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