Fall Break 2018 - Washington DC

We left last Thurs for a 6 hr drive to DC! The kids top pick for a place to visit. They're pumped! Notice, no Addy. She chose to stay home with Mimi and go to a Halloween party with friends.

1st stop Friday morning...to see how money is made. We learned so much on the tour but no pics allowed. Free!

Souvenir shopping is the best part of every museum for some little people.

A quick visit to the Jefferson memorial. My favorite picture of the trip.

View from the front.

The new Museum of the Bible...Free!

A few sections were boring, some were awesome. In this section, there was a Bible in EVERY language you could open and attempt to read.

On the way to see the White House I was more impressed by this building. The Executive Offices.

The Renwick Gallery, a small art museum. Free & so neat!

Digital lighting was their theme.

Kaleidoscope on the ceiling.

Saturday morning after a quick stop at the Museum of the American Indian, we arrived at the U.S. Capitol for a tour. Free!

We got to see some beautiful areas of the building and learn some interesting info. Benny was bored by the end.

Next stop, the National Cathedral. Admission charged. There were unfortunately no tours available so we explored the place ourselves. The 6th floor...

It was tough to capture the majesty of this place on camera.

We were fortunate enough to visit during orchestra practice. It was quite the beautiful scene. Josh just wanted to sit and listen to them play, his 1st live orchestra.

It's so fun to go anywhere with this bunch of amazing guys. Benny was ready to leave before the rest of us.

Outside view.

I like this view even better.

Nearby the cathedral was the National Museum of Health & Medicine. Free.

This place was small but so NEAT!

They even had the bullet that killed president Lincoln, shards of his bone and dressings with his blood.

A quick stop at the John F Kennedy Performing Arts Center to see the free 6:00 drum show. Kinda boring, the kids said it was the worst part of the trip. I agreed.

We have a new appreciation for Lincoln now that we know him a little better.

Night time monument self guided tour.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Enjoying some down time back at the hotel. We stayed in Alexandria at the Hampton, just 15 minutes outside the city, free parking and cheaper nightly rates. The free breakfast was delicious too.

Last day for sight seeing. Arlington Cemetery.

The tomb of the unknown soldier. So beautiful & humbling.

21 steps, 21 seconds, repeat

The changing of the guards ceremony.

My favorite part of the trip. Thankful for the sacrifices of those who fought for our freedom. Rainbow sunbeam!

Quick stop at the Hirshorn Art Museum. Free. Not much to see. The boys considered it worth the visit just for the escalator rides.

National Archives to view the actual Declaration of Independence & Constitution. No pics allowed inside.

Fuel Pizza for lunch & a stop at the National Building Museum. The boys are running towards the smashed penny machine.

Next was Jackson's pick. The National Museum of Natural History.

Jackson was in heaven. He actually looked at every skeleton, skull, rock & gem.

So neat to see his interests. He was our personal tour guide.

The specimen center. Checking out how dirty Benny's hands are under the microscope. Josh calls him Grubby Bubby.

One last stop. The National Museum of Art.

We found out it was open an hour later than all the other museums. Proof I was there!

Giant blue rooster on the roof.

On our walk back to the car. Thank you Washington DC.

The next day back home with Addy! Everyone missed each other. I love the old Nintendo. They all 4 can play together!

My 40th Birthday Trip!!!

We flew into Las Vegas to begin our adventure out west.

1st stop was Valley of Fire State Park an hour outside of Vegas. Still in Nevada.

We hiked to the Fire Wave, similar to the real Wave. Notice Josh in the background for scale.

Real cactus everywhere!

Sunny but not too hot for the dessert.

This place was beautiful and so unique.

Our 2nd hike was White Domes to a slot canyon. It was a shorter one but still very neat.

Random beautiful rock along the side of the trail.

What in the world!? Random giant rock formations everywhere.

Day 2. Zion National Park. The main attraction of our trip.

Hike to Angel's Landing. Josh's very favorite.

We decided to conquer the hardest 1st. I was terrified!

Single file passing. Holding onto the chain was ok but when there was no chain, YIKES!

Not the top yet. Fake smile.

View from the top!

Epic views on the way down. 5.4 miles total.

After lunch at the Zion Lodge we hiked to Lower Emerald Pools, a waterfall. Nothing compared to our NC falls. Then we took a short mile hike to Canyon Overlook.

It was cloudy and dark. We lucked out on rain. It was predicted every day we were there.

Day 3. The Narrows hike. The reason we came to Zion was by suggestion of my friend Stephanie. This is her favorite hike ever!

A gigantic slot canyon with the Virgin River flowing through the bottom.

Look how high!

No way!! There's even a waterfall, a few miles into the canyon.

We rented waterproof pants, shoes & socks. The hiking sticks were also necessary. I couldn't wait to get the pants off though.

Josh looks so small compared to the grandeur of this place.

On the way out. Yay, for sunshine.

Believe it or not, we had so much energy that we drove to Bryce Canyon National Park in the afternoon.

We got there around 5:00. Just enough time to hike the 3+mile loop.

Wow! Just Wow!

We'd never seen anything like this place before.

More unique rock structures.

They even cut doorways through the hoodoos along the hike.

My VERY favorite picture. On the way back up the loop. Notice the people on the switchbacks for scale.

We stayed for sunset.

Epic! That's the word we kept using.

Day 4. The Grand Canyon! The northern rim in AZ and another time zone.

We took the short hike out to Bright Angel Point.

It would've been more fun to hike into the canyon but we were lucky enough to see it before the rain came.

Josh must climb to the highest, most dangerous cliffs.

Checked off the bucket list. We were going to take a scenic drive to a few more small hikes with views but the rain started and didn't stop until the next day!

Day 5. Goodbye Zion.

Our very bright colored rental car. Hahaha!

Walking the Vegas strip to kill time before our flight. Bellagio foundation show.

Outdoor escalators & huge TV screens. Cool. We explored several of the fancy hotels along the strip.

The Wynn, my favorite hotel. All made from flowers. The Bellagio had something similar but was way more crowded.

It would have been more fun if one of us knew how to gamble or at least work the slot machines.

The opulent Bellagio women's restroom. Not a fan of Vegas.

Took a red-eye flight home. Couldn't wait to see the kids!!!