Spring Break: Washington D.C. - Day 1

What a fabulous trip! Maybe I loved Washington D.C. so much because it was such a much needed break from New York City for me, but I loved this city. It was beautiful... and clean! It was amazing and inspiring to be surrounded by such history.

We caught the train from Penn Station early Thursday morning. We quickly figured out the new metro rail system in D.C. and within no time had our bags dropped off at our hotel and were off for a great day of exploring and sight-seeing.

First shot just off the subway. Everyone was so excited to see the "big long nose." When John lived in Virginia as a boy he always referred to the Washington Monument as the "big long nose" and now our children do too. They think it is hilarious. I think Connor must have said "Look! It's the 'big long nose'!" at least 50 times.

First on the list of things to do...

National Air and Space Museum

It was amazing! So many amazing aircrafts and spaceships. The boys were in heaven. Favorites included the first plane to travel faster than the speed of sound, The Spirit of St. Louis, the IMAX theater, but I think our very favorite was the seeing the very first plane ever to fly built by the Wright brothers.

Can you believe that is the actual plane that the Wright brothers built and flew?? Not a model!! The actual one! AMAZING!!!

Another highlight ... for the kids especially... the paper airplane contest.

Abigail wasn't too excited to take another picture... so here are two of our flyers.

(notice Connor's stance... Yes... he always needed to go!)

Even this guy was a great traveler! Yeah for Owen!!

After seeing a ton of planes, we headed to the gift shop to buy a kite. We found a great kite shaped just like a stealth bomber and made our way back to the Washington Monument for some family fun.

One of John's favorite memories in D.C. - getting a kite from the gift shop at the Air and Space Museum and flying it on the hill at the base of the Washington Monument. He remembers the kite getting so high - it seemed to touch the top of the monument.

Dallin was more than eager to follow in the footsteps of his father. He just couldn't wait to get the kite and fly it soooooo high! Of course we did buy the extra long spool of string just to see if we really could get our kite as high as the monument. Well... our string was only 500 ft long and the monument is 555 ft tall, but with our string all the way out it sure did look like it was touching the top of the monument. :)

The weather was beautiful and the wind was perfect for flying a kite.

This was one of the highlights of our trip.

After relaxing at the monument, we headed back to the hotel by way of the White House.

"White House" - backside

Front side

Such a beautiful building...

Such a beautiful city...

Such a beautiful walk back to the hotel...

What a wonderful day.

Happy Easter!

Our Daddy was away the week before Easter, so we tried to fill our time with fun Easter things to do... of course, that included sugar cookies.  The kids had a great time frosting and sprinkling.  I think their favorite was using the icing bag themselves.  Mental note for next year... have an icing bag for each kid.  After making, baking, and frosting the kids delivered their goodies to some of our neighbors in the building.  They love delivering things. 

Sugar Cookie Fun

Saturday the kids patiently waited for their Dad to return so that they could dye their Easter eggs.  John was a good sport.  Literally within minutes of being home he was rolling up his sleeves and helping contain the mess of Easter Egg dying :).  

Abigail trying to show the boys that patience is the key.

Dallin in awe of his blue "Robin" egg

Connor was so eager.
Lucky for me Dad was able to give him the one on one attention he needed to save his cups from spilling over.

Some of the results waiting for the Easter Bunny to come and add the magic touch.  

Easter Morning the kids were up early and ready to go.  It took them all a little while to find their eggs.  I think the Easter Bunny thinks they are better finders than they really are.  Maybe we might have to do some practicing before next year.  I think it took about 30 minutes before everyone had found their basket and the egg collecting could begin.  :) 

Look!  We found eggs!!

Owen waited patiently in bed with Dad while the kids cleaned up the eggs off the floor.
A crawling baby and plastic eggs all over the floor = disaster for the older kids :) 

 After we collected our candy and eggs, opened our baskets, and enjoyed hard boiled eggs for breakfast, we headed to Stake Conference for Church.  It was a nice meeting and thankfully the kids were well behaved and we made it through :)  After Church, we walked home by way of Central Park. I had to get an Easter picture with trees... not just buildings :).  The kids were good sports.  The walk was beautiful.  It was a perfect Easter day... warm and sunny.  Here are our best attempts at a kid picture.  Not bad.  Connor and Owen are still learning the art of posing for the camera :).  

 What a beautiful holiday when we can celebrate the birth, life and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  I am truly grateful for the knowledge we have that there is life after death and that we can be re-united with those that have passed on.  

Happy Easter!

Botanical Gardens: Orchid Show

Another Saturday Adventure at the Botanical Gardens.  This time we decided to take the amtrak train from Grand Central instead of the subway.  Let's just say... SO MUCH BETTER.  We were so happy to be able to get on, have a seat, and get off right in front of the Gardens.  

We were so excited to find so many trees in bloom.  I love spring blossoms. 

In front of the Conservatory where the Orchid Show began.  Isn't it beautiful?  

At first the Orchids started off slow.  A few bunches here and there.

Abigail loved the "Dancing Ladies" Orchids. 

After a couple of rooms, the bunches began to grow and grow.  It was amazing.  Orchids are beautiful.  So intricate.  So vibrant.  So unique.  

The boys taking a little break.  I love these boys.  So full of life and energy.  

Poor Owen.  He had been sick all week.  We thought he was doing better when we left in the morning, but we were mistaken.  Poor little guy started running a fever again half way through our outing.  He was so sad.  Poor baby.  

Family Shot

Isn't that wall behind us amazing!  SO full of orchids.  

After the show (and the boys were just done looking at flowers... girl stuff), we headed back outside to enjoy the beauty of the park.  We climbed some trees, ate some snacks, and took the tram ride around the park to see the different parts we still need to enjoy.  The flowering trees were amazing!  The gardens are huge and there are so many amazing, beautiful things to see.  We can't wait to go again.  But with a sick baby, our time was up for the day.  

Happy Valentine's Day!

What a day! It was a fun, love filled day. Not a down moment to spare :).

We started off the morning with "egg in a heart" for breakfast. We had just had pancakes for dinner last Sunday with the missionaries, so we decided to change things up a bit. The kids loved waking up to their surprises and valentines. I love watching their faces. First groggy and tired... then they realize... "Wait, it's Valentine's Day!" Those tired faces are quickly replaced with mounds and mounds of excitement and smiles beaming from ear to ear.

Abigail wasn't too thrilled that she had to go to school. She didn't know if they would be celebrating Valentine's Day or not (poor thing). But she still took her valentines in hand wearing her love shirt :).

I think this was one of my favorite things I did for the kids this year. Who knew Christmas wrapping paper and coloring books could make such fun valentines.

I wasn't very good about taking pictures throughout the day. I really wish we would have gotten a couple more... oh well, maybe next year.

After breakfast, Abby headed to school and Dad headed to work. The boys and I assembled legos and played for a bit, mixed together some sugar cookie dough, and we quickly got ready for the day and headed to one of our favorite bakeries - Two Little Red Hens. We were so happy to find a small line there (I was expecting a much bigger crowd - like I saw on Christmas Eve). After grabbing some cupcakes we headed for Midtown to surprise our Dad.

We definitely took the wrong bus - the local is MUCH slower than the express. Lesson learned. But we still made it just in time to have lunch with Dad. I felt really lucky. John doesn't always get lunch and to arrive at the exact time that they were just breaking for lunch... miracle :). So we enjoyed a yummy pizza/salad lunch at Patsy's. Yum. But the best was surprising our Dad and getting to spend time with him.

John headed back to work with cupcakes to share in hand and the boys and I jumped on the subway (hoping that would be faster than the bus). When we walked in the door we had 35 minutes to bake a couple trays of cookies and make frosting before heading over to a friend's house for a little Valentine's Party. We made it - only 5 minutes late. The boys had a blast decorating cookies and eating frosting until their tummies hurt :). They weren't too happy when I told them we had to go. We were only there for about 45 mins, but we had to hurry to get Abigail from school.

By this point in the day I began to question why I bought them candy and debated how much I should really let them eat in one day. Soon I gave up the fight and agreed to just about as many sweets as they wanted for the day. It's a holiday ... they're allowed... right??

With homework, picking-up and reading done, we enjoyed some heart-shaped meatballs with spaghetti. But I think dessert was the most fun. Fondue. We love fondue.

Don't you just love all those chocolate faces? I do.

This little boy was covered with chocolate. He thought he was so funny.

And even Owen enjoyed his 1st fondue experience. Chocolate covered bananas. Yum.

But I think one of the best parts of the day for me, besides the smiles on my kids faces, was this sweet card from John. I love his cards. They are the kind you save forever. The kind you pull out of your sock drawer on "bad days" and read again.. and again.. and again. I truly love this man. And can you believe it? John bought roses this year!!! I was SO surprised :).

I hope you all had a great day filled with love from special people in your life.

A special thanks to all those that sent their love our way.

Thanks for thinking of us.

We truly love all of you.

Saturday Adventures: Botanical Gardens

Saturday is here again. As you have probably noticed, each Saturday we find some adventure to do as a family. Many are documented with photos, but many are not. Either way, when Saturday comes the kids know it is a day for fun.

This Saturday was no different. We had heard about a Holiday Train Show at the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx and decided to go. It was quite the event. Within the large greenhouse at the gardens, they had constructed a variety of structures (buildings, skyscrapers, bridges, stadiums, etc) that can be found in NYC. The amazing part was that each of these structures were made of natural materials - bark, sticks, acorns, nut shells, moss.. you get the idea. Some were only a foot tall, while others were close to 7 or 8 feet. I was amazed at the detail. The kids I think we more impressed with the model trains that ran throughout the exhibit - through roads and centers and across bridges. Connor (our train man) was in heaven.

The gang waiting for the subway at our local subway stop - 96th

"The Train Show"

"Waiting for the crowd to get moving"

A typical NYC crowd ... basically it is always crowded. You learn to push your way through the crowd with the best of them.

"Ellis Island" - the train show display

Real life Ellis Island... Can you see the resemblance? I think they did an amazing job.

Abigail and Penn Station in the background

John trying to show the kids the details ... trying to help them appreciate :)

"Brooklyn Bridge"

"Yankee Stadium"

This was a fun one... the tallest building was probably about 8 feet tall. Can you tell which famous buildings are in this shot?? Rockefeller Center, Chrysler Building, Empire State Building...

It was always fun to come upon something that the kids recognized and could remember visiting... Many of the above were part of that remembering... as well as many sites from Central park and others.

Connor was SO much fun to watch. He LOVES trains! He was so excited whenever a train would pass by. Many times he would sit and wait for the next train to reappear.

After the train show, we walked around the gardens and tried to enjoy some of the other facilities. After walking not too far we came upon the children's center. But I think the kids favorite part was climbing the rocks. More than anything, they were so excited to have space to run and play... things to climb on and ground to jump on.

Enjoying the Rocks

Even Owen was having fun

Connor being a scientist

Hooray for another Saturday of fun. We actually had such a great time we decided to put the cost of the days tickets toward a yearly membership. We can't wait to go back... especially in the spring.

Side Note: I was so bummed that I forgot to bring my longer lens for my camera. Especially after remembering that my regular lens is broken and is only in focus 50% of the time. Bummer.