Three Museums in One Day!

Sunday dawned and just as we had hoped, Day 2 was waaaaay better than Day 1. Because of the increase in tourism traffic during the summer months, the museums had extended hours. We started off at the National Museum of Natural History: Smiling faces, happy kids, delighted parents... all good!

Outside the National Museum of Natural History

 The elephant in the entrance (I kept thinking of Night at the Museum 2).

 Henry didn't stay asleep for long.

 I'm not sure if Chloe was pretending to be afraid of her sisters or the dinosaurs.

 There were a lot of neat exhibits.

 Not sure what this was about...

 It must have been Sophie's turn to be scared.

 Finally a nice, normal picture (too bad we're not - heehee).

 There was a live butterfly exhibit in the museum. It was the only thing Charlotte asked to see. She wanted to "hold" a butterfly, but every time we tried to place one on her she would freak out and back away!

 Sophie and Chloe really enjoyed it though, and I think Charlotte liked looking at them. One landed in my hair!

See? Smiling face. Happy kids. Therefore, delighted parents.

Our next stop was the National Museum of American History. My favorite parts of this museum were getting to see the actual flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star Spangled Banner (no cameras aloud), Dorothy's ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz, and the “First Ladies at the Smithsonian” exhibition (check it our here). It was a collection of dresses worn by some of the First Ladies, different White House china patterns, and other personal possessions (Jay loved that exhibit).

 Charlotte was not impressed that this engine shared her name.

 There was an exhibit about travel across the United States though the years.

 Poor Charlotte had fallen asleep while we were out the night before too.

 Riding a California Transit Authority bus in the travel exhibit.

 Getting on the L in Chicago.

 This dress belonged to Grace Coolidge.

 For Jason

The last place we visited was the National Archives. It was awesome to see the actual Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. There was no photography or video allowed (so that scene in National Treasure 2 where Riley uses the laser on the video camera to trip the heat sensor couldn't happen! A Hollywood fabrication! Shocking, I know).

Since we couldn't take pictures, I bought a postcard. This is The Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom, otherwise known as the room housing the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights.

Someone offered to take a family photo of us. Thank you, kind stranger!

After leaving the National Archives, we did a little sightseeing on the way to the metro stop:

 This is Ford's Theatre where President Lincoln was shot.

 And this is "The House Where Lincoln Died" (that's what the plaque says). It's directly across the street from the theatre. We aren't happy that Lincoln was shot, I just asked them to smile for the picture.

 This is just because there are hardly any vacation photos of Henry! I like to snap one every now and then so he knows he was there. :-)

So, there you have it: Day 2 (or 3 if you count the first day of travel) was a wonderful success!

Washington, DC

Jason had the opportunity to attend a conference in Washington, DC, and since I had never been, I jumped at the chance to take the kids and go with him! We left on July 6 and drove half-way, stopping for the night at the SpringHill Suites in Wheeling, WV. It was newer, clean, quiet, had a pool for the kids, and free breakfast in the morning. Perfect for us. (You can find it here.)

Day two, July 7, we left Wheeling and headed for DC. The kids were fantastic in the car both days. I packed little "busy bags" with games and activities to help keep them occupied, and they also watched a few movies in the van. We have driven east twice. Two years ago we drove to NYC (also for a conference turned family vacation) and this trip to DC. The drive between Indy and the east coast is so beautiful (no picture does it justice)!

We had rented an apartment not far from the hotel hosting Jay's conference. It looked so cute and comfortable online, and our last experience with VRBO was wonderful. When we arrived and walked in I wanted to burst into tears! After being on the road, I really just wanted a comfortable place to call "home" for the duration of our trip. It was about 104* in DC, and the apartment was probably close to 84*. Seriously. I stood in the living room sweating. Not to mention the fact that the "bed" in the bedroom was nothing more than a mattress and box springs on the floor... there was only a shower, no tub to bathe Henry, the carpet was filthy, and it was a childproofing nightmare. Not the "luxury" theme advertised in the description. Aahhh! I could not imagine spending an entire week there, so Jason called the hotel to find out if there was a room available (spending a week in one hotel room with six people was preferable to staying there). Thankfully, they had a room for us (we love you Washington Marriott Wardman Park)! We notified the owner that we wouldn't be staying. She said she would refund half of our deposit... which she never did. Thanks. (You can find the apartment here... caveat emptor.)

So... We packed all the kids back into the van and headed down the street and around the corner to the hotel. We unloaded the van, checked in, and made our way to our room. It was lovely! Even with the six of us, it wasn't claustrophobic! There wasn't the kitchen I had been planning on having at the apartment, but there was a counter-top area with a fridge and room to store the food I packed. I was starting to feel a little better at this point, like maybe we weren't at the beginning of a disastrous week after all. We had plotted out each day, trying to make the most of our time and hoping to see as much as possible. I pulled out everyone's tennis shoes (we wore flip-flops in the car), and discovered that the shoes I packed for Sophie were two sizes too small. I never thought to check the size at home. I just assumed that if they were in her shoe basket, they must still be good. Yeah, not so much. Now I was annoyed and Sophie was angry, and with these attitudes we set off for some sightseeing.

There was a metro stop at the corner right by our hotel. Awesome! We made our way below ground to attempt to navigate the metro system. After having endured the NYC subway system, the metro was a piece of cake. Not to mention there was a metro employee standing near the ticket machines, cheerful and willing to assist any clueless tourists (try to find a transit employee in NYC like that - ha). Things were looking up again!

Our destination on the first night was The National Archives. It houses The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Bill of Rights. This was probably near the very tip-top of things I wanted to see. It didn't close until 7:00pm, so it seemed like a good night to fit it in. Except that they stopped letting people in the building at 6:30, and we arrived at 6:35. Priceless. Again, it's 104*, we had walked a few blocks from the nearest metro stop (one of us in flip-flops), carrying Henry because we weren't sure how the stroller would work in the metro (just so you know, it's fine to take one), and so we were kinda tired, hot, and grouchy. What a day! We paused, sat in the shade, and pulled out the iPhone to find two things: 1. a shoe store and 2. the nearest restaurant. After a trip to Payless and McD's, we were feeling a little better. We rode the metro back to the hotel, tucked everyone into bed, and decided that tomorrow would be a new (and better) day.

To be continued...

Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July!

We spent our Fourth at Jason's parents' house again this year. We missed the Hernandez cousins and Aunt Jann who couldn't make it this time! After spending the day in the pool (because it was too hot to be outdoors and out of the water!), we went downtown to watch the fireworks from the Channel 13 lot (thanks, Rich!).

I found this hair-do on Pinterest and tried to copy it for Sophie.

Swimming Lessons

We signed all the girls up for swimming lessons this year at Southport High School. Chloe and Sophie did awesome and loved it as always. Charlotte cried the whole time for the first three days, so I pulled her out after that. (We'll try again next year!) We were so blessed to have friends there with us all week. We had no idea, but three of my friends had signed their kids up for the same session of swimming lessons! I was able to catch up with Tami and Julie, and spent time getting to know Kristi better. (Thank you, Lord, for those sweet ladies!)

Between trying to keep an eye on Charlotte in the bleachers (she only fell and got hurt once), keep Henry entertained for an hour (I strapped the booster seat to the bench each day - thanks for the idea, Kristi!), and chatting up my friends... well, I took only one picture in ten days!

Katie, Chloe and Sophie

Marion County Fair

Tonight we met my dad (mom wasn't feeling up to so much walking with her new knee yet), Anna, Tom, Audrey, Ruby and Cooper at the fair. Dad got free tickets through work, and Jason won some on a facebook contest, so we all got in free! Plus, it was $1 rides on the midway. Woohoo for a cheap trip to the fair!

***I would like to take a moment to say thank you and give a special shout out to Stacey Gaines. (I didn't forget, Stace!) Without her, non of this would be possible. (How was that?)***

Just to forewarn you, there are A LOT of pictures in this post...

 This year at the fair there were many animals to pet, hold, and feed. The girls loved it! 

 The chicks were just so cute!

 It took a while for Charlotte to hold any animals. (I was a bit nervous that she would drop one!) She was pretty content to pet them. The baby guinea pigs were adorable!

 They were obviously accustomed to being held and handled.

 I think the girls would've spent hours and hours in the barn.

 There were small cups of food to purchase and feed the animals. The rabbits weren't too interested.

 The goats, of course, gobbled it up!

 We left the barn to go meet Anna's crew at the entrance.

 And then we had to go back to the barn so Anna's girls could see and pet and hold the animals too.

 Bless her heart, Chloe is such an animal lover!

 We eventually made it out of the barn and over to the rides. Charlotte always enjoys a carousel ride.

 Ruby had been asleep and wasn't quite up to rides at this point. Sophie, Audie, Charlotte and Chloe rode this caterpillar roller coaster (they are toward the back).

 Charlotte was too little for this one. Audie and Soph rode together and Chloe had to ride alone.

 Henry was too little to ride anything this year, but I think he enjoyed all the sights and sounds.

 Me and my Charlotte girl

 She rode this boat ride several times. It kind of looks like she's blocking a paparazzi shot here, but I think she was just waving to me.

 And here she is telling me that her boat doesn't have a bell to ring.

 And this just made me chuckle. So not true. Ever. ;-)

 Hanging out with Daddy

 Anna and Tom

 Me (Henry) and Anna

 While they rode this ride it was hard to tell if Audrey was enjoying it or completely terrified! But she wanted to do whatever Chloe and Sophie were doing.

 Soph was kind enough to ride this dinosaur ride with Char.

 Just in case you thought we forgot Coop somewhere, here's some proof that he was there too!

 Ruby finally woke up and had fun riding rides with Charlotte. I think they rode the same four rides about 400 times.

 See? More boat rides. (Notice that this boat DID have a bell to ring.)

All the girlies at the end of the night

FLASHBACK:

These pictures are from 2004. It was Chloe and Sophie's first trip to the Marion County Fair.

 Sophie was probably right around twelve-months-old. Not much older than Hank is now.

And look at my sweet little Chloe. I just cannot get over how quickly time flies!