The National Zoo

So this is going to be mostly a picture post because a zoo is really just a zoo even if it's the national zoo.

best friends

On Friday we packed up all six kids and four adults and headed to the metro. We jumped on the metro and did some fancy metro hopping to hit the zoo. We first hit probably the only McD's that was not stroller friendly or sitting friendly for that matter. But the kids got nuggets and toys so who cares, right?

entering the zoo

Then we walked the couple blocks to the zoo. It was so much fun! I thought we would only get a few hours before we would have to worry about whining and being tired. The kids surprised us and we did probably five or six hours! We hit some great animals like the zebras and elephants and my kids particularly got a kick out of the gigantic aviary and the reptile house with the swimming snakes and giant tortoises that were actually awake and wow, they move fast.

look the giant pandas

going off the path in the aviary

look mom, an elephant

I think my favorite part of the day was about half way, when we all stopped for snacks. The kids had granola bars, bananas, and water, of course! They were so cute all lined up on the benches in the shade. I loved it and Lizzy fell asleep, wonder of wonders!

all the kids together, Gwenna-Evie-Bronwyn-Rowan-JC

happy baby at "break time"

I continued Evie's home pre-schooling and added an activity worksheet for her to fill out as we saw the exhibits. She had so much fun and oddly enough the Woods girls, Rowan and Bronwyn, liked helping her do it. (I've put it in the section on the side. I added the other one I didn't use, but liked.) When she had finished and we were finished too, we went to the Visitor's Center and she turned it in for a set of sparkly zoo stickers. She turned right around and gave one to daddy and the gave one to me and said thank you, all unprompted too!

gorilla and my monkey boy

animal with spikes! Iguana sticking out it's tongue

I think, though the animals were fun and being with friends was fun, the parts the kids liked most were the misters that were set up every now and then along the paths to the different animals. The kids loved them so much even the strollers went through, babies and all!

all for the water!

misted baby and daddy

We finished up the whole day with a quick trip to the store for a souvenir or two and some Christmas presents they don't know about! On the way home, we again took the metro and for the first time really noticed how much JC likes trains. Every time one passed by he squealed excitedly and pointed enthusiastically. It was so cute.

on the way home

We were tired, we had fun, and we took Saturday off!

Mount Vernon by ourselves!!

Okay, so after testing the waters on Wed, Chris and I were blessed with a sweet friend in Celeste and given the day to go off and do by ourselves (well, almost!) We took Lizzy with us since two infants plus four toddlers can make anyone a little nuts!

So on our way to visit places as cool as the Capitol and the Library of Congress and a host of other very inspiring DC locations, Chris decided that the sign to Mt. Vernon was what he wanted to do first. So we quickly took the exit off the freeway, in effect ditching all plans, and inputed the new address into his iPhone.

An overview of the property

Mt. Vernon from the beginning was so much bigger than we had anticipated! We got into the place with a President's package which included tickets to several things, an audio tour, and a host of information. We loved it.

Lizzy on board for the cruise

We began by taking the "cruise" up/down the Potomac and seeing our first glimpses of George Washington's home from the river. It was beautiful. We learned that it was orignally named for the "mountain" it sits on overlooking the river and a man his half-brother fought with in some war, "Vernon". So, since his brother inherited the place before him, he got to name it, and George kept it.

The next thing we did was slowly make our way to the main house by way of the tomb of George and Martha Washington, several of the main buildings like the wash house, the stables, the larder, and a couple more, then we moved on to the gardens which were beautiful, and finally got in the quickly moving line for the mansion tour.

The house was beautiful. I had forgotten that the early Revolutionaries had strong ties to Britain. Their homes almost exactly match in style and decoration the homes of their original country. The home is decorated with vivid colors like green, blue, yellow, and red. Thankfully the home is air conditioned so it was even nice to visit for us during our 95 degree weather. I especially liked the antique cradle in the mother's guest room and the view from their back porch. It is such a lovely home and the grounds are breathtaking both in their ingenuity for the time and their simplicity of structure. I love what's called the "bowling green" directly in front of the home. It's a huge expanse of rolling gree reaching from the front of the home all the way down to the visitor's centers.

With Lizzy like this, so many thought she was our first! How silly!

After visiting the home we wandered through one of the many gardens noting the fleur d' lis in the shrubbery and the exotic flowers and plants that his home was known for. We learned so much about George just by seeing what interested him and how he lived when he was leading the country or fighting a war.

The last stop on our visit to Mt. Vernon was the viewing of the film, "We fight to be free" which we both liked a lot and held more emotion after visiting the property where he lived, and finally the education center which was originally intended for children and teens, but which I loved more than any museum I've ever been in.

One of the many exhibits

We had so much fun and though we spent over 7hrs there, we still didn't see it all. If you ever get the chance, make this one a priority in your trip, but leave little ones at home.

My favorite fact of the whole thing: it was the Mt. Vernon Ladie's Assoc. that made it all possible. They bought the land and home and then put all their efforts into the creation and maintaining of the whole thing. Congrats to women who saw it's potential.

Traveling and the Old Post Office

So we left for Washington DC on Tuesday. After much effort, we finally left the house at noon. We arrived in Woodbridge (just outside the main city) around 10pm. The reason being - kids, kids, kids. You know, Chris and I used to travel so quickly and so well. If we wanted to stop we did, but usually only for a short time. Now, when we stop, we stop for a bit. This time we stopped at a rest stop in North Carolina for almost 1 1/2 hrs. Chris slept in the van while the kids and I had a picnic lunch and then played around. I would've let them play longer, but I was already dripping with sweat and the little gnats kept getting stuck on the kids eyes and faces. So we packed up again and within a half an hour realized that for some reason I had packed all the pacifiers (to make sure we had extra), but not left more than one out which JC had promptly lost. So we stopped again. We found a Wal-Mart and grabbed some pacifiers. Eventually we did make it to Jared and Celeste's house here in DC, but not until EV had broken our DVD player after less than 10min, JC cried and complained for another hour before he fell asleep, and Lizzy had a dirty diaper. Like I said, eventually.

Don't let that fool you though! We had a lot of fun driving here.

Riding the trams: JC loves these things!

The next day (Wed the 23rd) we got up a bit late and decided we'd keep it simple for our first day since we had to learn the freeways, the trains, and the city. So we went for lunch to a place called the Old Post office. It was pretty neat.

"The Old Post Office"

On the way we saw a beautiful building which somehow became less so when we discovered it was the EPA. Anyway, the OPO was beautiful and fun inside.

We had lunch, took a tour of the tower by means of a glass elevator no less, and then had ice cream. Because of the late start we didn't make it to the National Aquarium, but we're hoping to go back another day. We had a lot of fun!

my girls waiting for lunch

Looking out over DC, don't worry it's a strong window!

Like little birdies waiting for food....mmmm ice cream!

100th Anniversary of Father's Day

Our kids are so great! Nothing super special happened this week, but I sure enjoyed being a mom.

I really like those kind of weeks because when you have the other kind (the "are you sure it's illegal to throw them out a window or duct tape their mouths" kind) it's nice to look back and see that just a minute ago you liked them and what you were doing.

Anyway, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY out there to all you dads. Being a parent is one of the hardest things I think we've ever done. I say often that without my kids I wouldn't make it to the Celestial Kingdom. I know it's true. I wouldn't be as patient, as kind, as empathetic, or any of those other things that are what Christ is all about. I also wouldn't rely on the Lord as much as I do being a parent. To be a parent requires constant improvement and work spiritually, emotionally, physically sometimes, and intellectually. There are very few, if any, things in this life that require so much of us so regularly. That's what gets me to the person I want to be and the person that will be acceptable before the Lord. I am so glad to be a parent.

I've also learned how different being a mom is from being a dad. We have different steward-ships and that's a good thing. I hate working and being on someone else's time schedule. I love to earn the money though! Chris, on the other hand, excels in the work place even when it looks like he shouldn't. He's so good with people and he's a very hard worker. The world outside my front door is also so unkind. It's filled with meanness and cruelty. It's complicated and political and sometimes outright wrong. And all that can be directed at my sweet husband on a regular basis and somehow he's still supposed to be loving and kind and fun when he comes home. I bring that kind of stuff home without thinking about it. The Lord built him to be able to handle all that the world can throw at him so that when he comes home, he's my husband and he's their daddy. It's a special thing. What's really impressive is that men like Chris work their shifts dealing with what they do and then they come home, help out with a chore or two, play with or discipline the kids (0r both at my house!), and then sit and talk to their wives. He is an active provider AND a loving father AND a wonderful companion. I know I've got a good one and if yours fits that description, even on a every-now-and-then basis, tell him you're grateful.

It might sound like I'm forgetting about the other parent, and honestly for this blog I am. Mothers had their day and their blog here. Today was about great fathers and wonderful daddy's. I am especially blessed to have more than my share of good men in my life. I am honored to call some of those men my father. I am richly blessed and very grateful.

Happy Father's Day dads - you deserve it!

Exercise

So I tend to stress out about too many things and I discovered that regular exercise helps me out quite a bit. But it wasn't until Evie got her big girl bike (w/training wheels of course) and I got a double stroller (thanks to Nana) that we got on a regular schedule.

We leave every morning around 8:30am and go for a walk around our neighborhood. We practice our "right"s and our "left"s. I especially like that Evie is getting better at not quitting when things get tough and now that it's been a little over a week, the whining is down to a minimum. Thank goodness.

I love it. It gets us out of the house early, before it's too hot. It helps us stay healthy and blesses me with more quiet times due to pure exhaustion! I love exercise!

I'm hoping that working regular like this will help us all with our endurance when we go to DC next week! Wish us luck!

Marriage

I love being married! I know, whew, good thing right?!

Yes, still after 81/2 years I still absolutely love to married to my husband. We work so hard on our marriage. We try to keep close to the Lord with family scripture reading, prayer, FHE's, family activity days, and of course, temple attendance and DATE NITE!

We are not only best friends, we are real partners. So other than an overabundance of love for my spouse why am I talking about this? Well, because I didn't think marriage could really be like this. People talk about marriage being like this and how to know if a marriage is on the right path, but it all seemed so unreachable. Honestly if we had expected things to be like they are right now when we were first married, we never would've gotten this far. But thankfully, my husband is patient and we're both hard workers. We both enjoy the marriage contract and the hope for a celestial marriage is a sincere desire that we actively work toward.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that marriage is more of a process than an event or goal. It is like a testimony in the fact that if you're not moving forward you're definitely moving backward. Relationships take a lot of work, but I can assure everyone I know that it is so worth it to feel this way.

I enjoy being with my husband and my children in a way that I never could have imagined. It is rare to find a place that we fit so well we have no desire to move from that place. I have found the place where I fit: my family as wife, mother, friend, and teacher. I am so honored and blessed.