September Shenanigans!

For the weekend of Audrie's birthday we took off and headed to Washington DC! I have to admit that my main desire to go was so I could attend the temple.  I knew once the baby cam that I wouldn't have a chance to make the 4 hour dive as easily as I would like.  So, we loaded up and took off!  I was surprised at how "deserty" the drive felt.  For the first time in a long time I KINDA felt like I was back home.  The roads seem to by much smaller here, even the highways.  Sometimes I feel like I am in a foreign country. 

We debated whether or not to go straight to the hotel, or if Martin would drop me off at the temple right away and I would catch a late session.  We decided on the latter.  After driving through the narrow streets for an hour through town in our large "mormon mobile", we finally pulled into the temple parking lot.  Things seemed odd as our car was the only one there, other than a lonely car parked in front of the visitor center. When Martin asked me if I had checked to see if it was open, I knew I should have followed that prompting over 24 hours before.  

My other drive that took me to the temple that day was to finalize my decision to homeschool our kids for another year.  I was a little disappointed that I might not find that peace by attending a session.  Come to find, however as we walked through the visitors center and visited with the missionaries there, that a peace came regardless.  It is our effort that is taken into account in situations like these I think. 

 The next morning we started bright and early on our two day tour of our nation's capital.  Our goals were simple, because we knew our kids may not last long, nor understand fully where they were or the significance of it all.  So We tried to make it as fun as possible.  I was just amazed at how beautiful all the buildings were! We felt so small amongst the towering surroundings.  

 Our first stop was the Natural History Museum. The kids loved taking their time wandering around, and picking and choosing what to discover next. Their curiosity for the "birds" shouldn't have surprised me! What kid wouldn't want to see stuffed birds from all over the nation? (not sure why I didn't have any pictures of that?)

Then the kids enjoyed this guy... They were his "helpers" up on stage.  He sang silly songs and had them doing silly things.  Kind-of like an interactive Mr. Rodgers. 

Carlee and The Hope Diamond.  Who knew it had been cut down and reshaped to almost 1/4th of its natural size?  Crazy people.

Bugs. Cam loved them! I loved this area, even though my pregnant belly caused my back so much aching around this time!  I found myself sitting on the floor looking at their indoor beehive. I think that would be an awesome, productive and unique decorating idea someday!  I would totally do it!  How cool would that be to siphon honey right from the hive in our wall? This is just the beginning of all my great ideas. 

She was scared she was going to be trampled. Can't ya tell?

I was hoping Ben Stiller would pop up somewhere if we stayed long enough!

Look how much they like each other!

We spent most of the morning here.  We couldn't decide if we wanted to stay or go on to the mall.  But we did...walk and walk and walk and walk.  

And she took a snooze at every chance she got! (she does this everywhere we go!)

Thank goodness for the shadow of the Washington Monument.

Then she chased birds for a while.

This birthday girl was such a good sport! Wait?  Did I mention it was her 9th birthday? Well it was and she was just so fun to hang out with that day!  She knew it was a special day and seemed already one year older and wiser, in just a day!  She is my right hand, and I love her!

Andrue loves sucking on his shirt!  Gross! So for this one, we all joined in!

Then we took instructions on how to pose, from Carlee.

The Lincoln Memorial was my favorite.  I felt such a strong spirit in that room.  I found I snapped at my kids to be more reverent!  I am so thankful to the leaders of our country who have stood for truth, especially when it wasn't popular or when it wasn't "financially" smart. Fundamental right and wrong has always existed. And I want my children to understand how important it is that we understand our beginnings as a nation, and how it was because of our loving Heavenly Father, and righteous men, who have provided us with such a fulfilling opportunity to have happy lives. So many sacrifices were made, and being aware of those sacrifices humble us, (I hope) to still fight for the truth. 

Um...the walk back was deadly.  Until we found this water fountain. Audire bent down to take a drink only to be shot in the face with a stream of water like something straight out of a comedy, she was soaked. So, we had to stay and play in it for a while to lighten the mood. 

Andrue insisted on carrying Cameron. They didn't make it very far.

Ahh...so much better. (That is as close to the White House as we got)

Then on to store bought cheesecake to celebrate!

They ALL slept like champs that night. 

DAY 2

 More Smithsonian exploring.  Julia childs was tall!  As well as a great example.  I would hope that all of my children myself included) develop her determination and her lack of caring of what "should be" and do something that people say is impossible or silly.  

Andrue found something that looked familiar!  He thought that was cool!

She liked this!  

Go figure.

 The Spark Lab!

This place was cool!  And the workers were so helpful!  The kids had different stations with a specific goal in mind.  They had to re-invent something that already existed in a way that has not been invented before.  They had "rules".  here they were supposed to invent something that had wheels, could carry something and could take them from point a to point b.  Simple and fun!

Carlee took her car making very seriously.  Hers looked like....a car! ;)

This car's wires were all taken apart and a worker gave them a scenario, and they had to make the car work for that specific issue.  They were asked to make this care useful to someone who didn't have any legs. So with pipes and rewiring, they were able to make the gas pedal go with a switch they could hit with finger by the steering wheel.  Fun to get them thinking!

And this concludes our first family trip to Washington DC!

It was hot, it was humid, I was 8 months pregnant, it was educational and it was a party!