Museum, Mall and Miles

Last Sunday we took the kids to the city and had a great day. Our first stop was lunch at a burger place called The Shake Shack. It was a recommendation that was right on. 

Our second stop was the Natural History Museum. Look who we found?

Mojito's ancestor maybe? They look exactly alike!

Here is Abi with a dinosaur. We only walked through the first floor because the museum is so big and we had other things that we wanted to do.

We left the museum and walked toward the Washington Monument. Haley wanted to "lift it up":

Of course Abi wanted a try as well:

We walked past the WWII but couldn't find Utah because half of it was under construction.

We took the shaded route under the trees all the way to the Lincoln Memorial. There was only one melt down from a 9 year old so we stopped for a few minutes and sat on a bench. Once she was ready to go we finished the walk and found some ducks sunning themselves:

Here is the crew at the bottom of the steps. The girls counted the steps on the way up and then again on the way down. They were promised $0.01 if they counted correctly. They got it right on the way down.

 The girls with our favorite president:

And the view from one side to the other: 

As you can see it was not very crowded at all. It was a sunny, warm but not hot day in DC. It was a fabulous Sunday.

After we looked around we walked back to the restaurant where we ate lunch because next door was The Spy Museum. We are going to go to the museum next time but we did hit the gift shop. Everyone was able to find something fun for their prize. 

Once we were done walking and got back to the car I told the kids how far they had walked. I was tracking us using the GPS in my phone all day. So it showed that they walked just over 6 miles not including the walking in the museum. They were surprised... and suddenly tired.

One Of The Positives

I have not said very much about our move and the way I feel and the experiences here in West Virginia. I am still not sure how I feel and I don't want to be really negative about life so I am going to try to focus on the positives.

At the beginning of September we took the girls to a farm about 10 minutes away from our house. At the farm you can pick apples, pick flowers to make a bouquet, do a corn maze, pick pumpkins, shop in the store, and cut your own Christmas tree. They also have a Fall Pumpkin Festival with haunted mazes, decorations, hot cider, activities, hay rides, and so much more. We went to get some apples and maybe pick flowers.

Lewis pulled into the parking lot and out of the whole lot he choose to park right next to the Port-A-Pot. Abi had to look inside so I got her showing us how clean she thought it was...

I am not sure why she is wearing a sweatshirt, it was warm and sunny. They have these pumpkin head guys everywhere. They all have different outfits.

They also have a pirate ship and train for the kids to play. On the pirate ship there was a "Titanic" scene that Haley thought was so hilarious!

They are getting a little bit too big to play on the kiddie toys but they still want to try. Here they are on the train:

More pumpkin heads:

After talking to the owner we decided to go back in a few weeks to pick apples. He said that the good ones are just starting to get ready and in about two weeks they will be perfect for the picking. The girls wanted to cut flowers so we decided to try that. They gave each of the girls a basket with scissors inside. They also received a butterfly net because in the flower garden there are hundreds of butterflies! Here is Abi trying to get one:

Here is Haley cutting a flower:

Here they are all done cutting flowers. They each got a bouquet to take home to put in their rooms. 

We had a great afternoon and I found a "positive" about my new home. There are so many farms here with so many fun outdoor activities for the kids to do and enjoy. Hopefully I will find more and more positives.

Concert In The Park

I am actually posting this on the day that it happened but I am setting it to come out in a couple of weeks. What I am trying to tell you is that I have caught up on my blogging. Awesome, right? I guess...

Anyway! The Sunday before Labor Day we took the girls and went to Manassass to see a concert that Katie (my sis-in-law) was in. It was totally family friendly and there was an ice cream social afterward! So the girls wanted to go. They played fun music, as you can see:

These next pictures were taken during the concert while Abigail had the camera. As you can see Haley is obviously in love with her cup. But if you notice in the background:

Some creeper ruined her photo shoot. Oh well! That is what you get for taking pictures in public!

Here they are clapping at the end. They had a great time and it was much more fun because they got to see Katie.

After the ice cream they got up on the train platform and took a few pictures with the "O" from LOVE. 

I sure do LOVE these two!

Healthy Treat

On the first day of school I decided that since I am a stay at home mom, I was going to act like one too. I made all the beds, started the laundry, and went to the store. I bought everything I needed for dinner and a special treat. Don't these look delicious?

Yeah, well when I took them out I got 4 NO WAYS. Lewis ate one and only got half way through. I threw them out when nobody would touch them. They are a healthy treat remember?

Greek No Fat Vanilla Yogurt

Fresh Berries and Kiwi

Freeze for 4 hours and it is a delectable treat. Nope. It was too tart for them. I guess I am back to the drawing table. At least I tried, right?

First Day of School!!!

The kids started school at the end of August. Adam was headed into 10th grade. This is the best that I could get. And it is a good thing that he doesn't read this blog. I told him that I wasn't going to post it. His bus comes at 7:01 am and nobody wants to be up that early, especially me. I get up each morning with his anyway. I am a stay at home mom now, and that is what we do.

Jason surprisingly was okay with the pictures. I snapped 2 of them really quickly. He is going into 7th grade. He rode the bus for the first time and it comes at 7:12 am. Again, too early to be leaving the house.

Abi got up without an alarm and was eating fruit and hot chocolate before I even got Haley out of bed. She wanted curly hair for the first day.

Haley finally joined us in the kitchen for some hot chocolate.

The girls are always more than happy to pose for a few photos. Isn't she getting to be so pretty?

And this one is such a poser!

And of course

they had to have some

with Mojito!

Here they are ready to go!

Their bus doesn't come until 8:15 am so they actually get to sleep in this year longer then all of their past school years.

I need to note that this guy was very upset while the girls waited at the bus stop (it just happens to be right in front of our driveway). He sat in the window waiting while all the kids sang:

How much is that doggie in the window?

The one with the waggly tail?

How much is that dogie in the window?

I do hope that dog is for sale!

If you look very closely at the window on the left you can see his little head. Watching and waiting for me to join him inside.

What cute kids I have! Now what the heck am I going to do with all of this free time? I have not been a stay at home mom in 8 years and I don't know if I am going to be be very good at the job. I guess only time will tell.

Friends

Abigail made friends immediately in our new neighborhood. By the time we lived here a week she was putting on plays and musical dance recitals with the neighborhood girls for all of the parents. Luckily the "show" only lasted an hour :)

Love this girl!

So you might notice that we have lots of pictures and posts of Abigail and not much of the other kids. The other kids are going through a I HATE PICTURES phase. The boys have been going through it for a few years now but I think the move made it worse. I will post some when they smile for me :)