Washington, D.C. {2014} - Day 1

With what has now seemingly become a fun family tradition, we began our journey to Hubby's run in the Army Ten-Miler on Sunday with a trip up to D.C. for a long weekend much like both last year and the year before that...

We left yesterday evening and made it all the way up to Richmond to spend the night.  The next morning we started out early with a stop at the Virginia State Capitol for B's now customary capitol steps run...  We've been to more capital cities, but since he challenged himself to running up the steps of each capitol building, this makes #17 complete on his Capitol Steps Challenge...

I guess that just means that we have a few that we have to go back and visit again!

We toured the grounds stopping at a few notable sites related to the U.S. Presidents...

B even got to pet the Governor's dog!

From there, we headed over to Hollywood Cemetery to visit a few significant gravesites...

President James Monroe...

President John Tyler...

and President of the Confederate States, Jefferson Davis...

 

From there we toured one of President Thomas Jefferson's lesser known homes, Tuckahoe Plantation, where he spent a good deal of his boyhood...

What a treat!

The home, still privately owned AND lived in, is available for private tours, but no photos are allowed inside...

After touring the home, the school house, and the grounds...

we continued on to the Washington Monument and our scheduled trip to the top ~ FIRST time to the top for all 5 of us!

Now that going to the top is an option again, if you decide to do it, I highly recommend reserving your ticket here.  Though the Washington Monument IS a National Park and trips to the top are free, the nominal service charge ($1.50/person) for reserving a ticket online ahead of time is well-worth it in my book.  We had a scheduled time on our reserved tickets which cut down our wait time significantly...

After a few rounds of Leapfrog on the park grounds,

we headed over to the hotel to retire for the night...

What a day!

More on tap for tomorrow...

{Weekend Adventure} Mississippi Adventure

 My Grandma is turning 95, and we headed down to celebrate!

 

It was a quick weekend trip, but we managed to visit the gulf...

 

 

attend a very special lunch...

 

 

and celebrate a very special lady...

  

 {with her namesake}

 

 

 {with her beloved brother, Uncle L.}

 

 Speaking of Uncle L., no trip to the coast is complete without a trip to his farm...

 

 

He is always so generous with the fruits of his labor ~  "apple pears" this go-round...

 

 

Breakfast the next morning along I-65 in the middle of nowhere Alabama...

 

  

If anything can be said about this crowd, they definitely know how to go with the flow...

{Summer FUN} Hanging Out in Hendersonville

 So very happy to have our boy back, we spent one night at Grandma's house and had some fun in her neck of the woods the following day...

First stop...the Carl Sandburg Home...

 

to see "Rootabaga!", a production of Sandburg's Rootabaga Stories set to music and performed by the cast and directors of The Vagabond School of the Drama, an apprentice program of the Flat Rock Playhouse.  Our last visit was over 3 years ago!

 

and check in on the goats...

It's free to go watch the "stories" and visit with the goats, and it's always a good time...not to mention, a great way to burn off a little energy, hiking up to the house and back...

After a lunch stop at Mike's on Main...

we stopped by the local children's museum, Hands On!, a favorite of the littles every time they stay at "Camp Grandma"...  At only $5 per person, it's pretty economical, too!

Among other things, B went fishing in the Go Fish! exhibit...and brushed up on his knowledge of local fish...

 

 the girls spent a good amount of time in the Veterinary Hospital exhibit weighing animals and giving them check-ups...  Though she IS only 4, M always says that she'd like to be a veterinarian when she grows up!

 

we hopped over to the garden outside of the Grocery Store exhibit...

 

 and did some shopping, too...

 

 

 

 Leapfrog spent loads of time in the Lego Ramp exhibit...

 

 

 

 as the girls made themselves at home in the Creative Arts exhibit...

 

 

 

 before making ice cream in the ice cream shop!

 

 

 That just made us hungry for the REAL thing!

 

 

Afterwards, we went back to Grandma's and got to work on some drapes!

Thanks to the detective work of my good friend, S, I found more of my most favorite Kingsway Melanie fabric in Buttercream.  Seriously, it's been discontinued for a very, very, very looong time.  I had the black colorway in my first house (we're talking before I was married!) and have had some (but not enough) for years, that I've been afraid to cut...  Now, I've literally got yards for days... 

Oh, happy, happy!!!