Washington to Salt Lake (Day 9)

We got to the hotel rather late and we had to be up by 4:00 AM (2:00 AM UT time) in order to return our car and make it to the airport for our 6:00 AM flight.  The poor girls were all sleeping so soundly.

Luckily Lyla was able to keep sleeping on the plane.

Southwest sunrise.

It was good to be home and it was a lovely trip. We're grateful for Emily being such a gracious host.  We were thinking that we would be able to help her out a bit (ya know, with a 6 week old baby, deployed husband, 3 other kids, etc.), but to the contrary there was not really much we could have done to help as she had everything at home running smoothly.  In fact, our disruption of the routine was probably more detrimental.

Yorktown to Gettysburg (Day 8)

We didn't do a ton today, as most of our time was spent in the car.

For breakfast, I had the huge eclair that we got at Rigoletto's Italian Bakery and Cafe the night before.  It was decent, but I should have let it warm up to room temperature to soften the chocolate a bit.

I just loved the Peterson's lovely house and neighborhood.  We don't get too many trees like this in Utah.

While we stayed home with the kids, Emily made a run to Sam's Club sans kiddos.  When she returned we packed up our rental car and headed out.

There were basically two things that we really wanted to do, but we only had time for one of them. We wanted to go to the Holocaust Museum in DC and visit Gettysburg.  About halfway to DC we decided to drive straight on to Getttysburg.  In normal traffic it's about a 4 hour drive, but for us with construction and because we hit rush-hour traffic it took about 6 hours.  We got to the museum and visitor center about 20 minutes before they were scheduled to close.  Luckily, we were able to still do the driving battlefield tour.

The Gettysburg Address was not a long one, but it is one of my my favorite Presidential speeches. It was given a few months after the battle as a dedication of the battlefield as the final resting place for those who died.  "The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."

Mr. President. Kate's getting a little frisky with him.

Ada didn't want to be left out and made sure to give him a nice scalp massage.

The area all around the town of Gettysburg is covered with memorials and monuments.  We took the driving tour of the battlefields and stopped at the major sites.  This is a place that I would love to come back and spend a couple of days listening, reading, exploring and contemplating the sacrifices that were made here that all man may have equal rights.

Alison and a man on a horse.

Gettysburg. I love this picture.  We're at a high point looking out over the battlefield.

This picture is at the same location as the one above, just a different angle.

There was a castle monument that the girls were excited to climb.

Gettysburg.

Once the sun went down, we grabbed some chow to eat on our drive. We made a little detour on our drive down to Washington.  We drove to Harpers Ferry in West Virginia, stopped at a gas station for some snacks and then made our way back down to DC.  We had a hotel room booked near Dulles because our flight home left early the next morning.

Jamestown and Virginia Beach (Day 7)

We started the morning off by playing in the Peterson's beautiful backyard.  The girls loved it as it has a bunch of huge trees and a big tree house/playset.

Riding laps around the back patio.

There was a huge spider in a web just outside the dining room window.  I was going to take care of it, but Austin was adamant that the spider not be killed, just relocated, so I obliged.

Jamestown was the first English Settlement in the America and it was located just a short drive from the Peterson's house.  We loaded up and drove the beautiful Colonial Parkway which runs from Yorktown to Jamestown.

One really cool thing at Jamestown were the glassworks.  The have a functioning glass-blowing operation going on as this was one of the first industries that the settlers tried their hands at when they first arrived at Jamestown.

One of the glass blowers at work making a vase.

We visited Historic Jamestown which is located on the site of the original settlement and administered by the National Park Service (we have an annual pass to National Parks, so this made the most sense).  Here is a Jamestown Monument:

Some Native American lady:

Ada, Kate and Sally in front of the 17th century church:

Captain John Smith:

And finally, a model of the original fort, located within the footprint of the original fort:

We returned back to the Petersons where we gathered our swimming costumes and towels for an afternoon visit to Virginia Beach.  Unfortunately, the weather wasn't really cooperating and it was a bit chilly (I think it was in the 60's, but there was also a breeze from off the ocean that chilled us as well.

However, it wasn't too cold for most of the kids (and I joined in as well), although we did spend most of our time playing in the sand.

Lyla.

Kate, Lyla & Ada.

Austin and Lyla.

Ivy was happy for the first little while.

Ada.

Me and Lyla looking out over the Atlantic.  There were a bunch of fighter jets that flew overhead while we were there. They must have been out doing training exercises.  Nothing like listening to the sounds of freedom while we enjoyed our afternoon on the beach.

Austin and Ada without any legs.

After the beach we made our way to Rigoletto Italian Bakery & Cafe in a strip mall that had been featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.  The food was good, but it didn't knock our socks off.  We did buy some eclairs that were the size of a small loaf of bread.

I convinced Ada to get the stuffed meatballs, which were one of the items featured on the episode.

After dinner, we stopped by Handel's for ice cream and shakes, then while the Petersons headed directly home we took the scenic route which took us to a gas station in North Carolina (new state for the girls!).  It felt as though as soon as we crossed into North Carolina we were truly in the south.  There were Confederate Flags and the gas station had a huge tobacco and cigar shop attached.  It was a worthwhile detour.

I think all would agree that it was another fun and successful day.  Tomorrow we make our way back up to the DC area.

Yorktown (Day 6)

Today was Sunday, so we tried to take it reasonably easy.  Emily and a few of her kids went to Stake Conference while we hung out at their house.

Ada could most often be found drawing and coloring at the kitchen table (much like at home).

While Ada colored, the other kids hung out with Alison on the couch.

After lunch, we took our kids and Austin (Sally wasn't feeling well) to the Yorktown Battlefield, part of Colonial National Historic Park.  Our first stop was at the Visitor's Center, where we found out that we were just in time for a reenactment and cannon shooting demonstration. They only do these demonstrations once a month, so we were pretty lucky to have stumbled upon it.

Here we are listening to a description of the cannons and artillery used.  I like this picture because you can see Ada smiling at me.

Alison notices her smiling and turns to scowl at whatever Ada is smiling at.

Then it's back to just Ada and me smiling at each other.

Here we're watching the cannon loading & shooting reenactment.

Austin didn't love the cannon shooting, it was a little loud for him.  Here's a video clip of the blast.

We were able to take a closer look at a few cannons from the Revolutionary War that were displayed.

Kate, Ada & Austin.

Lyla was so excited to be able to hold her newest little cousin Ivy.

That night we Skyped with Angie and Hyrum.  The kids had some extra energy to burn off, and for some reason Lyla was in her skivvies.

It was a lovely Sunday in Yorktown, Virginia. Tomorrow, we visit Jamestown.

Washington DC to Yorktown (Day 5)

First thing this morning I took a walk to find some breakfast.  I made my way to a McDonald's and brought food back for the girls.

Once we were ready and had loaded the car, we walked to the metro, passing through George Washington University.  Excuse me, passing through THE George Washington University.

Our first stop today was at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.  We didn't have much time, so we just hit the highlights.  Here are the girls in front of the Hope Diamond.

We saw lots of spiders, insects and small reptiles.

Unfortunately, the big fossil hall is closed for renovations for 5 years. There are some skeletons in a small exhibit gallery. I think that is some sort of whale above.

Ada and her skeleton friend.

In front of the African Elephant in the Main Rotunda.

Kate doing the hippo.

Ada's version of the hippo.

That concluded our whirlwind tour of the museum.  We had to book it from the museum to make it to the White House, where we had scheduled a tour.

One last picture in front of the Washington Monument.

I was afraid that we would be late, but we made it in plenty of time to wait in line near the William Tecumseh Sherman Monument.  Strollers weren't allowed in the White House, so I took my chances and hid the stroller under a street vendors truck.  That's not suspicious, right?

We couldn't take photographs inside the White House, so here is a virtual tour that you can peruse.  All of our photos were taken after we exited through the front door.

Me and the girls.

Alison, Ada and Kate.

Selfie time.

It started to rain a bit as we were exiting the White House.  Alison and the girls took cover in front of the PNC Bank building (can you find them?), while I ran to see if our stroller was still in place in my special hiding place (ps. it was).

We returned to the Georgetown Westin to pick up the car.  It was pouring rain when we exited the metro, so I ran to pick up the car and then picked up the girls at the Metro Station.

The drive to Yorktown, Virginia was pretty uneventful, except for when Lyla threw up a little bit on herself... It was just a swallow or two of some clearish liquid, the poor girl was a little embarrassed, her first words were "Excuse me."  We got her all cleaned up, grabbed some Subway and kept on our way.

The drive took us about 3 1/2 hours and we made it to Emily's house in Yorktown that evening.  Ivie was about 1 month old and we were all excited to meet her.

Kate with Ivie.

We were excited to spend the next few days with Emily and her kids.  Her husband was deployed overseas a few weeks before the baby came, so she was taking care of the new baby and three other kids on her own.  We thought that we would be there to help out a bit, but that was not the case as she had everything under control.  We probably disrupted her schedule more than anything, but we sure loved being there.