Air and Space Museum

We went to the Air and Space Museum out at Dulles and it was amazing. This one is actually about 10 minutes from our house and we plan on going often.

The boys loved it.

So many cool things to see.

All sorts of planes and space craft.

They got to go into two different flight simulators.

Try on costumes.

Look at fighter guns and bombs - what boy doesn't love that?

But the highlight?

Seeing how the astronauts went to the bathroom.

Not very exotic - just a depends diaper really, with a tube on the end ... hmmm ... incentive not to be a rocket scientist.

You'd think that because they put a man on the moon they could figure out how to put one on the moon without a diaper.

Maybe next go round?

** I apologize for the pictures - most were taken on my iPhone. But I was thinking of putting a bunch from my camera into black and whites, framing them and putting them in the boys rooms. What do you think? Pictures from all the museums we go to, all in black and white?

Gage's Birthday Party

This is MY boy Gage.

I hope he will always be MY boy.

Right now he fights to the death with anyone who tries to accuse him of loving someone else as much as me.

I wonder how long I can keep that up for? Gage had a few requests for his birthday.

1. Rainbow cupcakes

2. Jam sandwich for lunch

3. Raisin Bran Crunch for breakfast

4. A trip to the Museum of Natural History in DC

5. A visit from Senator Mike Lee at his party

He got 4 of his 5 wishes! I neglected to talk to Senator Lee's scheduler in time!

Maybe next year.

The whole gang at the museum.

Gage loved being the center of attention.

Everyone loved the creepy crawlies in the live insect exhibit.

Everyone that is except Gage.

He hid under the table while the other kids were doing this!

He also missed the last part of the live tarantula feeding - the feeding part.

Apparently a trip to the bathroom became an emergency!

All in all a great day.

His first birthday spent in DC.

We love this boy.

We love his sense of humor and quick wit.

We love his quirky attributes that make him Gage.

We love that he expresses his love and gratitude constantly.

We love his hugs, kisses, snuggles.

We really love his wild immagination.

My favorite thing to do is sit quietly by him and listen to him play and talk out loud to himself.

Yesterday I heard him congratulating himself on his "brilliant idea".

We love you Gage.

5 is all the RAGE for GAGE!

This little heart throb is 5 already!

I can't believe it.

He keeps us on our toes like no other has - or ever will!

The first thing Gage announced waking up on his 5th birthday was that he was now 5 and, as such, he now had 5 girlfriends, compared to the 4 he had the night before. The current list is as follows:

1. Marin

2. Halle

3. Laura Kate

4. Aunt Jana

5. Janessa

I'm sorry if you didn't make the cut. Good news is he plans to add one to the list each year he turns older, so start doing what you can to be in his good graces. There was a lot of deliberation going on, so many were very close to making the cut. But he felt strongly about narrowing it down to 5. He did however allow two UTE fans on his list - but they are exceptional girls.

We love this boy, he makes us laugh every single day! I seriously could write a book with Gage quotes, only I forget to write them down because they are just constant around here!

Welcome to DC!

We made it to Virginia/DC just in time for a record breaking event!

This snow storm.

January 26, 2011 was apparently one of the worst storms to hit the DC area in MANY years - at least according to the locals.

I'll admit that when I heard there was going to be a big snow storm I wasn't worried at all - after all I was raised in Canada, learned to drive in the snow and then lived in Utah where we get our fair share there.

So with all of my confidence and it being Gage's birthday, I took all the kids, plus the James' kids, into DC to the American Natural History Museum (more on that later).

Ryan met us there for lunch and told me, you need to get home, they are telling everyone to get out of the city early.

So I figured we would leave about 3:00, after all we only had 14 miles from the heart of DC to home. So we left on our merry way at 3:00.

Little did I know ...

Notice there are only cars leaving the city, none coming in.

It was absolutely beautiful.

If you were not driving in it!

We were stuck in traffic - amazing traffic, horrible traffic.

It took us 2+ hours to make it home - just 14 miles.

The kids were stir crazy in the car.

My knuckles were clenched around the steering wheel.

I felt like yelling at the people - they abandoned their cars all over the freeway and opted to walk home! They stopped directly in front of me to get out of their cars and wipe their wind shields.

I was astonished at the craziness of it all.

But to their credit - the snow is VERY different here.

It is SOOOO WET and HEAVY.

We made it home, and I called Ryan to tell him to leave his car in DC and take the Metro. That was also behind, but at least he avoided major traffic. As the night wore on it only got worse. Some people were stuck with the same commute but for 5 hours. Others for 12!! UGH!

The next morning as we drove - very carefully - around the neighborhoods it was crazy. Cars all over in the ditches, semi's overturned, trees and branches and power lines down everywhere.

It was our first big DC storm and we had only been here 4 days.

Oh the fun we are going to have!!

P.S. will a snow blower even work with such heavy snow? I didn't see one person using one, but a whole lot of shovelling was going on!

Trek East

Utah - Denver - Kansas - Missouri - Illinois - Indiana - Ohio - West Virginia - Pennsylvania - Maryland - Virginia/DC

= 2300 miles (in 3 days!)

We left early in the morning on Wednesday, January 19th so we could make it a long way. We headed north to I-80, only to be turned back because the road was closed to all those without chains on their tires. So we decided to take I-70 to Virginia instead of I-80. YIKES!!

Day 1: We drove for 18 hours and only made it just past the Kansas border. It took us over 12 hours just to drive to Denver!! Then when we got there, just in time for rush hour, it was HORRIBLE traffic. It took us an hour and half just to get through Denver to find a place to stop for dinner with the kids. All the while McCall was SICK! She threw up once while I was driving through Vale pass - which was beautiful, but extreme white knuckle driving. It was snowing, the plows had only cleared one lane and all the big trucks were pulled over in the next lane as far as they could to chain up. So I puttered along at minimal speed and my hands and forearms literally ached after that stretch from holding the wheel so tightly. It was my first time driving to Denver and I wasn't all that excited to ever do it again! We made it to Oakley, Kansas and stayed the night (what was left of it) in a hotel that smelled vaguely like pickles!

Day 2: Just keep driving, driving, driving!! Kansas was a large state! It went on forever. Half way through it I downloaded Angry Birds on my iPhone and that helped me make it through! The roads were much better, but we still saw truck after truck in the ditch, having rolled over, there were so many accidents that we lost count. It was amazing. So glad we decided to stop instead of drive through the night. We made it all the way through Kansas and were able to drive through St. Louis at night and see the arch all lit up, gorgeous! But way to cold and behind to stop and enjoy sites along the way. We needed to be in Virginia by Friday afternoon to sign papers - That had to be postponed ... slow going!! We made it to somewhere in Indiana and stayed. I really liked Illinois and Indiana - rolling hills full of trees and streams and creeks are my friend. Wish I could have slowed down and appreciated it more, only at a different time of year :)

Day 3: More driving - all the while losing hours! By this point we were on East Coast time and dying! When you stop at a hotel to sleep at 1:00 am and think I have 6 hours before we need to be on the road again, only to discover it is really 2:00 am and you only have 5 hours does things to people. It makes them grumpy! But this day of driving was even more beautiful. We were able to see so much of the country and enjoy so many places. But hopefully never again in January!

My DC Favorites - so far

1. National Archives - so very impressive and amazing. I couldn't get over all the history that was there, the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Magna Carta, letters, pictures, everything you can imagine. We were given a VIP tour and able to go up to the upper rooms and there they showed us George Washington's inauguration address in his writing, the letters written by Joseph Smith to the President asking for assistance in Missouri when the Mormons were being persecuted immensely. Impressive, I was near tears the entire time.

2. Vietnam Memorial - astounding, absolutely humbling.

3. Lincoln, Washington, Iwo Jima and Pentagon Memorials - I can't describe them. Inspiring. I would recommend doing them at night.

4. White house - this was enjoyable, but not as impressive as I had imagined, but definitely worth doing.

5. Pentagon - worth doing once. I had no idea how HUGE this place is. There is literally a shopping mall enclosed within it. Restaurants, dry cleaning, their own DMV (with no line!), jewellery stores, florists, grocery stores, etc.

6. American History Museum - this was so much fun. My favorite exhibit was the hall of dresses - all the inaugural dresses from the first ladies. So much fun to see the change in styles, the sizes of the ladies (poor Barbara Bush was next to Nancy Reagan, a huge size discrepancy!).

7. Capitol Hill - these buildings are amazing. Full of beautiful architecture, murals, paintings and American history. This is a must do in DC. Then when you are done make sure to visit your senators and congressman offices - they all have souvenirs from your home state for visitors, very fun!

8. Air and Space Museum - this is AWESOME! I like the one out at Dulles Airport better than the one right in DC, but both are fabulous! Kids love this museum.

9. Natural History Museum - another GREAT museum. We spent several hours here and didn't get to see the whole thing. The kids got to see a live tarantula feeding, hold a giant millipede and see just about everything. The knitted coral reef is impressive. Seriously an entire coral reef knitted. Seems to me there are a lot of granny's in DC!

We have several things on our to do list, the next on our list are:

Arlington Cemetery
Mount Vernon - Tate's birthday just happens to be on President's Day this year! Great timing!
Union Station
Old Town Alexandria
International Spy Museum
Native American Museum
Treasury to see how money is made

We are seriously so excited!!

DC in January

I went to DC with Ryan the first week of January. It was my first and only trip to DC before moving there two weeks later.

I LOVED IT!

The city itself was beatutiful with so many things to do. It was overwhelming and I had a hard time choosing what to see. But in the end I just went with the flow knowing that I was about to return and that I would have plenty of time to see everything I wanted to in the near future. Lincoln Memorial - very impressive, and I love Abraham Lincoln.

Washington Monument - inspiring, beautiful and moving. Best seen at night!Vietnam Memorial Wall - this memorial was probably one of my favorite. I've seen it in pictures, movies, etc., but you have no idea of the size of it and the thousands upon thousands of names of young men who gave their lives fighting. It was extremely humbling to be there.

Following that we went to see the Pentagon Memorial for the events of 9/11. Amazing.

You can't help but feel patriotic and grateful when you are there. Again, it was so impressive at night, I think it's the quiet and reverence that the night brings. The beautiful Capitol - this is where Ryan gets to go to work every day. It is a huge building with absolutely gorgeous architecture and details. We had the best tour guide in the Capitol and he knew EVERYTHING about it, helps when you are the Capitol Architect!

Okay, so the pictures are all mixed up, but I have to say, this city is absolutely amazing and I am looking forward to exploring and discovering everything!