Chantilly, Virginia

Monday was our last day.  We packed up and left Keswick to head back up to Baltimore where we were flying back home from.

We stopped in Chantilly to go to the Air and Space Museum annex.  It was huge with so many airplanes on display.

And the Discovery space shuttle.

It was a colder and rainy day, we were glad for such a fun indoor space to be able to move a bit before our airplane ride back west.  

There was some traffic because of the rain, so we cut it close getting to the airport, but made it.  We spent most of the flight catching up on journals and independent study homework.

Shenandoah National Park

I made cinnamon rolls and eggs for breakfast and then we went to church north of Charlottesville.  After church we drove to Shenandoah national park for the Skyline drive scenic view.

 It was a beautiful day, but the trees in the mountains were just past peak for the fall foliage and weren’t nearly as pretty as those down by the house.  We stopped a long way at a few overlooks.

And went on a hike through the trees.

 We drove by UVA for a view of the rotunda and went back to Monticello to better capture pictures of some of the trees in full color. 

Monticello-Home of Thomas Jefferson

Every morning started with a walk.  The kids were in heaven with the responsibility of taking care of the dogs.

We then went to Michies' Tavern for an 'authentic' colonial meal.  We were glad we got there right at 11:30 when it opened.  The line got really long quickly and when we came out it was almost wrapped around the building.  The food was very good and filled us up quickly.

Monticello was amazing.  The visitor's center was all new since the last time we had been. 

The kids loved the discovery room where there was a lot of hands on activities.  Here Ethan is using the copier machine Thomas Jefferson designed.

And Preston is building his own Monticello.

After touring the house and grounds we headed up Carter's mountain.  It was a great view for sunset and also Bea and Ben recommended that we go there and get apple cider donuts for dessert.  We got there just before they closed at 6.  The donuts were better than I expected (I don’t usually like donuts, especially cake type).  They were especially yummy after dinner that night, toasted with ice cream.

Bea made dinner, a yummy tortellini, sausage and veggie stew with fresh baguettes and salad.

Keswick, Virginia

After a packed week it was nice to have a true recovery day.  We enjoyed time with our friends at their beautiful home and enjoyed the fall colors in their neighborhood.

We started the day with a long relaxing walk. The kids were beyond thrilled to take the dogs out, and they became one of the favorite parts of the trip.

It was 4 miles to go out and around the lake and back.

The kids loved the chance to hang at the lake and play.

Throwing sticks and catching frogs.

There was time to play at the park

James and I caught up on some work (and filled out our mail in voting ballots) while the kids enjoyed the swimming pool.

The girls went for pedicures while the boys played a game of pool.  And then that night the adults had date night at the club restaurant while the kids enjoyed playing fuseball, marble tracks, indoor basketball and more swimming time at the club house.  Fun for everyone!

x

National Zoo and Monuments

Thursday morning we cleaned up and packed up the hotel while James went to his final session at his Conference.

We picked him up and headed back into D.C. --which was much faster when not going at rush hour like the previous morning!  We decided to spend a few hours at the Zoo.  It was a gorgeous day.

The Giant Pandas are always a fun stop and they didn't disappoint today.

We then decided to go back and actually see the monuments that I had just driven the kids past the night before.  Luckily with a good night's sleep and a slower paced morning they were up for more walking.

The Washington Monument is closed for renovations, so we didn't go up it this trip.

But we started at the Lincoln Memorial and made our way around the tidal basin stopping at the Memorials along the way.

We looked at going to the Bureau of Engraving, but it wasn't open while we were there.  So we'll have to plan that again on a different trip also.

We also tried going to Arlington Cemetery for the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier, but with a map fail we just missed the last one of the day there also.

We decided to wait out the worst of the rush hour traffic and had a picnic dinner at Gravely Point where the airplanes fly right over your head.  It was then on to Keswick Virginia to visit with friends.

White House and National Mall

The day didn't go nearly as smoothly as the previous days, but despite a few hiccups we made it through and enjoyed our time in the Nation's Capital.

We left Baltimore at 6:15 to wade through traffic heading into DC. I found parking and made it to the White House visitors center with plenty of time to use the bathroom and look around for a few minutes before it was time to start our White House tour at 9am. As we walked from the visitors center to the White House gate I realized I needed my ID which I didn’t have with us. You aren't allowed to take anything in the White House, so I was careful to leave all backpacks and purse in the car, but had forgotten to pull out my ID.  Luckily the car which was not too far away. They said they would still allow us in after our scheduled time. The kids were good sports and were troopers to walk the extra mile to get to the car and back again.

I think after waking the kids up that early, driving through traffic, the walking back and forth and making it through several security checks to get in, the kids were underwhelmed by the White House.  They were hoping to see more of it than the few rooms on the main level that are open.

But as we were leaving the staff at the White House gave out candy for Halloween with the packaging signed by President and Melania Trump so they enjoyed the momento.

We walked back to the car again to get our backpack since it wasn’t allowed at the White House, but we wanted to have it with us for the day. Then went to the explore the National Mall. We started at the Natural History Museum which was fun, but kids were getting hungry after awhile.

 I looked up a Subway which we had a gift card to and it was right across from the Smithsonian, Unfortunately it ended up being in a secure building for employees only. We were directed to another one that didn’t sound too far away but ended up being quite a walk for tired kids.  After what felt like way too much effort we finally got everyone fed, which increased moods dramatically. 

We went to Air and Space Museum next.  Preston loved the Wright Brother's exhibit. 

Brielle was the most excited for the American history museum which ended up being the favorite for everyone. By about 3:30 everyone was done and kept sitting at any movie being shown.  I started going through the exhibits quickly and then guiding them to the fun hands-on parts that they would especially like.  They perked up when we found some fun interactive sections that they didn't want to leave and stayed until closing.

We made it out of the parking garage right before 6 which gave us the early bird pricing for parking. There was more to see but kids were too worn out to continue. I drove them past the monuments so they could at least see some of them. I ended up with 23,000 steps; the kids walked almost all of that also.
We stopped by Costco for gas and dinner on our way back up to Baltimore and kids (and I) were very happy to climb into bed.  

Fort McHenry

After a busy Monday and in planning for a late night, we decided to have a slower day on Tuesday and went to Fort McHenry.  James was able to come with us in the morning for a short time before needing to get to his conference. The kids were enjoying it so much that we dropped James off and then went back to finish. There was an interactive Jr. ranger program, interesting movie (watched twice) and caves to explore. The kids got to change the flag-a larger one is put up during the day.

We went back to the hotel for lunch and all the kids took a nap.

Later that afternoon we walked down to the inner harbor to the American Visionary Art Museum for the Halloween event which kids loved.

The 'haunted house' was perfect for Preston.  Blow up halloween figures and jumping spiders all in a large open banquet room. Just enough to startle without actually being scary.  They got some candy and designed and colored Monsters.  

We then explored the rest of the museum.

It was a combination of fun and strange.

The boy's favorite exhibit...the flatulence wall. 

James met us as we left the museum and we caught a ferry across the harbor to go to the aquarium after we all took a turn to ride on the electric scooter James had rented. 

As part of the conference James was invited to an after hours event at the aquarium and was allowed to have the family join.

We ended the evening by walking back to the hotel and had dinner at 10pm…we’re not adjusting to east coast time. ;)