Museum of American history and girls night ?>

Museum of American history and girls night

Today we struck out at Fords theater (we are learning about reservations 6 months in advance), but were able to visit a super cool museum, the Museum of American History. The flowers are also out in full glory. This museum holds not just historical items, but also culturally historic items. The kids were very engaged with a woman in costume from the 1890s on a bike.  Then we moved on to Julia Child’s kitchen, which Aunica was excited to remember…

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Arlington and the Mall ?>

Arlington and the Mall

First up this morning: Arlington National Cemetary. It was so hard for the little boys to be reverent, but they did a great job.  We saw JFK’s grave, the tomb of the unknown soldier, the challenger memorial, and William windrich’s grave, a Medal of Honor recipient. The girls also visited Robert E Lee’s house, since the property was originally owned by him.  Then we hightailed it over to the Mall. I wanted Vanessa to see the last of the cherry…

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Back to DC and company  ?>

Back to DC and company 

Today we checked in to Greenbelt Park outside of Washington DC. It was mostly a cleaning day, as we picked up friends at the airport visiting from Portland, Oregon. This is Aunica’s best friend, Erika, and one of my very best friends, Vanessa.  It’s looking like it’s going to be a great week!

A day with the amish ?>

A day with the amish

I title this “a day with the Amish,” but it wasn’t, really. Part of the Amish culture is to keep to themselves, and they do a pretty good job of that.  But we did learn about Amish culture, both of yesterday and today. We explored the Amish farm and museum. There were many building with very good explanations, a schoolhouse with a retired Amish teacher to answer questions, animals, a playground, a covered bridge, and a house with a guided…

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Gettysburg ?>

Gettysburg

What a sobering day. The first part of the day was a little off-kilter. When we arrived at the visitors center, I found that, unlike most national parks, a lot of the information part of the visit required a fee. And not cheap for all of us. So we sat and regrouped. Headed back to the rv for Deon’s opinion. Turns out, he didn’t really have much work to do. And we were able to watch the whole video that…

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Chesapeake and Ohio Canal ?>

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

Sunday check in again. After our failed church attempt last Sunday, I wasn’t about to miss it again. Plus next week is general conference, so we would have skipped regular meetings 3 weeks in a row. So, we slept in the parking lot. It’s not PC with the church policy, but we’ve had good luck and we try not to abuse it past late Saturday nights. So maybe we are just arriving to church early? This was especially important because…

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Cherry blossoms! ?>

Cherry blossoms!

Another milestone for our trip, and one of the last. I really wanted to see the Washington DC cherry blossoms in full bloom. Now, I have been fretting over this for weeks. Of course, the date of peak bloom (70% of blossoms open) is a moving target. Thankfully we have flexibility in travel, but we still have to plan. The biggest issue, however, was that DC experienced a late freeze just when the blossoms were at a vulnerable state. 50%…

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Delaware ?>

Delaware

Unfortunately, we are nearing the necessary end to our trip. We have had a great time, but haven’t always stuck to “the plan” I created. Plus, weddings. Why is it that we take a trip and it all of a sudden becomes wedding season?!? Anyway, Delaware is getting the short end of the stick here. We will only spend one night and one day here.  We were able to fit in a few things though. A series of necessary errands…

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Childhood dreams ?>

Childhood dreams

We almost skipped today. I couldn’t decide if the extra miles were worth it.  Plus we got a late start. I wanted Deon to get his work done, and we HAD to do laundry (the only item I wasn’t able to mark off my to-do list yesterday). In the meantime, I took some kids swimming (and sat in the hot tub myself), while Aunica took the little boys to the park. Which was her choice bc the pool was cold,…

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Long day  ?>

Long day 

We extended today, and Deon really needed it to get some work done, but it was not to be a day of rest for us. Many errands to run, and one fun activity. First errand was to fill the propane tanks. My first time. Second, I took the kids to Waffle House. My best friend, Kim, insisted I take them there. So, check. And some very sweet waitresses, who even cut my kids food for them.   Then off to…

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