Washington DC Day 4

Samantha discovered bagels on our trip! They are a perfect treat since they are dense enough that she can not bite to much off and she can hold them well. 

Arlington Cemetery was our first stop and we made it just in time to see the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. The kids were so good. 

The boys were intrigued by the eternal flame at JFK's grave. 

We then spent the rest of the day at the Natural History Museum except for the time we left for lunch up by the Capital building. 

The museum closed down their huge dinosaur display for the next 5 (yes FIVE) years while they do renovations in October. They had a smaller new display that opened that day we were there. It was fun to see. 

We saw the tarantula feeding and Arabella was brave enough to hold the madagascar hissing cockroach. She is move brave than me. 

This was Joseph's favorite stone in the Gem section. 

We also went in the butterfly house- so cool! I want to plant a butterfly garden now. 

The capital building dome is being repaired or updated or something and had an impressive amount of scaffolding on it. 

I love you Jon!

Oh no kids, swim away!

We enjoyed some great evening meals at the hotel for a few nights we were there. The kids played on this shuffleboard game and loved it. Jon was quite good at it. 

Oh my smiley baby Bubbles!

Washington DC Day 3

My day 2 pictures were not cooperating and so we will move on to day 3.

This was the only museum we paid to go in: National Building Museum.

It was not worth it.

There was some cool architecture but as far as displays or information it was a bit weak. 

I don't believe it is part of the Smithsonian group and you could tell. 

A museum employee came and told us to stop taking pictures shortly after I took these and then was annoyed that the kids were playing so long at the hands on exhibit.  

We had left early to stand in line for tickets to go to the top of the Washington Monument. 

It was amazing!

Jon made friends with the police and their horses. 

Lily and Arabella loved a chance to run and play in the open field while we waited for our turn to ride in the elevator. It was a gorgeous day!

You could see the Washington DC temple easily from one of the windows. This is a zoomed in shot but it was so fun to see it out there. We had tried to get out there the day before via public transportation but there was some work being done on the Metro and it did not happen. 

This is one of many pictures Peter took of the construction of the monument. Oh he is an engineer through and through!

We rounded off our day with a trip to the Vietnam Memorial. 

It is a bit hard to try and help your kids understand the full impact of some of these things when they  have not had the chance to study and learn about them.

I hope that in future years as they do learn of them they will remember this trip and hopefully a bit of the reverence they felt at these monuments. 

I love the design of each one. 

Washington DC Day 1

Our flight was great- the kids were too!

We landed, got our luggage, took a shuttle to the hotel, and headed to the metro.

The kids were so excited about the metro.

We took a short trip to Sine's Irish Pub for a delicious lunch.

We had a few hours before the museums closed so we headed to the Air and Space Museum.

The kids loved it and would have spent more time there but it was closing time. 

Before heading back to the hotel we spent a little time seeing the Washington Monument.

This photo is awesome because it looks like the monument is growing out of Joseph's head.

Our first day was wonderful. It was so fun to see the sights and feel the excitement of the kids at seeing new things. I love vacations! 

Arabella turns 6!

This sweet girl has been so excited to turn 6! 

This year we are not doing parties but we did send treats to school and she had a party in school on her birthday for Thanksgiving so it made it extra special!

We started her birthday off with famous pancakes and presents.

 She is kind, sweet, tender, meek, beautiful, and silly all wrapped into one.

 She loves to have tea parties so these little cakes are perfect. 

 Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Bird for the Ken doll and Barbie Jeep- now Ken and Barbie can go on a date. (That is what she wanted.)

 As I said, she loves to have tea parties and she has wanted a "real" tea set, meaning china, for a while. We were so excited to get this for her. She wished she did not have to go to school so she could have a tea party right away. She did have one right after school.

She chose to have dinner at Texas Roadhouse- she wanted to eat peanuts and throw the shells on the floor. She loved being sang to and sitting on the saddle (my phone is not cooperating to post the picture but it is cute!).  

We love you Arabella! I am so blessed to be your mother! I have grown so much by having you- thank you for teaching me to be more kind, gentle, and loving. I look forward to watching you become a beautiful young lady- just don't grow up too fast. 

Lovely Kids

I took a few pictures of my other kids today because I discovered that I am taking a bunch of pictures of Samantha and not as many of my older kiddos.

 Lily

 Arabella

 Okay so there are a few of Samantha. She is not mobile yet so I can take more.

 Joey

 Jon

I love my kids! I hope they know it and they will understand that I always want what is best for them and what will  make them the happiest. 

Cheetos and Missionaries

We had the missionaries for dinner last week and I needed to get dinner made and the floor cleaned up and I needed Samantha to be content while I was doing it. The answer came in the form of fake, powdery, slightly greasy, puffed corn (?) cheetos!

She loved them- who doesn't?!

 This was Elder Toolson's last night in our ward and we were sad to have him leave but know that he will serve his next area wonderfully as a Zone Leader! 

 Pictures were a must. The kids were their typical selves.

 We set up the timer on our camera (we had yet to use it with the new camera) and though it said it was the 10 second timer it was really more like 3 seconds. Needless to say you can enjoy a host of pictures of Peter not quite making it and half smiles and me making funny faces. 

Oh, we got a good one even if Lily is totally distracted by Dad and there is a strange glow from the flash off of something on the table in front of us! Good Luck Elder Toolson and Elder Gulbransen we are excited to put you and your new companion to work!