Saturday, July 5, 2008

Photos and Stories From Our Trip

We have been home for about 2 weeks and I am just now getting around to posting about our trip to Northern Virginia and Washington, DC.  The point of this trip was to see my Dad and Stepmother and get some sightseeing in.  My dh was not able to make this trip, but blessedly, my Mother was able to come along.  Having her along made the trip much easier.  We were also blessed that my Dad paid for the gas and my parents' next door neighbor (and close friend) moved out of her house and into my Dad's house, so that we could have her home for our stay.  That was so very kind and made our trip much easier.  It takes a lot of planning to travel with four kids, especially when three of them have special needs.  Even with all the planning, the travel part of the trip was pretty rough this time.

Day 1 ~ The first day of our stay we went to the Natural History Museum.  I grew up in the area and knew all about the museums so I had gotten the kids excited about seeing certain exhibits.  Unfortunately, the giant blue whale was in storage, so my dd who loves anything ocean missed out on that.  Anyhow, that day at the Natural History Musuem was the hardest day by far.  I forgot how overwhelming that museum is (loud and crowded), and the kids were very overwhelmed.  They are used to small hands-on museums in our small city and, with their special issues, just could not get a lot out of it (actually, I am surprised how much they've mentioned about what they remember now that we're home).  I think the first picture says it all.



As you can see, I am like "take the picture!", Goldilocks has her tongue out of her mouth and her shirt is wet from her chewing on it (common for FAS/PDD kids), Little Red Ridinghood is making a break for it, and the boys had already escaped.

The day was saved by eating popsicles from an ice cream truck and sitting at the statue garden fountain for a nice cool off.









Day 2 ~ We went back downtown to the National Gallery of Art, where both my Dad and Stepmother work.  This day was special for my boys, who both really like art.  My stepmother took us behind the scenes, and we were able to see a Leonardo Da Vinci up close and personal.  We also got to see my Dad's Photography Lab and how the matting machine, "nicknamed Roberta," works.  "She" messed up some of the mats for the day, and they were given to Tom Sawyer so he could do art with them.  They look flawless to us....  I grew up in that museum and it brought back pleasant memories, as always.  We also had lunch at the gallery, shopped in the gallery kid's gift shop, and saw a few great exhibits.  At lunch, the kids played Ring Around the Rosy in front of the wall fountain.



Day3 ~ found us at a Virginia water park.  Oh boy, was this fun!!  There was a lazy river, lots of slides for all ages, obstacle courses and lots of shallow water to play in.  The kids had a blast, and the adults could have stayed on the lazy river forever.

Day 4 ~ My 36th BIRTHDAY!  We were able to see lots of extended family on this day.  It was nice to catch up and for the kids to play with their cousins.  The day was finished off with a Baskin Robbin's ice cream cake and driveway fireworks!  We all fell into bed very late!

Day 5 ~ Time to head home.  I just had to take a few pics of my parents' neighborhood before heading out.  You know how they say, "You can't go home"...?  Wow! Every time we go up there, it is different.  In recent years, folks have been buying up the older homes in my parents' neighborhood and building "McMansions".  They just look absolutely ridiculous next to the modest homes!!  They tend to have okay sized front yards, but the houses have 15 feet wide side yards and 15 feet back yards.  The last photos are a glance at what they are doing.  The houses look so out of place in these small, rambler-style neighborhoods!







Many of these homes are now foreclosures and are vacant monstrosities.  In Northern Virginia, people aren't just keeping up with the Jones's -- they are trying to outdo them all the time and it often doesn't pay off. Every time my dh and I go up there, we are so relieved we picked a slower-paced lifestyle that concentrates on our children instead of our belongings.

Blessings, Dawn

9 comments:

  1. Thanks for visiting my blog. I agree with you about the houses. We could use a McMansion but I am happy with our modest home and our "wild" property.

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  2. I love the ring around the rosies photo! Cute!


    As to the shirt chewing thing... my youngest son (age 9... dx with ASD) did that for a long time, but finally "outgrew"(?) it. I thought it was just new teeth, but maybe it was part of the AS?

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  3. Sounds like a fun trip...although I think I'd be afraid to do the museums. The last time I did them I didn't have children! :) Maybe in a few years, because I really do love them.


    That is so cool that you got the behind the scenes tour at the National Gallery of Art! What a great place to grow up.


    Where is the water park? We may be heading down that way to visit relatives, and water parks are one of the few places that all of my kids seem to be able to handle.


    I smiled about the shirt chewing. JJ did that for years, and still does it once in awhile.


    Don't even get me started about the McMansions! Ugh!! :)


    Denise

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  4. Wishing you a very happy belated birthday!!


    Denise

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  5. it must have been awesome to grow up around the museums. So sorry we missed your birthday. Hope it was blessed.

    I know what you mean about 'going home'. It's never the same as we remember.

    Love all the pics, especially the one at the fountain.

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  6. We are planning a trip to DC (I really need to start making reservations). We studied Leonardo da Vinci this year and that would be cool to see his painting at the National Art Gallery. I wasn't even considering it since we aren't huge museum people, for much the reason you mentioned (SI). But the kids are older now and it helps them so much to have some background. I'll definitely put that on the probability list...since we have to squeeze in a lot in a short time.

    Blessings,

    Laurie

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  7. blessedwith2angelsJuly 7, 2008 at 3:35 PM

    I'm so glad you had a wonderful time on your trip, but it is always nice to be home to the slower paced lifestyle. : )

    Pam

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  8. Sounds like you had a good time! Happy belated birthday!

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  9. We love D.C., even though we ended up going 3 times in 3 months back in 2001/02. We went twice to hand deliver adoption paperwork to the Guatemalan Embassy. When we were at the Natural History Museum, we spent most of the time in the rocks and minerals. I had one especially who loved all of the sparkly gems. They also loved the First Ladies exhibit at the American History. And, of course, love the monuments.


    Glad you got to visit with family and have some fun. Belated Happy Birthday.

    Letitia

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