For New Years we decided to take the kids back to Henry's birth place, Falls Church Virginia and Washington DC
Ringing in the New Year in the United States Capitol!!
Happy 2020!!!!
Visiting the Smithsonian's! The kids are at PERFECT ages, 12, 11 and 10 .
We went to the Natural History, Air and Space and National Archives.
We made use of our time getting around with rented bikes!!!
The kids were able to keep up, and due to the limited number of tourists, we navigated our way around the National Mall and other sights quite well!!
We did either biking or walking! The kids were great sports, and the weather was PERFECT!!!!! We had brought a suitcase filled ONLY with winter coats, hats, gloves, ect, but didn't even use them one day!!
United States Capitol building! We did have a tour, and before the tour, because no backpacks are allowed, we stashed our goodies, snacks and lunch, under a construction cone, until the tour ended!! Clever folk!
The US Mint!! There, I believe, are only 3 mints across the country, and the kids loved seeing where money gets its beginning.
Georgetown!! Oh, my heart be still!! You bet we made the ever popular stop at Georgetown cupcakes, and got about every kind of cupcake to sample!!
We took a trip to Maryland, to visit our favorite Aquarium, the Baltimore Aquarium! If you have the chance, make a visit. We were annual pass holders while we lived there, and it was great to see the Aquarium and its services were still the same!
Here it is!! Our old home!! The home we brought baby Hank to!! The home we loved and enjoyed for many years!!! 6411 Shady Lane, Falls Church Virginia!!
Our audio tour of the United States Capitol Building.
Lucy and one of her idols, Mr Lincoln. Hank posing in the Library of Congress, and below, just a picnic lunch on the steps of the famous library!!!
Arlington cemetery! We were able to watch the changing of the guard, and although clouds threatened, the rain held off the entire time!
Overall, our trip was fantastic!! The kids are SO much fun!! At the perfect ages!! It was so much fun to walk down memory lane, show the kids such an amazing part of history, and enjoy our time together!
We couldn't get Lucy up in the snow, so took the brothers skiing. They have been a few times, and each time get better, try more tricks, and are a little more adventurous.
Our little Lucy, all done up for her role in the musical production of Shrek. Show here with her friends Lucy and Eden.
Day trip to Kanab, and below, enjoying some time at the Parade of homes! Despite what you see here, the kids LOVED seeing inside the homes, and we enjoyed cruising around town with them!
We took a wall down in the house, and before we did, the kids colored on the wall, and made it their mural.
Hank, like Charlie last year, grew an extra tooth!! !WHAT!!! he had to have it surgically removed.
He did fantastic, healed well, and was a great sport!!
Just looking darling over the balcony!
It is a beautiful time of year to be outdoors, on hikes. This one was called the bowl, and you can see why the kids love it!!
Happy 10th Birthday Hankie baby!! We went skiing, and enjoyed his favorite meal! For his birthday gift, he saved up his money from family, money from Jeff and I and money from a challenge we had done as a family, and purchased a Long Board!! He has LOVED that, and is riding it nearly every day!!
HAWAII!!!!!
For spring break, we surprised the kids and took them to MAUI!!!! Lucy did cry when we told her she had to miss 2 days of school, sad tears. The boys just screamed and shouted!
The perfect look out point, on Maui. We had stopped to get supplies, snacks and treats at Costco and several stores, and we rounded the corner to our little beach cottage, and this stunning view popped up!
I'm telling you, the beach cottage was a DREAM!!!! We literally were a 20 second walk down to this beach!! It was on the East side of the island, in the area the call "The Country, Gods Country." It is lush, green and beautiful!!
Loading up our cooler with the days snacks for snorkeling and playing in the sun.
Yup!! We got Shave Ice every day! You just have to ! We tried all combinations, and Jeffs favorite was the local favorite, with ice cream and black beans.
One of the countless walks we took on the beach! The weather was warm, with a little breeze.
Stunning!! A morning sunrise picture of the beach. The pic to the left is us walking back from the beach to our cottage.
Food, beach, hikes, food and more Shave Ice......Ahaahh
Fish tacos, oh yes we did! Charlie got Coconut shrimp, and the food for all was delish!
Matsamotos (sp) shave ice on the North Shore. We tried other shops, but they were closed, due to the COVID19 beginning to rear its ugly head!!
Hank following instructions from the boat crew on our snorkeling adventure! We did swim with dolphins, and see some amazing fish, but the biggest success was that no one got sea sick!!
Pearl Harbor! Was stunning and we missed a huge down pore! The kids, and myself, were captivated by the history, and hearing, from first hand accounts of this memorable day in history.
Good bye Hawaii!! We enjoyed our week there!! Near the end, we were scrambling to re book, rearrange and cancel flights and accommodations.
COVID19 had begun to take over the world, but on the island of Hawaii, we had a few quality days sheltered from what would be some crazy times ahead!!
Unfortunately for us, our return also meant a life change of canceling our trip to Alaska, Costa Rica, full time home schooling, no friends, NO BASEBALL ( for Hank, who is truly devastated) No BASKETBALL (for charlie) and no theater for Lucy. We have all felt its pain, but are so grateful to have our health, and each other!!
When we got home, we immediately self isolated. Because we had traveled, it made us at a higher risk for spreading the virus. The kids didn't have school, as the home learning secession had yet to begin, so they played, cooked, built Lego's and we hiked.
My boss was kind enough to let me work from home, so for that week, I woke before the kids, and was able to get many hours, that I otherwise wouldn't have been fortunate to have.
Picnics, crafts, science experiments, spraying each other to obey, are some of the time filling activities the kids participate in during quarantine.
We have, thanks to Jeff, been on some great hikes! This was a ghost town! It is one of the few I've seen that has kept original structures and maintained history well!! It was near Springdale Utah, and of course we stopped and got Cinnamon Rolls, from our favorite local shop on the way home!
More lego's, hikes, playing in the sprinkler.......anything to pass the time.
Happy Easter!!!! Charlie and I prepared in advance, and per his request, made some homemade peeps.
Some habits die hard....Charlie seems to have not only the egg dying technique down, but is able to color himself quite well also!
Home made donughts!! Yup, why NOT!!!??
They turned out great, and we WILL try them again!
So, during the COVID19 chaos, most all stores and restaurants are closed.
However, restaurants are open for curbside pickup.
We have made it a weekly thing to support our favorite local food spots, and do take out/pick up on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I must say, it works well for us also.
Our hike this weekend involved this amazing slot canyon, with stunning hieroglyphs!!
Lucky for us, Jeff enjoys hikes off the beaten path, and it results in great memories.
Our Sunday picnic. We had takeout from the Country Club, and enjoyed a sunny, shady picnic
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