Griswolds final day of vacation...day 6

We headed to the great state of Maryland on our last day to visit my Aunt Sandra and all my cousins, whom I have not seen in years. We stopped by Inner Harbor Baltimore first and strolled around for awhile. This coast guard boat was at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese invasion, I think I have mentioned before how much I love inner harbor. It has lots of shopping and boats you can tour, restaurants, aquarium and lots of other things to do.

We visited with family and then decided to go down to Havre de Grace which is only a few minutes from my aunts house to check out the water and the docks. It was good to see everyone and there kids. It is hard to imagine all of us grown up with our own families now when all I can remember is all of us at the ages that are children are now. I remember a vacation that we took when I was about the twins age to visit my aunt. We did so many fun things on that vacation and I hope the girls remember all the fun things we did on this vacation. I remember eating ice cream down by these docks and watching the lightning bugs.

The lighthouse down by the docks.....

This is a picture of two very tired worn out parents...

I love being by the water.....

This is a picture of the very first place me and Adrian lived when we moved to the east coast The condo on the bottom, that was our bedroom on the bottom left hand corner. It has changed so much in that area that we almost did not find it. It was fairly new construction when we moved in so there was not a lot of trees at the time but now you can not see any of these condos because they trees were so thick. Fun memories! We had a good day in Baltimore and lots of good memories. We were ready to head home the next day but it was fun while it lasted....

Griswolds Family Vacation...Day 5

We decided to go downtown DC. In the past we have done "The Mall" which is where all the museums and monuments are at. This time we decided not to do all the mall but just the American History Museum. It is my favorite museum and it has been closed for two years for renovations. We drove downtown DC with Bob and meet his wife Suzanne at her place of work which is only a few blocks from the mall. We grabbed some lunch at my favorite burger place, Five Guys ( picture above ) and decided to go see a movie which was only a couple blocks away.

It is funny watching the girls walk around a big city. We live in a small town with one traffic light that was just recently put in. The twins loved the entrance to DC's China Town. They said Grantsville should build one of those as you come in to town. I guess instead of intricate Chinese symbols we would have cowboy paraphernalia with accents of camouflage

If you have seen the movie, Julia and Julia, this is Julia Childs kitchen that they showed at the end of the movie. The counters are really tall; she was a tall woman. This is one of the new exhibits that they have put in since the remodeling.

The original star spangled banner used to hang from the ceiling and was the first thing you saw as you came in the building but years ago they figured out it was disintegrating so they took steps to preserve and restore it as best they could. They finished restoring it and now it is in a dimly lit room with a new exhibit surrounding it. This is the entrance to the room it is kept in. If you have never seen it you think of just a regular size flag but this flag is huge, little less then a football field in size. It is amazing to see!

We are off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of oz.......

It is not easy being green. How can seeing Kermit not make you smile......

Piece of the Berlin wall......

Another new exhibit. Music and clothes that came out of the Apollo theater. They have scaled back a lot of the exhibits in the renovation but overall the renovations seemed to not make it seem so crowded. My favorite exhibit is the first ladies inauguration dresses. Abraham Lincolns wife had the tiniest waist you have scene, Michelle Obama's dress was the most popular, Calvin Coolidge's wife and Tafts wife had beautiful intricate dresses. It was a fun day and it was mostly inside which meant air conditioning!....Day 6...Baltimore.

Griswolds Family Vacation...Day 4

We headed to the National Zoo on Wednesday. We were going to head to Gettysburg on this day but after driving close to 6 hours total on Tuesday the thought of having to drive another 5 hours total in a car was not appealing to me. Me and Adrian have been to the DC zoo a lot because it is a great zoo and it is free admission. In hindsight with the heat we should have headed somewhere inside and air-conditioned but this is where the kids wanted to go

The best part of this zoo is the panda exhibit. They do look like stuffed teddy bears in real life. You want to go over and hug one but then reality sets in and you realize that this cuddly bear would rip your face off if needed. I must admit at this point that I handed my camera to the twins for the zoo trip. I was hot and tired and they wanted to take pictures. We ended up with a few good ones, a lot of animal pictures, and A WHOLE bunch of blurry pictures. They did not take pictures of the panda either.....I do have blurry pictures of the bamboo that they eat.

I love otters. If there is a show on Animal Planet that has otters I will watch it. Their personalities make me smile. On a documentary on Animal Planet they had a story about a female otter that only gave birth to still born babies and out of desperation of wanting a baby of her own she would try to steal the babies of the other otters; I cried, yup I cried while watching this silly documentary. I wanted to personally find an abandoned otter baby and bring it to this otter so she could have a baby. No more Animal Planet for me, I get to personally involved.

These are the pictures I ended up with. I am not sure what exhibit this is and I am also not sure who the kid in the picture is. Lets face it probably at this point I was trying to find some shade and something cold to drink....I will admit it I can be just as whiny as the children but I just store my whining internally and it manifests itself in to uninterested, detached,haughty seclusion....

Last time we came to the zoo, which was two years ago they were just starting the new elephant exhibit. This is part of it. It looks like a golf course. It is beautiful and huge and perfect for these gigantic animals. We did not spend a long time at the zoo. It is a great zoo but when the temperatures are 100 plus 90 percent humidity it is hard to stop and take everything in. Me and Adrian used to go in the fall and spring when we lived there. It sits right downtown and is surrounded by some great restaurants. It is well worth a visit if you ever find yourself in DC.....
Day 5, Downtown....to be continued......

Griswolds family vacation....Day three..Part 2

We made it to the beach. This was a last minute decision because of Williamsburg not taking as long as we expected and being a bit deflated from the tourist trap, we felt like we needed to salvage something special out of the day so when we saw that virginia beach was less then an hour away we knew we had to go. This is the main touristy beach but that meant shops that the kids could get a shirt and lots of restaurants available.

This is me in heaven. My feet in the sand and the sound of waves all around me. There had been a storm that blew through and it brought the temp down to the low 80's it felt so good.

Look at that smile on that beautiful girl.

There is all my treasures right there in that picture.

Look at that pose. She loved the beach!!! She was wet and was sand covered in the first 5 minutes of us getting on the beach

The last picture of the day. My makeup was gone, my hair had lost the battle to the 90 + plus percent humidity earlier in the day and at this moment I was in pure joy and Adrian kept saying it was time to go and I kept saying 5 more minutes please. Adrian finally had to be stern with me and say it was time to go home because we had a long drive ahead. I reluctantly gathered my family and headed home....day 4 National Zoo...to be continued...

Griswolds Family Vacation...Day 2

Last time I went to Mount Vernon I went with my mother and I was 6 months pregnant. So the twins are now almost eleven so needless to say it has been a long time since I have been there. Mount Vernon, our first presidents home and where he is buried. It is a piece of American history that is incredible to see. It sits on the most beautiful piece of property and is amazingly preserved. This above picture was taken at the new welcoming center that gives a brief history of George and Martha. This statue is life size of George, Martha and their two grandchildren. You realize what commanding presence George had, he was tall for his day and big in stature. I love that Makenzie reached up and grabbed the hand of George Washington. I think George would have liked that :).

This is the view that George Washington had from the front of his home. Rolling hills of green that go as far as the eye can see.

This is Mount Vernon, the home of General George Washington. You can not take pictures when in the home. It is a piece of colonial history that is incredibly preserved. The home is not large inside or over indulgent like that of a British palace we went through the next day.

This is the view that the home has from the back of the house.

Here is the back of the home. I think after seeing the view that the back of the home offers I know why George loved this home.

This is where George and his wife are buried. It is funny, when you approach this place people become quiet in their talk and they seem to take on a new level of respect for this man. If George Washington only knew the importance that he had on our countries history and the admiration that people have for him hundreds of years later.

It was an ungodly kind of humidity and heat that day that the new interactive museum was a welcome relief from the heat. Lots of things for the kids to see and do. We even got to see George Washington's "wooden" teeth...which are actually made out of ivory and others people teeth...icky! Could you imagine dentures made out of other peoples teeth...icky! It was a hot day and some whiny kids but overall a success. Day 3 Colonial Williamsburg and Virginia Beach....to be continued......

Griswolds Family Vacation...Day 1

There it is ...the beginning of our summer vacation. This is the descent in to Baltimore airport. We are spending a full week in Washington DC and have numerous things planned but with a three year old, hormonal pre-teens, and humidity that I would compare to what the rainforests in the amazon feel like we will see what we actually get done on our, "Things we would like to do" list.

See this three year old, she is the one who can make life tough somedays. She was ok to fair on the plane flight. She was so excited for this trip that her excitment over took her body and she could not sit still any longer than a nano second for the whole flight. My patience were beginning to fray and I began using lies and threats to get her to sit still. Her father told her in that the airline stewardess would toss her off the plane if she could not behave. That worked for a few minutes.........and then the threat was forgotten and she was back to putting the tray in front of her up and down once more.

Annapolis, Maryland was our first destination. We got up Sunday morning and headed out. All the years we lived in Maryland and Virginia I never went to Annnapolis and I wanted to see it. We also wanted to go to the Naval Academy to see Adrian's grandfather, Floyd, burial place.

His ashes are placed right next to the bay and it has a beauiful view of the Chesapeake Bay. Not a better place for a Navy man to be buried.

Lots of graduates of the academy are buried here. It is a beautiful peaceful spot.

After we were done with the Naval Academy we walked over City Dock in Annapolis. Its is the historic part of town with streets full of restaurants and stores. This is a view of the girls with the statehouse towering above them in the top of the picture. It is a place where great men such as George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson have stood.

End of the day down by the docks. It was a great city and I wish I would have gone when we lived here. I will make it a point to go back again and spend more then a day there. ....Griswolds family vacation day 1....to be continued.......

If you find my face on a milk carton.....

I woke up Monday morning with flags lining the street. It took me a few moments to realize it was flag day. The local youth for the church does fund raising by offering to put these flags in yards on patriotic type holidays. I love looking down the street and seeing the flags lining the street. I have been very fortunate to see most of this country, there are very few states that I have not been too and Alaska and Hawaii are two of them. My hope is someday when the kids are grown that Adrian and I can travel internationally but in the mean time I have enjoyed seeing the things that our country has to offer. These are a few of my most memorable trips......

We are headed to Washington D.C. again this summer. I am so glad the kids have had the opportunity to go to our nations capital. It has so many amazing things to see. I don't think there is anything that is as amazing as seeing the 4th of July fireworks being set off behind Washington Monument.....AMAZING!!!

This is inner harbor Baltimore. I had the opportunity to live in the outskirts of Baltimore. I genuinely loved this city. It was a big city but had some hometown feel to it. Though inner harbor is a a touristy area I love this area. It is where Camden Yards is at and the new stadium for the Ravens. It has a great aquarium and so many other places to see. I remember going here for the first time when I was in 4th grade and I loved it and I still do.

Yellowstone! If there is one place that everyone should see once in their life it should be Yellowstone. It is everything that is beautiful about the west. On this trip we stayed at a dude ranch that had the best home cooked food and great cabins. On our last day through the park we broke down. DON'T ever break down in Yellowstone! It costs a small fortune to get towed out of there :). What an amazing trip and hopefully we can do it again someday but this time hopefully we won't break down.

This was Galveston Texas. We went with all my husbands siblings and parents to see my mother-in-laws father and sister and my sister-in-law Rachel. It was the first time the girls got to take a plane ride that they could remember. First time they had gotten to stay in a hotel, and to be honest I think that was the highlight of their trip. This was also the first time the girls had gotten to to see any kind of ocean. It was a trip of firsts for them and they still talk about that trip to this day and for that reason I loved this trip because it was special to them

New Orleans...this was taken on my 21st birthday. We had no kids at this point and we decided to get in our car and head south to visit Adrian's grandpa in Mobile, Alabama. New Orleans is one of my favorite places. I loved the food, art, music, and just the vibe of the town. It was so hot the day this picture was taken. I have never felt humidity like that! I will go back again someday...maybe my 40th birthday...without kids again ;).

Have I mentioned before how much I love the west. This was taken at a camping spot in the Uintahs in Utah. One of the best places to camp I think in Utah. The elevation in the Uintahs can give you short of breath and possibly if you live at sea level and are not used to high altitude you may feel like you are dying. The work of god is so evident in this area, it takes your breath away.

Another view from our canyons here in Utah. Though I may be sounding like tourist board I can't go without mentioning the beauty that Utah oozes. It has some of the most amazing scenery compacted in to one state. I am still amazed by the mountains that line the valley. Southern Utah has desert canyon lands that are breath taking. It is a gorgeous place to live...

So I saved the last pictures as my all time favorite place to be. The ocean...I LOVE the OCEAN! Did I say that loud enough? I am one of those people that if I ever walked away from my life the first place you should look for me is along a coastline. This picture was taken in the Keys of Florida and a school of dolphins were swimming in the wake of the boat. Seriously, you will find me with my toes in the sand soaking in the sun on a beach somewhere...

You might find me on this beach in the summer months. This is on the Oregon coast, it is not a swimming kind of ocean and no white sandy beaches but the air is cool in the hot summer months and the pure beauty is enough to make you never want to leave.

Here it is, this is where you will find me...picture it now me and my beach chair, sunglasses, I-pod, and a good book....and my toes in the sand. Realize if you find me I will ask you to put your toes in the sand with me and close your eye's and listen to the waves come rolling in and in that moment you will realize you are never leaving this place either..............