Spring Road Trip- Washington DC Part 2

Wednesday we found ourselves spending the morning at Ford's Theater.  The older kids were really looking forward to this.  James was disappointed that he didn't get to actually see Lincoln's dead body in the theater, but both James and Noah found this to be a cool spot anyway.  The kids had been begging to ride on the Metro, so we traveled that way in the morning.  I took this picture of Audrey to document what I thought was her first subway experience, but the kids reminded me that this was not the case... BUT it is her first DC metro experience;)  

We spent the afternoon exploring around the Museum of Natural History and the National Archives.  The National Archives are not super young kid appropriate, but we thought we would get to see President Taft's bathtub so we took them anyway... Apparently that was a special exhibit several years ago... We probably should have politely suggested that they remove the picture of it from their tourist brochures:)  This, however, did give the kids the opportunity to see both the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.  

This picture is as close as we got to the Capital Building... I think that all of the kids need a few more years and a better lesson in government before we take that one on:)  The picture with the kids standing around and looking up in the tree... they were trying to chase/catch the squirrel... I think they were missing "nature".  

Thursday we were supposed to head to Philadelphia, but we extended our time in DC by a night because our friends we were traveling to visit got ill.  This gave us time to explore the National Zoo and it did not disappoint.  It was not too large and had lots of animals very accessible to kids.  All of the kids loved playing in the prairie dog "playground".  We were there early enough that they had the place to themselves so we spent lots of time learning the predators of prairie dogs and how they build their homes.  

That evening we sought out, what sounded like, a cool playground, but were misdirected and ended up eating bread and cheese for supper at this outdoor cafe... no complaints from anyone tonight:) Off to Philadelphia in the morning!

Spring Road Trip- Washington DC Part 1

Monday morning we made it to Washington DC, parked at our rental place and hit the town!  We were staying just a few blocks from the mall so everything was very convenient.  In the afternoon we covered the fishing pier, the Jefferson Memorial, the FDR Memorial, the MLK Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Mall and the Air & Space Museum... looking back, maybe it was a bit too much walking for little legs...  We had lunch overlooking the Jefferson Memorial and for some reason I thought it would be a fun treat to let the kids get popsicles.  It was 85 degrees and their little Maine bodies (it was 47 degrees the day we left Portland) needed a cool down.  I immediately realized my mistake, but it was too late... thankfully wipes took care of most of the sticky parts, they just spent the rest of the day with blue stains on their clothes...

The coolest thing about this trip is that the kids have been all working hard learning about what we would see in DC and Philadelphia. They were so excited to see the monuments of different people in history they had learned facts about.  They would see a face or bust of some one and seemed proud to be able to know who that person was and what they did.  It made them much more receptive to learn more about the person at each stop.  The other amazing thing that has happened on this trip... all four kids are posing for pictures together... and want to!  Unbelievable... I don't know how long it will last, but we are pretty impressed and taking advantage;)

Day 2 in DC was another busy one.  Gabe got up and left early to wait in line for tickets to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (the only thing James REALLY wanted to do on this trip) and to take the elevator to the top of the Washington Monument. The kids and I met him at the Bureau of Engraving and printing for a tour to see where the money is printed.  They didn't allow cameras inside the actual production area, but the kids weren't leaving without their picture by the 1 million dollars;)  The tour lasted only 20 minutes and has so far been one of the highlights of the trip.  We got to see the production of the $5 and $20 bills.  James got to ask why they don't make $10,000 or $1,000 dollar bills anymore (this is a burning question he has had for a while). We learned a lot about the process and seeing it happening was even better for the kids.  I would highly recommend this tour on a trip to DC!

Our next stop was the Washington Monument. It was really neat to view DC from this height, but by this time Ben had had enough of "tours" and James was distraught that we only could go as high as the windows and no the the technical tippy top... Despite the breakdowns the kids retained more than we realized because that night at dinner they were using the table as "the mall" and saying things like, "James is the white house, Noah is the Lincoln Memorial, Ben is the Jefferson Memorial, Daddy is the Capital Building".  They were also excited to change places and played a "guess what I am now" game.  

After walking by the WWII monument we had a nice, relaxing lunch by the reflecting pool before heading to the Lincoln Memorial.  The kids were pretending they were listening to MLK's "I have a dream speech"... maybe we went too far with learning before we arrived;)  The Lincoln Memorial was another favorite spot, maybe in part because they think that Grampy looks like Abraham Lincoln or because Ben loves to tell anyone who will listen that Abraham Lincoln got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid or just because he seems to be their collective favorite president so far.

We passed through the Vietnam War Memorial on our way to the White House.  We were able to see the White House from across the street and behind many barriers.  It was a nice lesson for the kids on security;)  Our trip here was cut short when Ben had to use the bathroom and we had to rush all the way back to the Washington Monument to find one open... and it started raining. On the way back to our rental house we stopped for a carousel ride on the mall and ended the night with popcorn and a movie in Noah, James and Audrey's room:)

Spring Road Trip 2015- Millinocket, Portland, Boston, Maryland

So how this all started was, friends of ours were getting married in Philadelphia in May. So we thought, "we might as well take a week and make an east coast trip out of it"... In some ways I think it worked out perfectly to be able to see so many people along the way and in some ways may have been a bit crazy packing too much into one trip... we will see how this unfolds;)

The boys had an early release day on Friday so we picked them up and headed north to celebrate Grampy's 60th birthday with him.  We had an absolutely gorgeous afternoon at the lake and enjoyed, maybe most of all, the cake with the black icing.  It was great to see lots of family that we don't get to see often enough.  Happy birthday Grampy!

After the party we headed south to stay in Portland for the night so Gabe could attend a conference early Saturday morning. The kids handled arriving around midnight surprisingly well! Saturday morning, Gabe left before we really got up, the kids and I discovered that Holiday Inn offers "kids eat free"... seriously, 1 adult and 4 kids... breakfast cost $8... we may consider the Holiday Inn more often in the future;) After a dip in the pool Hillary and Cody came for a visit and explored Mackworth Island with us... they were good sports.  I managed to get the kids tired enough to nap on the way to Boston... James thought that this picture of Audrey was hilarious.  

We arrived in Boston late afternoon and had so much fun playing with Noah's "oldest friend" Suvi and her brother Rain. They jumped on the trampoline, rode the zip line and enjoyed the neighborhood company riding on anything with wheels.  They were kind enough to host us for the night and even picked Gabe up at the train station in the evening.  Thanks for visiting with us Carlile Family, we will see you in Maine soon!

Sunday was a really long day of driving, but everyone handled it as well as can be expected.  The last picture here is from our rest area exercise stop.  We arrived in Bel Air, Maryland early evening and spent dinnertime visiting with my college roommate and her family.  They were nice enough to make us dinner despite being gone for the weekend themselves AND that we arrived late and stayed past bedtimes when everyone had to work or go to school the next day:)  Thanks so much for hosting us Fisher Family, I really hope that we will be able to visit longer the next time we come through!