Our First Family Vacation

After 10 years of marriage it’s about time we had a real family vacation. Even though Brandon was working a contract job during the week, we still got to do some fun things together. The kids and I took it easy and just picked one place to go each day. We stayed at a wonderful B&B in Adams Morgan and would recommend it to anyone. The location was perfect and the neighborhood was beautiful. Everywhere was beautiful! The subway system was awesome and we all agree we wish we had something like that here. I really miss being around so many hard wood trees. Ærowyn really enjoyed playing in the tons of leaves on all the sidewalks. I would have let her lay down and do leaf angels, but I didn't really want her lying down there. There was a park a block away from the B&B we played at 3 or 4 times and they really enjoyed the nice downtime from walking and just looking at stuff. It is an amazing place and maybe someday we will get to go back and enjoy some of the other museums there.

Saturday: As a family we walked 6 or 7 miles altogether. From the white house we went down to the Lincoln Memorial and then down to the capitol. We visited the wax museum and just took in the beauty of D.C. What an amazing city. The architecture is absolutely beautiful. Since no other building can be taller then the capitol, the sense of ??? you get is as perfect as it can be when you look down a long street.

Sunday: We walked to church where we met some wonderful people. We hung out as a family and just rested our tired feet.

Monday: The kids and I visited the Natural History Museum. It was awesome!! I told Ærowyn she could pick one thing under $10 to buy and what did she want...a bag of rocks!!

Tuesday: After seeing lots of dead stuffed things, it was on to the Air and Space Museum. Ærowyn loved all the space stuff and Wrævn couldn’t stop gasping at all the planes and rockets. We watched a short video about space and I told Ærowyn she could go visit the stars if she became an astronaut so she started jumping up and down yelling, “I want to be an astronaut! I want to be an astronaut!” This isn’t anything new...every time we pass a wishing fountain her wish it to be an astronaut when she grows up. Only time will tell.

Wednesday: The weather had been a bit overcast Monday and Tuesday (nothing we are not use to here in Seattle) so we waited for a sunny day to visit the zoo. The lady at our B&B told us how to get there but what she didn't tell us is the entrance she sent us to would require us to walk all up hill to get to the other entrance. At least I got a good workout. The zoo was pretty cool. Out of all the exhibits my kids liked the invertebrates the best. Most of the time Wrævn was paying more attention to the zoo trucks and construction then to the animals, but he did like it. Ærowyn liked all the interactive displays. In fact she played with the panda poop display more then anything else (I think she thought it was funny). All in all, it was a good day to see some cute animals.

Thursday: Since the kids got 3 days of fun stuff, I decided to hit the Library of Congress Lincoln building this day. Unfortunately, I couldn't take any pictures of the displays, but they were amazing. Ærowyn quite enjoyed the history of maps exhibit and even liked looking at all the books in Lincoln's library. When the library has a fire, Lincoln replaced the burned books with his own. Now they are on display. They talked about the history of map making and how different cultures had interpreted the stars and built their own representations of what the world looked like. It's wonderful that we have so much history preserved. We were going to go to the park after this, but it rained so we hung out at the B&B and watched a couple of movies until Brandon got back from work.

Friday: Brandon took the day off so we had one more full family day. We headed down to the National Archives and got a good look at the founding documents of our country. They were in pretty bad shape, but it was a humbling experience to see them. To know all the work and blood that went in to giving birth to our nation. I am thankful for those wonderful men to had the courage to do what they did. We tried to get in to the capitol, but they only take 40 people in at a time and you have to get tickets. That day, they were all taken by a ton of tour buses! Stupid tourists ha ha ha. I'm sure it would have been amazing, but it will have to wait until another day. After that, we went to the D.C. temple and it was amazing. We spent quite a lot of time in the visitor's center. It was fun and had a ton of interactive displays which Ærowyn really liked. What a wonderful way to end our vacation by going to a place that is all about the family and feeling peace. God led the founding fathers and He is leading us today through a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson.

Saturday: After a long week of walking, we had a long day of sitting on planes, but we made it to Boise safely. We spent the weekend with Brandon's brother Darren, his dad and step-mom who are leaving to serve a mission in Florida, and even got to see my friend's 3 week old baby. On Monday, we spent one more hour on a plane to Seattle and spent the rest of the day just relaxing. All in all it was an amazing journey through time. The kids only complained a few times and even they weren't bad. They were quite the troopers. What a great experience.

I would like to send a thanks out to our friends who drove us to the airport earlier than the crack of dawn AND picked us up! Our adventure was much smoother because of their sacrifice! Thanks :)

Click HERE for pics.

Not a Very Nice Santa Claus

Today's conversation while Ærowyn was brushing her teeth:

Ærowyn: I need a new toothbrush
Mom: Well, Santa will probably give you a new toothbrush for Christmas
Ærowyn: I don't want a toothbrush for Christmas!
Mom: Well, sometimes Santa gives them anyway
Ærowyn: He's not a very nice Santa


Upcoming Post: Our family trip to D.C. - stay tuned