Thursday, October 18, 2012

DC trip

A couple weekends ago Jake and I took a trip to DC to meet up with my brother Dan and his wife Amy to enjoy the nations capital...without kids!  A million thanks go out to Amy, who deserves all the credit in her amazing ability to plan and book us some fantastic tours...and for letting us crash their getaway for a few days.  And another million thanks to our babysitters who were willing to take 3 kids into their home.  They were very brave!

Our first tour was of the White House!  I've been told it isn't very easy to get these tours.  Very cool!!!  It was fun just to be able to say I was inside!  We were not allowed cameras inside, but it was great to see some of the rooms.  The green room, blue room, red room, the library, the dining room and the east room where many presidents' bodies have laid in state.

We spent a good 3 hours in the American History Museum.  Loved every second of it!
 Dorothy's red slippers
 Headstone of the first Nauvoo temple...before the fire.
Jake and I escaped that afternoon to go to the DC temple.  It is not easy arranging to get in to Manhattan to visit our temple there, so we took advantage of this opportunity.  So lovely!!!  One of the prettiest temples in my opinion and the colorful glass from the inside is stunning!  Too bad the traffic on the way home pretty much killed the peaceful feeling :)
The next morning we toured Ford's Theater where Lincoln was assassinated.  Being so close to history and learning so many details of this tragic event...I wish I had adequate words to describe how neat this was.

 The house they took Lincoln to after he was shot
 All the books written about Lincoln.  What an amazing man!
Then we had a personal tour of the Capitol building.  I think Amy got these tours through the Utah Senator.  We had to go into the building next to the Capitol to pick up our tour guide and then we went underground to get to the Capitol.  It was fun to feel kind of important.
 Hard to capture the rotunda

Library of Congress.  What a beautiful building!  It was also fascinating to see Thomas Jefferson's library/collection of books.  Reminded me a little of my grandpa :)

On Saturday we drove out to Mount Vernon.  And had a heck of a time trying to find it with google maps and apple maps.  But we made it in time to tour the inside of his George Washington's estate their.  It was really great to get to know this man a little more personally as well.  He had quite the operation up there with his farms and slaves, from growing their own food to making their own tools and clothes, everything.  I also loved how he opened up his house to any visitor.
 And you can't beat a view like that!  Yeah, I could retire here as well...no problem.


That afternoon we came back to the city and did the Holocaust Museum.  That was an overwhelming, emotional experience that was hard to swallow and hard to describe.

And we finished off our stay admiring the amazing monuments:
 Jefferson monument
 Lincoln Monument

Jake and I have been to DC a couple of times but this trip was completely different!  Being able to take time to read the plaques and soak it all in without distraction, made for a rich experience that we really appreciated and will never forget.

It was also great to be able to spend quality time with two of my favorite people!  Thanks again guys!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Fall Fun

What a great season this is!  It has been busy but fun.  Here are a few things we've been up to.

Apple Picking, we just can't get enough of applesauce, dried apples, apple crisp, and even just a good juicy apple for a snack.
 Camping...we finally did it.  Rachel has been begging ever since the spring.
 And really, it's all about the treats right?  Licorice, oreos, chips, marshmallows.  We had a great time!



 Jake entered a 5K race and all of us did the one mile fun run before it started.


And I had to document these things.  I stood in line for like 3 hours for these and they didn't last long.
 They're worth it though

Monday, October 8, 2012

2nd Grade

Rachel has been in school for a month now...seriously, what happened to September?!  Her first day was the day after we flew back from Utah.  Poor girl was still on Mountain Standard time and I had to wake her up.  She kept rubbing her eyes and said, "but my eyes aren't working."  She was super excited to start school again and was dancing and singing all over the hallway the night before.

 
 
At Back to School night we saw her "Hopes and Dreams" posted up on the wall:

Last year in school my favorite thing was: "learn about countries"
The hardest thing for me about school last year was: "nothing"
This year I'm really looking forward to: "doing fun art"
I am a little worried about: "lots of tons of millions of homework"

It's true were still trying to figure out how to juggle the homework thing, on top of practicing the piano, playing with friends, eating dinner and getting to bed.  Craziness!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Coronado

We then headed south to visit Jake's brother and his family, who we haven't seen in a couple years.  They took us to this place.  I think it's called Point Loma.  Absolutely breathtaking!  The kids loved looking for hermit crabs...they weren't hard to find
And Jake found this starfish.  It was wild watching this thing move...very cool!!!

I found a crab too!  Ha ha, just kidding.
Heidi was super sweet and made Kate this awesome strawberry cake, which was incredibly delicious.  She took advantage of the opportunity to make a pink cake.  And Kate LOVES "strawberrs"!

 There's cousin Taft...I think he liked the cake too
 And pancakes in the morning.  Seriously, they spoiled us! 
 Even for not seeing this girl for most of her life, they know her well.  She loves dress up!
 Kate and Luke
The big boys (Jake and Seth) went for a 50 mile bike ride along the coast to Oceanside, and managed to get a ticket for not stopping at a stop sign...gotta love California!!!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Beach and Birthday

After Disneyland we rented a car and headed to Newport Beach.  Jake was proud about fitting all 3 kids in the back of this sedan, but as we drove he gradually grew more and more grateful for our van.
I loved our makeshift beach toys here at the end of the season...mixing bowls and garden shovels
My uncle lives nearby and brought these boogie boards.  Such a blast, and Rachel's really getting the hang of it

 These played really well together at the beach playing with rockets
 Cute matching cousins!!
 Kate turned two on our trip.  It was the day we all ended up flying back to Utah so we did a little celebration after the beach.
 Pirate Tom
 A Minnie Mouse party.



This two year old
·      gives the best hugs
·      loves to sing the song “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes”
·      loves to do anything the big kids are doing
·      is picky about what she wears
·      has an obsession with washing her hands
·      does this cute jump/skip thing over the cracks in the sidewalk 
·      says and enthusiastic goodbye and blow kisses to anyone
    can finish any dessert put in front of her


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