Anna picked the shark plane. No surprise there - notice her new shark necklace from one of the gift shops. Yes, I still have a weakness for giftshops!
Katie wanted to pose by an astronaut. She did this all on her own.
Michael picked the plane that flies over the ocean, of course, because of his love of water. This thing is huge too. From the top:
And next to it:
And Nathan, who always loves to be unique, picked some kind of engine thing. Typical Nathan. He makes me laugh!
Some more pics:
The Twins:
Hey, WHAT did you put on me mom? (After looking at this picture, I wonder how many kids put their hands in these things. Eeew! Why did I ever let him?)
Space shuttle - the same one Elizabeth was under. See how big it is!
R2D2 Mailbox??? I have NO idea why this was here, but Lydia liked it. I love Lydia's anti-conformist personality!
Hearing stories from Grandpa about Vietnam (a rare occurrence, so I had to get a picture!)
"Grandpa's" helicopter:
Silly girls!
Day 10: Traveling back home. We went the southern route and saved 2 full hours (and didn't get lost either), plus the scenery was GORGEOUS! I'd recommend that route for sure. West Virginia is absolutely beautiful! And Kentucky is pretty too. We visited and/or drove through 13 states on this trip: Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C., Delaware, and Kentucky. This trip doubled the amount of states I've been to in my life.
So that's it. We had a blast and are so glad we had this experience!
