TUESDAY, MARCH 26
Drive from I.F. to Salt Lake City. Park van, ride shuttle to airport. Fly from SLC to Denver, Denver to D.C. Pick up rental van. Drive to Rachel and Justin's home in Woodbridge, Virginia. Arrive at nearly 11 p.m., EST.
Highlights:
- Bekah experienced her second plane trip (the first was in 2007 when we visited Seth's grandparents in D.C.), Analee and Miriam experienced their first plane trips, and Gwendolen experienced her second plane trip (the first was in 2012 when we went to Arizona for Seth's cousin's wedding). Although Bekah was a little nervous during take-off, the bigger girls all seemed to enjoy the flight and ordering drinks from the flight attendants.
- We haven't seen Rachel and Justin since December when they came for Christmas, so it was good to see them again. We pretty much took over their living room while we stayed with them; they had it all set up for us to sleep when we arrived there. Bekah and Miriam slept on one air mattress, Seth and I slept on another. Ana slept on the couch. Winnie slept in a Pack & Play.
Winnie getting a little wiggle room while Seth reads to Miriam and Analee on the Kindle during our wait to board in SLC.
Lowlights:
- Our second and longer flight was harder for Winnie. She fussed during much of the landing and woke up crying several times during the night after we had settled in at Rachel and Justin's. The next day I made some comment about her ears hurting during the landing; I knew it had to be her ears and not something like teething because she didn't have any teeth yet. As I said it, I slid my finger over her lower gums and. ... Lo and behold! She did have a tooth! It had just poked through. So between the teething and her ears, it was rough for her.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27
Miriam's birthday. We go to the National Zoo and the D.C. Temple and visitors' center.
Highlights:
- Cooper handed Miriam a present to unwrap after everyone had woken up. Miriam was delighted to receive three Disney princess books and a Disney princess music player.
- Everybody LOVED the zoo. Bekah couldn't wait to see the panda. Miriam was sure she'd see spider monkeys at some point. A lady (I'm still not sure if she was a zoo employee or not ... she didn't seem to be wearing any National Zoo identification) made a sea lion follow her hand along the glass so it could turn, twist and do tricks.
- After we had exhausted ourselves at the zoo, we said goodbye to Rachel, Cooper and Kelsey who were headed home and drove farther north to go to the temple. We walked all the way around and spent some time in the visitors' center where the girls went into a model house-type thing to watch a movie about families. Throughout the rest of the trip, Miriam kept asking when we'd go back to the "little house."
- After an incredible dinner made by Rachel, we enjoyed a birthday cake for Miriam. Cooper had decided that Miriam wanted a pink cake with chocolate frosting.
Bekah was upset that she had to share a bed with Miriam because she was sure Miriam would kick her and keep her up. The next morning, we found that Bekah had taken over the whole bed, and Miriam had been exiled to a tiny portion of the air mattress with her backside hanging over the edge.
Rachel and Seth (in the foreground) follow Rebekah and Miriam, Cooper and Analee at the zoo.
The sea lion lady would ask the kids if they wanted to help her. Cooper and the lady crouched down with their hands on the glass, counted to three and raised their hands high so the sea lion would follow them and swim up.
Analee and Rebekah outside the D.C. Temple.
Miriam and Gwendolen in the stroller outside the D.C. Temple.
A family picture in front of the Christus at the visitors' center.
The cake crew in Rachel and Justin's kitchen.
Lowlights:
- The weather was not as nice as we'd hoped for. We bundled kids up in jackets and blankets as best we could, but there were times when it was a welcome respite from the cold as we went inside the buildings.
- Because we had a very slow morning followed by running out the door so we could get a parking spot in time, we didn't have time to pack a lunch. That meant we spent a crazy amount of money on food at the zoo. Kid's meals were $10 each. Rachel pointed out that since the zoo admission is free, it was like paying $10 apiece to get in and get a free lunch.
Miriam stays with Rachel for the day. Seth and I take the other three girls to Ford's Theatre, St. Patrick's Church, the White House, the Library of Congress and Arlington National Cemetery.
Highlights:
- The museum in the basement of Ford's Theatre has been completely redone since we last went in 2007. It was amazing. And now when you go to the Peterson house where Lincoln died, you end up in another museum that details his funeral and his legacy. I loved every part of it.
- As we were walking downtown, we saw St. Patrick's Church and thought it would be neat to take the girls inside to see the sculptures and stained glass windows. The architecture was amazing, but the girls thought it was "creepy."
- We got to see the outside of the White House and the Capitol while out walking, and we took the girls inside the Library of Congress mainly to show them the pillars, paintings and decor.
- The girls were very respectful at Arlington, and Seth was the manliest man I know pushing those two big girls in a double stroller while I toted around the lightest member of the family.
- It's nice to see that even though you can take the kids out of the country, you can't take the country out of the kids. Throughout the day if the girls came upon any little patch of grass, they were all over it. It was so endearing to watch Rebekah, Analee and Seth play a game of freeze tag on a little triangle of grass between two streets while I fed the baby in our rental van. These girls are NOT used to the concrete jungle that is D.C.
Seth, Rebekah and Analee get ready to enter the Peterson house where Lincoln died. We had to wait in line for at least 20 minutes to get in, but I'd like to think it was worth it.
Rebekah, Analee, Andrea and Gwendolen outside the White House.
Just for fun, here's a picture of Seth, 21-month-old Rebekah and 7-months-pregnant Andrea in front of the White House in 2007. If you want to see other pictures from our previous trip to our nation's capitol, click here.
Thank you, Five Guys, for helping us feel at home.
Cutest thumb-sucking 6-month-old in a Five Guys high chair? I think so.
Inside the Library of Congress.
Seth, Analee and Rebekah watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington.
Lowlights:
- Although I found the 20-minute ranger talk in Ford's Theatre that narrated the assassination of Lincoln and the capture of John Wilkes Booth fascinating, Analee thought it was boring.
- Thursday's weather was the coldest we experienced on this trip. Even though we had been smarter this time around and brought the picnic lunch that Rachel had thoughtfully packed for us, when we sat down at LaFayette Park to eat it, the girls were freezing. Seth's phone led us to a downtown Five Guys where we paid for lunch just to get out of the elements for a while.
- D.C. driving and parking. Oh my goodness. At one point, Seth said we would never go to a city on vacation again. However, he was an incredible driver and did the most amazing parallel parking job EVER.
FRIDAY, MARCH 29
Rachel, Cooper and Kelsey accompany us to the Air & Space Museum (in D.C.) and the Museum of American History.
Highlights:
- After waiting on the lawn of the Air & Space Museum for Rachel and her kids to come (we had parked in different locations) and finding three four-leaf clovers, we got to see the impressive exhibits. The girls seemed especially interested in the Wright brothers room and the survival tools given to pilots in case of a water landing.
- Between museums, we had a picnic on the National Mall. Not only did we get to eat sandwiches basically in the shadows of the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument, but we also had races.
- The girls loved seeing the First Ladies' gowns, Kermit and all the old trains and cars on exhibit at the Museum of American History.
Analee with two of the three four-leaf clovers the girls found on the Air & Space Museum's lawn. They must use mutant fertilizer there.
Cooper, Analee and Rebekah looking at a space suit in the Air & Space Museum.
The monitor that displays the feed from the UV camera. Seth is holding Miriam. Analee and Rebekah are to the right of him. Seth's glasses make him look particularly cool, methinks.
The view of the picnic-ers on the National Mall.
Photobombed.
Seth racing the girls across the Mall. Miriam raced to the far end, but when they all turned around to come back, she just stood there and whined until Seth went back, picked her up and ran back with her. (He lost that one.)
Beautiful baby in the front carrier.
Lowlights:
- When Miriam quickly and unexpectedly got out of the umbrella stroller outside the Air & Space Museum, my camera bag which was hooked to the stroller handles took a spill on the pavement. My lens filter got thoroughly broken, which is a good illustration of why every lens should have a filter on it. The difference in price between a new filter and a new lens is substantial.
- A lot of other people came to see the museums during their spring breaks, so the crowds were crazy. We had hoped to take the girls to the Museum of Natural History, but the line to get in went all the out the doors and around the building.
SATURDAY, MARCH 30
Justin, Rachel and their family come with us to the Air & Space Museum (near Dulles) and Manassas.
Highlights:
- As much fun as the Air & Space Museum in D.C. is, the one near Dulles is the undisputed favorite of ours after having been to both. We all loved seeing the planes, helicopters and gliders in the hangar. Seth especially loved seeing the space shuttle.
- Bekah, Ana, Seth and I got to go on one of their simulation rides. The girls really enjoyed it. Next time, we hope to do the interactive one. The girls saw it and were too scared to go on it because it makes you go upside-down, so we went on the other one.
- The place where we stopped for lunch and the most incredible barbecue. The ribs ... mmmm. The potato salad was delicious too.
- We were actually able to see the horizon while we were at Manassas. Being outside in less populated areas was a bit of a relief for us. The kids loved climbing on the cannons and going on a walk to read about the Civil War battle that took place there.
Rebekah, Analee, Miriam and Cooper next to the planes at the Air & Space Museum.
Our gracious hosts next to the space shuttle.
Family picture next to the shuttle.
Rebekah on one of the cannons at Manassas.
Analee, Cooper and Miriam outside the house of Henry House at Manassas National Battlefield.
Miriam pulls this face every time she sees the camera come out.
Kids running free on our walk through the battlefield.
Lowlights:
- Miriam and Cooper reached a breaking point this evening. The cousins love each other and usually got along really well, but I think both of them had worn out their welcome by this point. When both 3-year-olds were screaming at the top of their lungs in Cooper's room while desperately grasping opposite ends of the same toy, we intervened with a movie so each could have some cool-down time.
Since Justin and Rachel had other things they needed to go that morning, we took our girls on a memorial/monument walk. Then we attended church together and celebrated Easter.
Highlights:
- Although it threatened to rain, we only got a few drops on our heads at the beginning of our walk. The weather was nice and the crowds were few at the beginning of our walk. By the time we finished, a lot more people had shown up to admire the monuments.
- We got to see several monuments we had seen before: the Washington, the WWII, the Jefferson, the Korea, the Vietnam and the Lincoln. We also got to several that we hadn't had the chance to see before: the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, the FDR, the MLK.
- We were able to find parking close to the Vietnam memorial, and it was FREE!
- Sacrament meeting was lovely, of course. We enjoyed attending with the Wildes.
- Rachel made another delicious dinner, followed by an Easter egg hunt in the living room that the kids enjoyed.
Seth pointing out the Washington monument to Miriam in the stroller.
Analee and Rebekah excited to have found the Idaho column in the WWII Memorial.
Analee and Rebekah chasing around a pillar in the Jefferson Memorial.
Silly girls and Mr. Jefferson.
Leaving the Jefferson Memorial.
In front one of the waterfalls at the FDR Memorial.
Perhaps my favorite picture ever of these three girls.
At the Korea War Memorial.
Lincoln Memorial.
Cruising past the Vietnam War Memorial.
The start of the Easter egg hunt at Rachel and Justin's after church.
Lowlights:
- We couldn't get very close to the Washington Monument because they're still trying to make sure its safe after the earthquake D.C. experienced 18 months ago. The whole thing was fenced off a distance from the obelisk, so we had to admire it from afar.
- Because the Lincoln Memorial has about a bajillion steps and Winnie had fallen asleep in the stroller, I took the three older girls up the steps to see Mr. Lincoln while Seth walked around the entire building trying to find the elevator to reach the statue ... and then found it almost exactly where he had started.
Rachel and the kids come with us to Mt. Vernon, then out to eat for lunch. Fly from D.C. to Denver, then Denver to SLC. Shuttle to our hotel, get checked in. Everyone's in bed by midnight, Mountain time.
Highlights:
- Mt. Vernon was incredible. There were lambs. And piglets. And a gorgeous view of the Potomac. I love this place and could spend six days there. Everything about it is so fascinating and so well put together.
- I don't know if Rachel would count this as a highlight, but it's so darn funny that I have to include it here. As we were outside the mansion looking at the Potomac and searching for wildflowers, I looked up and saw Cooper getting ready to water the president's lawn. I said, "Whatcha doin', Cooper?" Rachel looked up and saw her little boy standing about 20 feet away from a tour group with his shorts around his ankles and quickly intervened. The only regret I have is that I opened my mouth before I could take a picture.
- The children's area of the museum at Mt. Vernon is amazing. Even though we had to limit our time there to 20 minutes, the girls could have stayed much longer and been happy. In fact, Miriam cried as we left. They have so many fun things there: a dollhouse and dolls, colonial style dress-ups clothes, animals puppets, coloring pages, etc.
- We got to have one more lunch together with Rachel and her kids before we had to take off to the airport. Our girls requested another meal from Five Guys, so we found one nearby and shared a bag full of fries before saying goodbye. Cooper and Miriam even made amends and gave each other hugs and kisses before we parted ways.
- After we arrived in SLC, I called our hotel so they could come pick us up from the airport in their shuttle. I also asked the lady working the front desk if they could have a rollaway bed in our room so we could all have a place to sleep. She told me that a rollaway wouldn't fit in our room; she'd just get us a bigger room. She upgraded us to the largest hotel room I've ever stayed in ... for free. It was incredible, and we were so grateful to her.
Silly family picture in front of the mansion at Mt. Vernon.
Beautiful Ana outside the mansion.
Rebekah and Cooper checking out the lambs.
Getting a look at George and Martha's stone coffins.
Miriam playing with the mansion dollhouse in the children's area of the museum at Mt. Vernon.
Miriam asleep on the floor of the Denver airport.
Lowlights:
- Poor, poor Miriam. She had a rough time at Mt. Vernon. First she was looking at the model of the mansion and stepped down funny. She limped for a little while after that. Then, when she was finished looking in the cellar that showed where the Washingtons stored paint, she turned and tripped over the top step and face-planted in the gravel. She ended up with a scraped up nose and forehead as well as a split upper lip.
- It was a long day and late night for all of us. Analee slept during part of the first flight but woke up as we landed. Miriam fell asleep right at the end of the first flight, and Seth got to carry her off the plane and through the Denver airport to the gate for our connecting flight. Both she and Bekah slept through the second flight. Bekah woke up in time to walk off the plane, but Seth hauled Miriam off the second flight as well.
Wake up in SLC, check out of hotel, drive home to I.F. Arrive by 1:30 p.m.
Highlights:
- With the time change, I was afraid that Winnie might wake us all up at 5 a.m. MST. Even though I would/could have happily slept until 10, she at least waited until 7, and she woke us up with the happiest/prettiest baby song I've ever heard. Even Bekah and Ana were saying that Winnie was "singing a song about Daddy." (It sounded like "dada.")
- Analee has a big thing for hotel breakfasts, and this hotel didn't disappoint. They had one of the best free breakfasts I've ever had an a hotel.
- The girls all had to take baths in our suite because they had never experienced a jetted tub before. They managed to get water all over the floor.
- Seth stopped at the Krispy Kreme in Layton on our way home. The girls were in awe of the doughnut-making machine. They salivated over our free hot doughnuts. And they each got to pick out two for us to buy and bring home for later.
A view of our incredible room.
Lowlights:
- By the time we had been in the car for three hours, everyone was tired. I had to break out singing an emergency round of "The Other Day" to distract the girls from wringing each others' necks.
