Whens My Vacation?: Vacation Part 3

Tuesday, July, 15 to Thursday Evening, July 17

(I had to break it up because there is too much to tell..)

On Tuesday we got to Lewis' mom's house just before dinner time. We had lasagna and salad before Allison, Haley and Abigail left to go to the church for Young Women. The rest of us headed out to the outlet mall. Adam wanted to go to the Lego store and I needed shoes. In my world win packing spree the morning we left I forgot to get my shoes. The pairs that I was going to bring sat neat and still in front of my closet until we returned from out trip. Needless to say all I had was my flip flops from the car ride so I needed to get some to wear to the Retirement on Friday. After walking about 10 miles with Katie in that HUGE mall, we each got 1 pair of shoes and Adam got a few Lego sets. We left and went to meet Allison and the girls and go get ice cream.

Wednesday was full for the boys. Marty, Lewis, Adam and Jason got up early and all went to a few places including the Pentagon for the tour. Marty took Adam 3 years ago when we went to VA for a visit but this time he is older and can understand more. They also ate lunch there and got souvenirs. Adam got a shirt and Jason got a new wallet. They were very pleased with their "prizes". On their way home they picked up Heidi from the airport. Katie, Haley, Abi and I all went to IKEA, and Walmart looking for items for Katie's new apartment, and FaBreeze for my car because it still smelled like gym socks. After that we took the girls to Red Robin for lunch.

The girls were mainly well behaved and had a good time. Once everyone was home we had barbecued burgers with fruit and potato salad for dinner.

This was the first time in 5 years that all 3 of the siblings had been together. And the first time in about 10 years that Allison and Marty had all of them together at once with them.

After dinner Heidi, Lewis and I took the kids for a walk to a little park in the neighborhood. We then walked a trail and went to a local graveyard. Haley was very not happy about that but she dealt with it.

Once the kids were heading in to shower Katie, Heidi and I went to Target to get some "stuff", including chocolate because Paige, Dave and their son were going to be arriving shortly. They came over and hung out for an hour or so and visited. It was very fun.

Thursday we got up bright and early and headed downtown. Well, if 9:30 is bright and early. Marty took Paige and her family to see the pentagon, and Katie went to her apartment so Allison, Heidi, Lewis and I took the kids downtown to go to the Museum of Natural History.

We saw lots of good stuff.

My favorite was The Hope Diamond.

The girls got little mini necklaces that look just like the real thing. After the museum we went to meet Beth and her girls for lunch at the train station. I got a huge sandwich, and could barely eat half. It was ridiculous. Next time we all share something, right Katie? :)

Haley and Abi hit it off with Beth's girls immediately! It was so nice for them to have the girls to play with. After lunch we stopped at the Post Office Museum for a quick look. It did not take long, but it was a different museum then most people go to, and it is right across for the train station. I was the only one who had been there before. I went in 1995 with Marlo when we were on a layover for a train to New York. Fun Times! It has changed so much since then, but still worth a quick look.

I need to make a quick comment about The Metro. Can you say love? I love The Metro, and so did the kids. I always used to take the Metro everywhere when I lived there. Jason would not sit unless we made him. He loved standing and holding on. All of the kids liked going from underground to above ground over and over. It was a hit.

Abigail was very tired by the end of the day though.

Thursday night was a big dinner with all of the family at a yummy Italian restaurant near Allison's house.

Beth and Joel (Marty's brother) were there with their girls so my kids had a blast. They all sat together and played. The dinner was delicious. I had the chicken, Lewis had the Salmon, and so did Jason until he tasted the dill sauce. He spit that bite right out across the table at Adam! So we scraped the sauce off of Adam's chicken and off of Jason's salmon and they traded. Everyone ended up very happy. After we ate Beth and her girls gave my kids some little toys to play with to keep them occupied. The kids ended up taking over the restaurant. They had so much fun.