Spring Break in Florida 2014: A Day in Orlando

Jared was able to take a day off of work while the children were off school, so we headed to Orlando for the day. Kristi did a session at the temple, while Jared and the children found things to do outside. It was a really bright sunny and windy day, so good photos were a little difficult to get.

Touching the temple

Then we headed over to Downtown Disney. Our first stop is always the Lego store.  

"I have big muscles like the Hulk!"

 

 

We like to visit the T-rex and Rainforest Cafe's to see the dinosaurs and volcanoes erupt.

To finish the day off we road the "water taxi"--basically just a 3 minute boat ride across the pond, but it was fun for the kids. 

On our drive home we got hamburgers and ice cream at McDonalds for dinner. A fun, simple, family outing!

Spring Break 2014 in Florida: Strawberries and Horses

We had a nice spring break with days off of school, and mostly did things close to home, enjoying the warm weather and sunshine while we could.

Saturday was farm day, with the first stop being the strawberry farm. The children and I picked 23lbs of strawberries (in about 20 minutes).  Then we made a lot of jam, strawberry syrup, strawberry salad, strawberry ice cream, strawberry fruit leather, and froze a bunch.

After lunch we visited the Retirement Home for Horses (outside nearby Alachua).

Oh, no! Don't eat me!

Visit with friends and family in North Carolina

We were especially thrilled at the recent opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C., because that meant we would travel through North Carolina! We loved the year that we lived in Durham, and couldn't wait to see our dear friends again. The Wrights were kind enough to let us stay with them for two nights, and they were great hosts (especially when it came to yummy breakfasts!) We were thankful to the Barrotts for a delicious Sunday brunch. And when we came back into NC after D.C., it was fun to have a family dinner with the Wrights and Barrotts, just like old times. 

We seriously have the best friends!

Our great group of kids!

Keri, Kristi, and Rae

We also were excited to visit with Ryan (Jared's brother) and Marcelaine and their family, who live in Chapel Hill. It was so wonderful to live near family for a year, and we miss them! They fed us a lovely dinner and let us stay with them Sunday evening. The cousins had fun playing, and the evening passed quickly with stories and games.

Cute cousins

And last but not least, we took a drive down our old street (Caroline Drive) and had a nice visit with neighborhood friends, the Tarrants. The kids had fun playing in the street as usual.

We are thankful for the good people we know and love in North Carolina! 

Winter in Washington, D.C: Day 3

Wednesday morning we woke up to snow again! The temperatures were colder but we still enjoyed a snowball fight before our first stop at the Smithsonian Institution Bldg, known as the Castle.

The Smithsonian Castle

A LEGO replica of the castle. Our LEGO loving children thought it was fun to see.

We had a snack, then headed over to the Air and Space Museum. We toured the early aviation section and America by Air, and then on the second floor we found the Amelia Earhart exhibit.

The Lockheed 5B Vega flown by Amelia Earhart. In this plane she set two records: flying alone across the Atlantic and then nonstop across the United States, both firsts for a woman.

After a break for lunch we spent some time in the children's discovery area (How Things Fly) and the kids each sat in the pilot seat of a little Cessna.

Flying an airplane.

We saw the Apollo lunar module and touched a moon rock on our way out.

Anwyn in front of a lunar module.

 By this point we had visited the top sites we had really wanted to for this trip and we still had some time, so we headed down the road to the American Indian Museum. We were advised to start on the 4th floor by watching the Lelawi video presentation, so we did that. There was a nice sculpture of George Washington and some members of the native tribes that had assisted during the Revolutionary War.

Sculpture at the American Indian museum.

On the third floor we discovered imagiNATIONS, the children's discovery area. This was the best children's discovery area I have seen in any museum, seriously! The children each were given a passport and moved from station to station doing great activities: balancing on a kayak, riding a skateboard simulation, exploring various native homes (igloo, teepee, adobe hut, stilt home), and learning about the "3 sisters": corn, beans, and squash.

It was a really well done exhibit and a great end to our day. We made the trek back to our hotel via the metro (in near freezing weather) and stayed inside for the rest of the evening (after discovering Thor on one of the TV stations--the kids watched their first adult superhero movie). Jared was kind enough to trek back out in the cold and bring us all Subway dinner.

Thursday morning we checked out of the hotel and headed out of town, passing the Washington and Jefferson Monuments on our way.

After two trips to Washington, D.C. in less then a year, I felt like we covered the city decently (at least the parts that are most interesting to children). There is really so much to see and do there, and we are grateful for the experience we had, and the time we got to spend as a family!

Winter in Washington, D.C.: Day 1 and Day 2

Jared was invited to attend a conference in Washington D.C, and since his travel and accommodations were paid for, the entire family got to go along too! When we lived in NC we took a short trip to DC over spring break. That trip wasn't nearly long enough (read about it here and here), so we were excited to have another opportunity to see more of the sights.

Our trip began with a stay in North Carolina, and a chance to visit with friends and family. More details about that to come in another post!

Monday morning we did the four hour drive to Washington D.C. We stopped before we got to the city to get lunch at IKEA (love the meatballs!) I think every family trip must involve a stop at one of the big 3: Costco, Sam's Club, or IKEA. Traffic was good and we made it to our hotel by about 3pm. The conference Jared was attending paid for the hotel, so we got to stay in a convenient location downtown (Washington Plaza, at 10 Thomas Circle). Jared had his important poster session early Monday evening, so the kids and I bundled up and went outside to explore (the weather was cool for us, in the low 40 degree range). We found the McPherson Square metro stop (0.3 miles from our hotel) and walked a little bit farther to find the White House. The visitors center was closed, but we got a nice view of the exterior.

The White House

Tuesday morning we woke up to snow! As Floridians, we were all very excited. Jared left by 8 a.m. to attend his meetings.The children and I packed up our lunch for the day and headed to the metro stop. Playing in the snow along the way helped the children to not mind the cold.

Snow in front of our hotel.

We bought metro cards and figured out how to get to our stop at the Smithsonian. The kids thought it was fun to ride the underground trains (as well as all of the escalator trips it involved).

Our snowy day, with the Washington Monument in the background.

The first item on the agenda was the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. We went to the insect zoo and the children held a various assortment of bugs, then went through the butterfly pavilion (tickets required, but free on tuesdays).

We passed through the bones and the mummy section, and a quick glance at the Hope Diamond in the gems and mineral section.

The Hope Diamond

We ate our lunch, looked around the gift shop, and played in the children's discovery area for a bit.

Greeting the elephant in the museum lobby.

Then we headed outside to play in the snow. The girls built a small snowman in front of the Smithsonian.

Playing in the snow in front of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. 

The Washington Monument

Wow! Snow!

The snowman the girls built, named Mrs. Smith (in honor of the Smithsonian museums).

When we get sufficiently chilled we headed to our next museum, the American History Museum. Our first stop was to view the original Star Spangled Banner (the one that inspired the anthem). It is very large and kept in the dark to preserve it (so no photos allowed).

Other highlights that we saw: the First Ladies exhibit (fancy dresses and some of their dishes), America on the Move (boats and trains and cars) and a bit of the American Presidency.

The original Nauvoo Temple sunstone.

We saw the Nauvoo sunstone and the ruby red slippers from the Wizard of Oz in the American Stories section. There is so much to see at each of the museums, and we saw as much as the attention span of the children would allow. Anwyn could have handled a lot more, but Lily and Zach were still mostly thrilled with elevator and escalator rides. We stopped at the museum store and the children each picked out a souvenir (with their own spending money): Zach got an airplane, Lily got a bag of marbles, and Anwyn got a book to hold her pressed penny collection. Pressed pennies have continued to be a great souvenir item for our kids, so the children each added a few to their collection this trip.

Showing off their pennies by the pressed penny machine.

After lots of walking and museum seeing we headed back to meet Jared at the hotel, and we walked to a nearby 5 Guys restaurant and enjoyed hamburgers for dinner.