Spring Delights

The kids & I were able to take a trip to Washington D.C. with Karina last year & we decided it was high time we took Ben to see the sights too!

Luckily we went when the Cherry Blossoms were in their peak blooming stage & we saw THOUSANDS of beautiful trees on the water front. I got to thinking about why all these trees were here & where they come from... So I looked it up & found out that the plantings of the cherry blossom trees originated as a gift in 1912 from the people of Japan to the United States as a gesture of friendship and goodwill. Since then, the number of trees has expanded to approximately 3,750 trees of 16 varieties on National Park Service land.

Well, that was your fun fact of the day!

First we hit up the kids' favorite attraction in D.C. ... the Metro!

Then we headed over to the Smithsonian to take a gander at this guy! He's REALLY juggling crazy stuff.

After that entertaining show we headed on over to the Museum of Natural History to delight in the things of nature. She's VERY delighted.

Looking down into the main entrance from the 2nd floor

I was SO excited to see the Hope Diamond! It's a hefty 45.52 carats... It was soooo sparkly, this picture doesn't even do it justice! Did you know that it's blue because of a slight impurity?! It was ...I'll say it...breathtaking.

I didn't get a picture, but I got to see Julia Child's kitchen & watched a few clips of her cooking show. I LOVED it, she was such a cute lady!

Claira playing at the Museum of American History

George Washington with his homie Benny D. Is it just me or is it weird that ol' George doesn't have a shirt on?

The Air & Space Museum was our favorite...we only got to visit for 15 minutes because it was the last museum we went to & they were closing, but it was so fun to see all the aircraft & space suits!

Dylan looking up & realizing that his wildest dreams have come true:) He was in total awe over the huge planes & space equipment.

A space suit that was actually worn on the moon! It still had moon dust all over it!

Outside the Smithsonian Castle

It was starting to get dark, so we literally ran across the city to see the blossoms before the sun set. We got real sweaty, but it was fun:) We stopped here for a quick picture before booking it another fafillion blocks.

Too cute!

By the time we reached the river it was dark, but that's okay we had just enough light to get a few nice pictures. Across the river, glowing in the darkness is the Jefferson Memorial building.

It was so beautiful!

Sunset on the Potomac

I love this place!

Lincoln Memorial

WW2 Memorial

We had quite the adventure getting home...we headed back to the Metro station we arrived on & found that it was closed! We bumped into some people who were trying to find another Metro station too but we had no idea where one was, so together we looked at a few maps and went our separate ways...got 'kinda' lost...and finally made it to another station an hour later....tourists much?! Even so we had an awesome time & hope we can go back someday!

Home Entertainment

My sweet sister Ginny gave us a super cool inflatable ball pit last summer! We thought we'd save it for desperate times when there was absolutely nothing to do & the kids were at their wits end from cabin fever;) So we finally busted it out a few months ago when the winter was at it's bleakest hour. Boy oh boy, did it save the day! The kids were out of their minds with excitement! Thanks again Gin! We had a lot of fun with this puppy! (pun completely intended)

In Their 'Happy Place'

Smile of pure joy!

Amish Paradise

Since my days here in PA are numbered & dwindling quickly (* sniff *) I recently enlisted Ben to babysit for a day while my friend & I took off bright and early to spend the day in Lancaster County aka Amish paradise:)

Here's Teresa trying not to die while I make her pose for a picture:) I love that face! Getting on the road *kid free* (Thank you Ben!) was a splendid (yes, splendid) adventure in & of itself. I'm pretty sure we had as much fun on the road as we did when we got there! Oh the fun, the giggling, the dangers of talking while driving while your GPS is yelling at you to take the wrong turn:)
( I swear those things have little people hidden inside them just laughing as they mess with you). " Hey, want to get on the freeway?" GPS asks "Sure. I'd really like that" you say. " How about a private driveway leading into a barn instead?" "Nuh-no, I liked the first one better"

What a grand adventure indeed:)

I would come here JUST to see this sign

We stopped at this little place...

Amish-made delights we tasted

We had a lot of fun trying the many different & unique jams, pickles, beets, salsas & other yummy stuff the Amish crank out every day! I truly admire all the hard delicious work they do!

Mmmm our fave was the Elderberry Jam! We both bought a jar, it was sooo good!

A lot of these vintage-y towels with crazy yet funny sayings on them that made us laugh

Isn't it so colorful & happy in there?

I loved this little toy shop. My favorite thing in there was a "pull my finger" ball point pen:) Explanation: The pen was basically a finger, you pulled on it to get the point of the pen to come out & simultaneously it makes a "little sound" if you know what I mean uh-dude. It was awesome okay?

Notice how I said that this trip was "recently" well it was...relatively. All that crazy snow melted in a few quick weeks after this!

For lunch we stopped by CiCi's Pizza which is a pizza buffet that is super good, and super cheap! My first experience there was when we lived in TX a few years ago. It was nice to go back. Yum.

...and for good measure here we are a few days later playing Settlers of Catan with our buddies! We're going to miss them so much when we move!

Hunting & Brunching

We had so much fun Easter weekend this year! We started the weekend right by having a big Easter egg hunt with a bunch of friends from church at a local park! there was such a great turnout & the kids (and adults) had a blast!

Getting ready for the hunt! (bunny ears are a must!)

Ready, Set, Go!

Look at that loot!

Afterward we headed home to dye some eggs!

Look how much fun we're having! (Just for fun, I told them all to fake-laugh really hard...don't they look like they're having fun for realzzz?)

We really did have a great time, Ben got the mega-deluxe-super egg decorating kit last year for 50% off after Easter and I'm pretty dang sure he was more excited than the kids to crack that baby open! I mean who wouldn't be? We indeed had the deggorating party of the century...Glitter, colored foil, stickers, beads! It was awesome!


Easter morning came & this boy wasn't messin' around.

I love seeing their faces when they find their eggs & baskets! Priceless!

Then our sweet friends (the Green fam) came over to enjoy a delicious Easter brunch with us....

Mmmmm look at that glorious food. YUM. Teresa brought some pesto & sun dried tomato deviled eggs & they were soooo so good! After our bellies were full we watched general conference & played a couple hundred rounds of Settlers of Catan (as usual) LOVE it! We're going to miss you guys!!!!!!