Vacation Adventures: Day 3

We had a very busy day today.  Before I tell you about it...let me say Happy Birthday to my baby boy...Christian is 3 today!!! YAY!!

Okay..so today was great!  The weather wasn't great, but it wasn't awful either and we decided to make the best of it.  Our plan was to go to the Air & Space Museum and to the Natural History Museum.  Due to getting alittle turned around...and not wanting to back track in the cold drizzling rain, we decided to do the American History Museum and the Natural History Museum instead (they're next door to each other)...saving the Air & Space Museum for another day.  This post is going to be loaded with pics...and these are only a few of them...oh, by the way...I let my kids take pictures too, so these may not all be 'great' quality.

We started out by taking the Metro Rail...the kids LOVED it... although they look alittle serious in these pics

We walked (fast) in the dreary weather..and arrived here at the National Museum of American History...

and nearly the first thing we did was get a picture with C-3PO ...see how happy that made my Star-Wars-loving husband?

We also saw Julia Childs kitchen...

and a memorial about 9-11, this is a piece of the WTC wreckage...

and we saw the Star-Spangled Banner exhibit...(no cameras were allowed inside, but this is the entrance)...

then we saw Dorothy's Ruby Red Slippers...and Kermit the Frog (it was dark in these areas)

THEN...we ate lunch and THEN we went to the National Museum of Natural History...

where we saw this display outside...and one of my son's (I won't divulge which one) made a comment about this head, it's size, and something about PawPaw and Uncle Jake...hehehe...

Once we got inside, we saw lots of dinosaurs and fossils and butterflies and gems and and ocean creatures... OH, and by the way, this is where "Night at the Museum" was filmed...so cool!

 

 

and one of the things Sarah and I enjoyed the most were the gems...especially this one..it's the Hope Diamond (although I couldn't get a good picture of it..it was too bright)

 

There were hundreds more pictures...we spent more than 4 hours in these museums, but those are a few highlights.

Tonight we enjoyed a wonderful Italian dinner, then we came back to have alittle cake for Christian, let him open some birthday presents, then to rest and relax..everyone is watching "Inspector Gadget" and just unwinding right now...

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and beautiful, so we're planning to be outside, walk and see the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the White House and the Capital building.  We're also hoping to get back by the Museum of Natural History and walk through the live butterflies...and we're going to drive over to Arlington Cemetary and see the changing of the guard.  We have BIG plans...I hope our feet don't quit on us and we get to see it all!

Until tomorrow...
Love, Rose

Free Christmas Music at Amazon.com

Go here to find tons of FREE downloads of Christmas music!  I loaded my mp3 player before our trip and we listened to Christmas music for much of our drive!  Have fun!

Vacation Adventures: Sunrise over Washington DC

Joshua was up for this...none of the rest of us, but I wish I had been...it is stunning...

 

 

 

That's for you, MawMaw...we love you!!!

LAST DAY for *FREE* Photo Cards!

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Go here to find out how to get yours!  You can also go here to take a short survey for Freebies4Mom.

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Have a great Monday!!  Rose

Vacation Adventures: Day 2

(you can click on the pictures to enlarge them, then use your back button to come back here)
We had another great day today and YAY...we're in Washington DC!!  We started out our day around 9:30am and made it here around 7:00pm.  The drive (in mileage) wasn't nearly that long, but we took our time, drove through the mountains, and saw lots of beautiful and fun stuff.  Here's some shots from our day:

We started our day like this:

trying to dress a sleeping child.  Have you ever tried that?  It's hard work, I tell ya!
Then we saw lots and lots of this...

then it got really good...we went onto Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Parkway..it was beautiful beyond words...

 

then, thanks to a timer on our camera...we got this picture..one of my favorites, of course...

but really, the mountains today were just breathtaking.  Such a reminder of God's awesome power and majesty!

We also got (or I thought we got) some great pics of some deer that were standing along the highway...in several places...just looking at us, even when we stopped, but I can't find them right now (which has nothing to do with the fact that Noah snapped at least 700 hundred pictures with my camera and I'm having trouble finding the ones I took...nothing at all...HA)...anyway, maybe I can put them up tomorrow. 


I found the deer pictures...YAY!!  Here we go...

and this last one... well, he was getting away, but can you see that rack?  10 POINTS!

Here are a couple more shots that I found with the deer pics...

For now..we're all settled in and sleeping (except me, Richy, and Joshua) at our Aunt Julie's apartment...on the 14th floor in downtown Arlington, Virginia.  From her balcony, we can see over parts of DC and it's stunning...if only I could figure out how to take a picture at night that did it justice!  I have all week to keep trying for that picture.  Joshua got this picture...it's still alittle jittery, but very pretty in real life...

I hope you all have a wonderful Monday...for our day tomorrow, we're planning to take the Metro Rail into the heart of DC, see the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, the National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of American History...and maybe eat hot dogs from a vendor on the street...we're so excited and can't wait! 

Until tomorrow night...
Love,
Rose

Vacation Adventures: Day 1

First let me say that I don't know how many deals I'll be posting this week, but I'll do my best to get a few up here and there.  We left this morning on our 8 day vacation to Washington DC!  I'm proud to day, we made it through day 1 and it was a wonderful day.  Now you know I wouldn't gloss it over if it were awful, and honestly, it went much better than I braced myself for.

First of all, 5 kids, 2 adults and a mini-van for 700 miles...well, that alone gives me anxiety.  Add to it that we've never taken a trip this long with all 5 of our kids AND all 5 of them have colds...snotty noses, coughing, crankiness, etc.  I was really praying for peace and grace that we'd make it through Day 1 without losing our minds, or hanging a kid out the window (kidding, of course).

But I'm proud to say, Day 1 was really great!  With the exception of a little whinyness here and there...we laughed, played, sang, and enjoyed the drive.  Granted, we went through 7000 Kleenex tissues...but hey, thank God for sale shopping...I had a huge supply to bring along!

Here are a few pics from our day.  First, this is the kids at 6:10 am, when we left our driveway...

A couple of hours later they took turns taking cat naps... (sorry about the quality of these - not sure what happened)

later in the afternoon, we started seeing some mountains (ie., foothills) but you know, my kids are young and they think anything bigger than southern Mississippi hills are mountains...

and we took a small detour and went through a tunnel in Chattanooga (Noah was thrilled)...

and we played peek-a-boo...

and we drove and drove some more...and finally we're in a hotel...watching "The Santa Clause", playing computer games, and blogging...hoping to get plenty of sleep so we'll be fresh to start again tomorrow!!

(yes...all 7 of us are in one hotel room...it's all about saving money and having an adventure, right?)

Day 1 - Done!  Until tomorrow...much love, Rose