The Big Trip- Stops 4& 5

Stops 4 and 5 were Washington, D.C. and Ohio (respectively.)

I apologize for the long post, by the time I realized how long it was, I didn't want to re-upload my pictures to a different post. Unfortunately, if there is a way to move pictures easily between posts, I haven't found it.

We went to DC on Sunday and Monday. Sunday, Jamie, Caden, Cavin and Jacie joined us and we all went to the "new" Air and Space Museum. It is at the airport, and we have never been there before, so this was VERY exciting to the boys.

Jonah, Noah, Caden, and Cavin hanging out in front of the SR-71 Blackbird- one of Jonah's favorite planes.

Noah and Cavin have a lot in common. Apparently it is that middle child syndrome, climbing on things they shouldn't be climbing on...

Guess climbing ON the rail wasn't daring enough.

(Notice that Caden is just watching and Cavin is right there about to follow Noah's lead.)

The boys all LOVED looking at the engines.

Here Jonah was reading the sign to them and they were all ohhing and ahhing over the specs.

Cavin, after getting caught climbing up the exhibit.

A GIANT engine, which you could push a button and make parts move- very cool!

Bryan showing Jonah and Noah what kind of gear they will get when they become fighter pilots.

The Enterprise.

A REAL Space Shuttle- it totally looked like a cartoon, and it was HUGE!

Caden checking out the landing gear.

The boys really enjoyed watching the space shuttle launch on TV while standing next to one. In fact, they liked it so much we had to promise to look up videos on the Internet once we got home just to get them to move on.

Noah, INSIDE the exhibit.

Apparently the bars are they to make it more fun to get inside, not to keep kids out!

Jonah, may I please sit with you?

What part of NO don't you understand, Noah? Get off my chair!

(Caden's flying the space shuttle next to them, oblivious to the whole thing.)

Seriously, Noah. GET DOWN! Or I am just going to have to smash you.

WHAT? Why am I in trouble? He climbed on MY chair!

Fine, I'll sit with Caden, then!

(Caden, STILL flying... you can't interrupt the launch!)

Caden, can we trade and be brothers? You're nice!

ALMOST a picture of 4 smiling faces...

(Jonah lost his Wii-time for being mean to his brother.)

REAL R2-D2 mailbox. Jonah and Noah want one on their corner.

The observation tower- Notice the sign on the bottom reads "KEEP OFF" and the one on the rail reads "DO NOT LEAN." THANKFULLY, nobody went through the window.

They all thought this was cool, you could see the runway at the airport and watch the planes take off and land as well as hear live feed from the control tower.

(I was not in danger of falling out the window, as I wouldn't go near it. The windows slant out as they go up and it is VERY creepy. This experience made me glad that I switched going to school to be an air traffic controller to a Korean linguistic when I was in the Air Force! I don't think I could work in a building shaped like that!)

Noah and Cavin, at it again.

Jacie, enjoying some time out and about!

A quick try for a family picture, didn't really come out so well, but hey, proof we were all there!

Noah and Caden.

Noah is "not going in there, I'm just looking!"

Jonah taking his flying very seriously.
Hey, if he wants to be a fighter pilot, he had better start learning the basics now!

HUH? I coulda sworn I was going to Australia, but now I am in CHINA! Oh well, wonder if there is a PF Chang's here?

Noah the Curator
~
Monday we hit DC by ourselves. The weather was awful, so we just did a few of the Smithsonian museums. The Air and Space (the "old" one), the Natural History and the American History (as it had been closed for renovations last time we were up- we only saw a couple of war things there before they were closing though, Maybe next time!)


Bryan and the boys in front of the Washington Monument- don't they look thrilled?

The kids and I blocking your view of the Capital.

(Selah was trying to take a nap, which is why she is all crooked.)

Selah, taking her nap.

(People kept giving me dirty looks, but if I move her, she wakes up- I've TRIED!)

Noah, climbing on stuff again.

WHAT?

Doesn't your 3-year-old take off his shoes and play with his zipper in the middle of a museum?

(There weren't any planes here, so Noah was not very interested.)

Noah put his shoes back on, but decided he needed to take a nap in the middle of the walkway- his legs were tired!

My future anniversary present...the Hope Diamond.

(Could you imagine how heavy that would be around your neck??)

This is also one of our solutions to helping with our national debt. Sell the Hope Diamond! Not only do you get the profit of the diamond, but you don't have to pay the 3 security guards that are always on guard of it! Talk about some savings! (Couple that with NOT giving us this extra $20 per paycheck and we might be able to stop accumulating debt so quickly!)

Bryan, sticking his tongue out at the boys because they couldn't get up the wall.

(I'm thinking Bryan should get hot sauce every time one of the boys sticks their tongues out, seeing as how he is responsible for it!)

Noah really loved standing on the bridge watching the cars pass underneath him.

(I, on the underhand, don't care for bridges and so I had to beg him to KEEP WALKING!)

And so we kept walking...

Right to where we had parked our van.

Notice anything strange about that meter?

Like maybe there isn't a red minivan parked at it?

Yep.

It got towed.

Apparently you can't park on Constitution Ave past 4 PM, even though the meter accepted money until 5!

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE...

It was a CURTESY tow!

No charge for the tow!

Wasn't that nice?

We did get a $100 parking ticket,

Have to pay $15 to take a cab to the impound lot,

And have to get dinner out becuase of all that, but they didn't charge us for the TOW!

Should have taken the Metro after all....

~

After we left Jamie's house, we headed home, with a short layover in OH.

We stopped at my friend (from High School) Heather's house. (Thanks Facebook!) We got to meet her husband, Matt and their 2 great dogs Frank and Sophie. (I really liked their dogs, and I am not a dog person, as we all know!)

I don't have any pictures from Heather's, but we had a great visit and had fun catching up. We are hoping to run a 10K race together in May here in Detroit. (By WE I mean Heather, Matt and I. We all know Bryan doesn't run for fun!)

And it turns out that Heather lives right by my aunt and grandmother, so we surprised them with a quick brunch as we left for home. It was nice to see them, and we wish we could have stopped and seen everyone in OH, but there just wasn't enough time. Feel free to come visit us though!

Selah, getting some fresh air at the very sunny travel plaza on the turnpike.

(Can't take any chances with that perfect complexion!)

Jonah, very proud of his card tower that he could carry around and set back down!
(If only he walked that quietly at home when the baby's alseep!)

I don't see it spinning.

I am not impressed, I want a new one.

A shot of us with GG in the parking lot of the restraunt. Again, not the best, but proves we were there!

No worries, my dad's got a badge- so he can do WHATEVER he wants! Even let me drive.

(Okay, so we were sitting in the parking lot waiting for me to burp. A girl can dream though, can't she?)