Catch-up

This last month has been filled with lots of fun.  We live right across the street from a mini golf course.  The kids want to go everyday!!  We finally went and they loved it!  I need to invest in an annual pass.

 

 We have the most awesome friends.  We made Halloween pillowcases together...I am a little bit afraid of my sewing machine.  So it was a big deal.

 Once things got rolling we whipped out 4 pillowcases...things went pretty smoothly all things considered - we might even make Christmas pillowcases :)

We love to ride bikes and Benson is really good - I am so impressed!

 Doing things with friends is always more fun!

 Showing off their bikes: Alayna, Benson, Joseph, and Peter.

 We also tried our hands at a Kid Halloween Craft - Qtip skeletons.

 They turned out pretty good!

 Once a week we go to a music class at the Trinity Presbyterian Church.  Benson loves it.  We do a half an hour of singing and have snacks and playtime.  Benson loves his friends that we go with. 

 Last year Alayna only got to have friends over...so Benson loves when we get together with "his" friends.

The last two weeks we used parachutes during our music class and they were a huge hit!



Apple Picking

We ventured up the mountain to pick apples today.  The kids loved it and there were a lot of apples low enough for the kids to pick.

 We picked Jonagold apples and they are crisp and delicious.

Alayna: "Dad it's real fun that you get to be home with us."

Dad: "Well its fun that you get the day off school too"

Alayna: "Yeah me and you we don't get to stay home we have to go to jobs everyday."



DC trip continued - sorry, post out of order!

 We took the long trek down to the Lincoln Memorial - Benson was running ahead of us the entire time...probably because we promised him a fruit snack when we got to the next monument - whatever works I guess! ;)

 This picture shows how long of a walk it is between the monuments.  The Lincoln Memorial is at one end, the Washington Monument is in the middle, and the US Capitol is at the other end.

 Stopping for a quick rest - and a family picture.

 Inside the Lincoln Memorial.

 The Vietnam Memorial - Alayna wanted me to read all of the names to her.

 This is a really pretty view of the Capitol from the US Botanical Gardens.

 The Botanical Gardens were really cool.  They have plants from all different climates and areas of the world.  It was HUGE - needless to say I was far more impressed then the kids were.

 Alayna asked me to take her picture with the flowers....then she just wanted to pull funny faces.

They had an exhibit featuring "Carnivorous plants" - the kids had fun playing around as you can see.



 

Some real cute plants if I do say so myself!

Outside the Museum of American Indian History - Alayna was really fascinated by all of the Indian artifacts.



They had a good children's area in the museum that the kids could explore.



This is the only picture that got taken inside the Air and Space Museum.  This is the original Apollo 11 landing capsule that brought Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin back from the Moon!



Day#3 - we spent the last day doing something "the kids wanted to do" - so we headed off to the National Zoo.  The Zoo was a ton of fun and the kids loved it of course.



Alayna wanted a picture with the Zebras.



So... Alayna has this fascination with bugs - she is actually afraid of them - but it is always her favorite part of going to the Zoo.  The National Zoo did not disappoint and had a huge "Bug" exhibit.  Here is one of the kids with the Hissing Cockroaches - Steph wouldn't even come into the room.  That is the end of the pictures - we had such a good time together and the kids were so good.  We can't wait to go back!



Washington DC Trip!

We took a trip to Washington DC over Labor Day weekend to do a little site seeing.  We started the trip off with a visit to the Washington DC Temple - it was incredible!  I have always seen pictures of it and thought it was beautiful - but it is even better in person.  We tried to get some good pictures of the kids - however, that has become quite a chore lately.... they just act goofy every time the camera comes out.

 The Temple grounds were so pretty - and HUGE!

 Pretty picture of the Temple.... and very happy children as you can plainly see....

 

 I thought this was a good picture... Alayna was sitting on the wall looking up at the angel Moroni.

Our next stop was the Museum of American History - we were in our usual form and didn't do a very good job at taking very many pictures.  Alayna wanted a picture with this random old car. 

 She was very impressed with seeing Dorothy's Ruby slippers...as many of you know, Alayna loves that movie and couldn't believe the magic ruby slippers were at the museum.  She asked me if she could try them on. :)

 

 This was the worst mistake of the trip....the Spongebob Popsicles.... the kids were COVERED in bright colored stickiness by the time they were done - it was hot outside and they were melting and dripping everywhere.  That was the end of the popsicle treats for the trip.

 This is the one and only picture that got taken at the museum of Natural History.

 We were really luck and got into the National Archives to see the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the Magna Carta.  We caught it when the line wasn't very long.

 The National Archives building itself is really cool - no pictures allowed inside though...

 Steph brought a Rachel Ray magazine on our trip that had an article about "Where to eat in DC" so we tried to hit up as many as the places that we could.  This pizza place was AWESOME!  They had a Burger and Fries place next-door that we tried out as well.

 Day #2 - we started the day off early and spent the morning walking to some of the monuments.  The kids were such troopers - they ran along with us the whole time.  The Washington Monument is just now re-opening after being closed for remodeling.

 Alayna humored us as we walked around - but she kept telling us the looking at monuments is "real boring".

 The WW2 memorial is really pretty - and of course it was the kids favorite because it involved water fountains.

 We sat here for a while and enjoyed the views while the kids enjoyed a snack.  We had to bribe the kids with snacks and treats at each of the monuments.

 Each of the states are represented in the monument - we stopped to take a picture at each of the states that we have lived in!