Summer Fun Part 1

So, I've had some problems logging in to anything google related so I haven't been able to update my blog recently. I'm still not sure what the problem is but, I found out that if I switched to another user on our computer, I could log in so now I can update. Summer is quickly coming to a close but it sure has been filled with lots of fun.

A week after school got out, we headed off to D.C. for a long weekend visit with by brother By and his wife, L and their dog Hinckley.


But first, we made a couple of quick stops. The daughter of our really good friends from Texas, was in the D.C. area for an extended stay so that she could visit a specialist who could help her with her rare medical condition. We enjoyed getting to see her and her grandmother. The kids enjoyed a swim with her in the hotel pool, while we adults caught up on things going on in our families.


After that, we met up with one of our former cadets who is in medical school in the D.C. area. We had a great visit over dinner. It was fun to see him and here how things are going in his life. We last saw him at Christmas time.


Then, it was on to By and L's house. We enjoyed watching a movie in their apartment building's movie theater. Since we all stayed up late, we had a late start the next morning, but finally headed out to see a few things in D.C.

We visited the Natural History Smithsonian first. We didn't see it all, but enjoyed seeing the things the kids wanted to see. First stop, The Ocean Hall where, along with getting to see amazing displays and tanks of sea life, some living and some dead, the kids also got to pretend that had been swallowed by a shark.


Next we visited the Mammal Hall. This was my favorite. All of the "stuffed" animals were fascinating to look at up close. And the scenes they arranged them in were wonderful.

Of course, we also made a stop to see the Dinosaurs. Although B isn't as dinosaur crazy as he was when he was younger, he still loves to see dinosaurs.

We never made it to the second floor so we'll have to do that on another visit.

Next we made a quick stop at the West Building of the National Gallery of Art where we enjoyed looking at lots of French impressionist paintings and two whole rooms of Degas sculptures, many of them were his original wax and clay sculptures. They were really amazing to see.

After church on Sunday, we planned to make another trip downtown to see monuments but the laziness of a Sunday afternoon overcame us so we napped and played games instead.

We headed back home on Monday. We made another quick stop to play games with or Texas friends' daughter at her hotel. And we also stopped to visit the Washington D.C. Temple visitor center.


(Mores summer fun coming later in Part 2)