DC TRIP!

We flew in on Thursday afternoon but didn't do much but check in to our hotel and get a bite to eat. (At an expensive Italian restaurant that we thought would be better and cheaper than it turned out to be, oh well. The hotel was great though.)

FRIDAY, DAY ONE-THE MANSION AND THE NATURAL SCIENCE SMITHSONIAN

OLIVIA AND THE HOPE DIAMOND

It was the highlight of the museum and the crowds were huge.

Napoleon's second wife's jewelry at the Smithsonian. There were many gems and stones in this part of the museum. There were also animal skeletons on display and a fun section with bugs and butterflies. The boy's will have more pictures off of their camera too.

"Yes, I am happy to be in DC!"

Finding our way around the city was pretty easy with the metro.

And the National Zoo...

Olivia loved the Cheetahs...we were a little worried that they might jump over the pond and eat us. They looked hungry! (Seriously, the guy in the right of this picture was scared to death when those Cheetah's came stalking down the hill.)

SATURDAY- WALKING THE NATIONAL MALL

First, we saw the Washington Monument. It is the tallest structure in DC. Wow was it tall!

World War II Memorial (above two pictures). There were quite a few veterans visiting that day, some in wheelchairs. It's a large area with a big fountain in the middle and columns with each state around the sides.

Looking down the reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial (above three pictures). He was a giant!

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial
(we walked there from the Lincoln and FDR monuments, and then we walked even further to get to the metro again, yes we walked quite far on this day!)


Watching the "magic noodles" being made. He would take the dough and stretch it and twirl it around over and over. Finally, he stretched it chopped off the ends and Presto! noodles would appear. That was fun to watch.

Olivia (with her cheetah grin, I guess) and boys at Chinatown.

Our first view of the White House...the grand finale for Saturday! They had an "incident" so we couldn't walk all around but we were able to see it at least.

Whew! What a day. We deserved a rest that night for sure! (My feet haven't been that tired since the last time we went to Disneyland.)

Next...Sunday- George Washington's home and Arlington.

Finally...Spring is Here!

Aren't we cute with our pretty fans and dresses?
Notice Phantom's tail brushing Olivia's dress...
It looks like a fan dance as the girls bend together and Eliza gently grabs Phantom's tail.

We have so many plants blooming right now and with the warmer weather more often, it has been much more like spring. It was a long winter!

In just a few days, we are off to DC! We are all excited and Eliza is excited to go stay with the boy cousins at "Isaac's house". I hope they still like her after a few days of toddler attitude! She's pretty easy to work with most of the time and she's really not as difficult as some 3 year-olds but she can be pretty demanding. Well, as long as she gets lots of good food, she'll be pretty happy! (And so will everyone else.)

May will be memorable!

Kirk is always reading about our world...caught him reading a book on the US this time.

We have one super exciting month ahead of us! With Kirk competing at Nationals for the Geography Bee, we are taking the family to DC to see him and also a few extra days to see the sights. We've never been to our countrie's capital and are looking forward to seeing the White House, the National Mall and Mt. Vernon (George Washington's estate). Hopefully we have time for a Smithsonian museum, which there are several, and the monuments, Arlington and maybe the National Zoo. All the National sights are free, but our time is limited.

Kirk, of course, Zach and Olivia get to come too and a really excited! Eliza is too young for the National Geographic events, so she gets to stay with her beloved boy cousins. Isaac is her favorite, so every time we mention the DC trip she says "Isaac's house!". It will be a new experience for them to have a little girl at their house!

Also, me, Zach and Olivia are going to be in a play at the Scera Shell this summer. It's a wonderful community theater and Zach was in The Music Man last year there. This time it will be The King and I. They will be two of the kings children, which is a big group, and I will be one of the wives. It should be a lot of fun! We love to sing and are learning the songs right now. It's kind of a nice way to be active and musical at the same time. I just hope I don't completely embarras myself! As long as I don't have to do much dancing, I'll be fine.