A Nice Visit

So this week has been so fun with so many visitors. Grama and Grampa Fosburg came for a surprise visit for a while at the same time I had offered to watch a friend's little boy for a few days.

The first day Grama and Grampa were here they really wanted to go to Swan Lake again. It was a nice hot day so of course, it was beautiful. The birds (swans, geese, ducks) were friendly and fun. And several turtles surprised us at the bridge! I didn't even know there were any in there!

At the end we stopped for a rest (for us old people) while the kids (and Chris) played on the playground. We were all very tired, very hot, and happy.

Up to Date

Okay, so we're finally up to date! I know a month to get something up?

Well, we got home and guess what? We found out we were PREGNANT! Needless to say, with the resting up we needed from DC, the fun on the 4th, and our new situation expecting our FOURTH, yes fourth child, blogging has been low on my list of things to do. It comes right after relaxing and napping, though napping is leap-frogging to the top these days!

We are super excited. That was not my first feeling, but after getting used to it for a minute and realizing that this baby will actually be 16-17 months after Lizzy it's not as bad. Plus, it was hard for me to have JC after having a toddler for a while. I've been in baby mode for 3+ yrs already what's another year, right? So, I'm REALLY hoping for a little boy. I know, I never get what I want, but I've got two girls in the family of all boys I had looked forward to already. Maybe this time I'll get lucky.

I have another couple weeks before the ultrasound to determine the exact due date. I'm putting it in late March, early April. That means I was only a few weeks along before "discovering" the good news. Usually I'm about 10 or 11 weeks, so this is new - and I hate it!

I'm not one of those girls who likes being pregnant or thinks that "glow" is wonderful. I just don't like the emotions all over, the constant thinking about my stomach, and the need to sleep like a bear missing hibernation. I do, however, LOVE the little ones that join my family when I'm done. They are so great! My family is so itching for another boy (as is daddy at this point) and I love seeing how the family dynamic changes when someone new comes along. Our family is happy, healthy, and friendly - who wouldn't want to be part of it, right?!

So beyond the amazingly surprising news above, Lizzy just tried solid foods for the first time today! She did such a great job. I was impressed that by the second feeding she'd gotten the hint about opening her mouth. It took JC almost 2 wks of serious work on our parts to get that skill down. The whole swallowing thing will come, but it looks like she is primed and ready to begin. It's fascinating how little ones develop when they have older siblings. Some things I thought would come quickly, don't, and other things I never thought would be affected, are! It's so neat. Kids are great and they are all great friends. I hope dad and I can encourage that throughout their lives. (My siblings and I didn't really have that down until adulthood.) She's also getting really heavy! We just moved up in diaper sizes, a 2 now! I almost dropped her the other day because the weight was so different from what I had been expecting. She's still little and long, but she's solid.

So, the Fosburg family is growing again and we are now officially the ones with the largest family (or will be) on the Fosburg side and we will have just tied my brother! Chris is still thinking we want five, but who knows? Wish us luck!

Our 4th of July

So our fourth of July was quite different than we are used to for several reasons.

Number One! - We so missed our Fourth of July buddies, the Pendergrass family!! We usually go to River Front Park with them and do the whole day. It's been that way for us since we both got our first kids. We missed you!

Number Two - what do you do for a fourth that happens to be on the Sabbath? Try keeping that one holy and patriotic at the same time! Not an easy feat for us, but we did it! Thank you Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Music and the Spoken Word.

Number Three - we no longer live in a state that bans fireworks for the holiday! Yeah! For the first time my kids got sparklers and pop-its and next year we'll do something bigger. Our whole neighborhood lit fireworks.

He looks unsure, but he loved them! I mean JC.

Evie's first sparkler!!

Honestly, we really didn't need to leave our home to see the big ones in the sky. It reminded me so much of the Fourths when I was a little girl (minus the ear aches!)

Throwing was a bit tricky for JC, he usually ended up on the ground!

We did go out however, just before the show. We found a place in a church parking lot and watched all the fireworks light the sky. It was so much fun!

Our Last Day in DC

Isn't she cute!!!?

So, the 30th of June, a Wednesday, we left the Woods house for the final time to see Washington DC as a couple.

Chris and I so loved going out this day. It was our last day and we had already seen so much. We discovered to our delight that we had done so much that there were things on our secondary list we could go see! First we went to the Library of Congress. It was beautiful! The architecture is amazing and the colors reminded me so much of Italy and the artwork there on all of their building interiors. It was massive. We saw all those neat places the "National Treasure" movies show. (I have to be honest. We love those movies and the whole of DC kept reminding us of them!) We even stopped by a couple of exhibits like the one depicting through artwork, films, and writings the birth of the United States as a nation. Chris loved this one. Then we went to one that I just couldn't wrap my head around. We went to the personal library collection of Thomas Jefferson. He was so interesting.

He had books on lots of subjects including gardening and medicine. He also had lots of books that I've read in the classics. It was fun to see where his passions lent, obviously politics and world history. It was amazing and the books were beautiful. When the original library burned down he donated his personal one to begin again. Because his volumes were so broad in subject the library became open to many different kinds of literature and collection. Such a neat outcome from such a simple and kind act of service.

Upon leaving the library of congress, Lizzy was getting really tired. We had opted for the stroller over the front pack that day and she wanted to sleep. So Chris stuck his hat over her head so she could get sleepy. Apparently it was super interesting because no matter where we went that day, as long as she was sleeping or being shaded by that hat, we got stares, giggles, pointing fingers, and smiles. Who knew? We just wanted her to sleep!

I decided to take a couple pictures of the capitol building (which we were content to see from a distance this trip) and the LoC from a ways away. There was a beautiful park across the street so I went there. I saw a great tree and went to take a picture. When I looked up I saw someone looking down! I guess I had surprised him during lunch. He took a minute to eat and stare and I took a minute to look back and laugh.

After that neat little moment, we went searching for the Shakespeare Library and Research Center. I was super excited to see this one, but vetoed it early on as a "next time" location. When I say "we went searching" I mean it! We walked FOREVER to find this building. We saw neighborhoods most tourists don't see and ended up over 11 blocks from where we should have been. Guess what? It was right behind the Library of Congress! (See the post abt Chris' iPhone GPS for what I really think of that thing!)

So many little homes with beautiful gardens!!!!

So the building wasn't spectacular, but the seafaring exhibit during Shakespeare's time was fascinating. I didn't know some of the things they showed and it got me excited as I found a new book to read. I also got to see an original 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare's work. For you non-Shakespeare people that's one of the first ever actual collections of all of Shakespeare's plays including the tragedies, comedies, and histories. It was so neat to see.

After that we hit a great little lunch place that seemed really popular in the area. It was a bit pricey for a salad bar, but after a week of fast food, restaurant food, and other stuff, fruits and veggies was so worth it for me! Chris got a sandwich that I later got a chance to snack on - fantastic!!!

So the last thing we hit in DC was the National Archives. I could live without seeing the White House and the Capitol up close, but I wasn't going to leave without seeing the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and an original Magna Carta! It was amazing. And here's a really cool secret. The line to see these documents can be quite long, but if you have a stroller they send you around the side due to several stairs. It leads right to the main floor! They expect you to go right in! Isn't that great? So a line that was super long, got really short really fast! Maybe they just don't like cranky kids in the hall or something. All I can say is that as a parent it was a nice change. Sometimes we just get used to things being harder/more complicated with kids. It's nice when it makes something easier!

Anyway, so the documents were really neat and the history in that building was amazing, but the one that hit me was one I hadn't planned on seeing that day. I really got all choked up by viewing the Magna Carta. It is a document that paved the way for the people of a nation to have a say in what their government is doing. At the time the Lords were not happy about the king raising taxes so they set a limit on what he could do. It was a revolutionary idea at the time and really gave a great example of what a document like that should look like and what the people of a nation could expect from their leader(s). It was so cool. As I read it I could easily see the fore running in expectation and wording and documentation. It was great.

We left there and stopped in the statuary garden of the National Gallery of Art. It has a huge fountain and some benches all around the area with some interesting artistic interpretations. We had a snack here, got a picture, and I finally got to soak my little tired feet for a few minutes.

For the last time we took the metro home, got in the van, and headed back to the Woods house. That's when Celeste called and I ended up meeting her with some other women for a girl's night out to watch the brand new released "Twilight Saga: Eclipse".

It was a lot of fun and though I was super tired, I had so much fun! I had resigned myself to watching my girly movie with my sweet husband, poor patient man that he is, and missing one of my best friends, my sister Renee'. Instead I got to see the film with other girls who had enjoyed the book like I had and had been excited to see the film adaptation like me. It was a fun night and the movie at least matched the book closely so no complaints there. I did however, find much to laugh at with all the young ladies in the theater! Such ooohhhing and aaahing over the men and excited squeals every time they showed up on screen. I know I missed several parts laughing at them with my girl friends!

So that was our last day in DC. Chris got in some great video game time with Jared, I got in some awesome best friend time with Celeste, Evie and Joseph got in great play time with Rowan and Bronwyn, and even Lizzy and Gwenna had a chance to get to know each other. It was a great time and one that could have been so much more expensive and less fun without the Woods opening up their home to us for such a long time! They provided a comfortable place to come home to at the end of each day. Celeste babysat several days and they often provided dinner. It was such a great kindness to know that with a phone call we could have a home cooked meal ready for us at their home at the end of a long day. It was wonderful. I hope I can be so hospitable to my friends and relatives. It really made the whole vacation.

Monument(al) Day

The following day, the 29th of June, we left the kids at home and went for it. When I say "went for it" I mean we did as many things in the one day as we could so that our final day on Wed. would be a bit lighter.

It actually was quite a fun and very full day! The first thing we did was hop on the metro (of course) and headed right for Arlington National Cemetery. I had to make the choice right away whether I was going to sob the whole day or not. I chose to contain my emotions a bit and things worked out better. To be honest I did get teary a time or two, but I tried to keep it small. That might sound a little harsh to some, but sheesh, we visited a military cemetery, several war monuments and basically everything that could be sentimental all in the same day. It was one of those if you start days.

Anyway, so we began at Arlington and chose right off to take the tour. It cost more, but we learned so much and saw much more of the cemetery than we would have. We even made it for the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. It was quite interesting and very solemn. I liked it and it felt like (as a military family) we had paid our dues and shared our gratitude as was right.

After that we wandered a bit and found the Vietnam Memorial first. From the back you can't even tell it's there. It is the wall we've all seen, but it's literally carved into the ground. The top stays the same and it looks like a regular park. When you move to the side you see that it actually goes quite deep. The interesting part about this one is the fact that the names are listed in chronological order by death. It begins with the first death of the war, grows quite large at the height of the war, and then tapers off to the last death at the end. We even helped a woman make a rubbing for a vet that was up quite high. It felt good to help him out. He was so grateful. (Another teary moment)

We then hit the Lincoln Memorial. It was gigantic! It reminded me of when we saw the David in Florence, Italy. In pictures you know it's gotta be pretty large, but it just doesn't hold much until you stand next to it and feel super tiny.

I think the part I liked most about the Memorial was the speeches of Lincoln carved into the marble on either side of the statue.

It was beautiful and to be honest though slightly embarrassed, I'd never read the entire Gettysburg Address. It definitely had me teary. To see how much our leaders in the past loved God and reverenced not only his infinite power, but his mercy and kindness really impressed me. It's such a thing of the past in my time to see men of power bow their knee to the Almighty.

After the Memorial it was super easy to just move toward the rest of the war memorials. They flank the Reflecting Pool. To the right of the Lincoln Memorial is the Korean War memorial which I really liked.

Made me all teary, again

Next was the forgotten WWI memorial. It's a small little marble structure built in the Romanesque style with columns and a circular roof. It is quite beautiful, but sadly uncared for and by all guidebooks I read, and websites I visited it's not even listed. If you get the chance, take a look and do your part by remembering and being grateful. That's what these things are there for.

At the end of the reflecting pool is the grand WWII memorial. It is truly magnificent. I really liked it and felt like it really was serving it's purpose. For me it was more beautiful and significant than any of the others. I recognized my state's sacrifice for the war too by standing next to the corresponding wreathe.

Each star represents a soldier

The pool was quite lovely and though they don't recommend wading or playing in it, they do not mind sitting and putting your feet in. It was really hot and we were very tired, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. It just didn't feel right for me.

Then finally, we made it. We actually walked up the curved walkway and touched the Washington Monument! We had seen it from afar and not so far for the whole vacation and then this day we finally went right up to it. It was beautiful and I was happy to have finally made it. We didn't get tickets to ride up the elevator, though I encourage you to if you get the chance, but we were happy with sitting inside the circle of flags and touching the stones. So much history.

After that we made the choice to see the White House. I knew this was going to be my shot so we took it. It was only two blocks away so we thought, simple! Not simple! They were having a very large and, I'm sure, prestigious gathering, and so had blocked off all locations even near the building. I didn't get to see it and I didn't get a picture. I did however, get a giant Rocket Popsicle like the kind I used to get from the ice cream truck at the Bowdish house in Spokane when I was little. I was happy.

Half Staff for a Judge's spouse

We had walked for a couple of miles by that time and were ready to go home. As luck would have it we were less than a few blocks from the very first metro station we had used the first day we were there. We didn't even need a map or Chris' GPS to get there!

It was a good day, a long day, but a good day and we were so glad the kids didn't go. They would've been miserable. Sometimes some "us" time is a good thing for everyone!

Kid's Museums

So Monday the 28th we continued our wonderful excursion into DC with a trip to the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of Natural History.

Though Chris was ready to be without the kids right away, I really was excited for them to see this. He quickly reminded me how young the kids are so that when JC fell asleep mid-museum, Lizzy cried, and EV had a time-out, I wasn't too frustrated or disappointed. Thank goodness for a second perspective!

Anyway, so we began with the museum closest to the metro station that popped us out mid-Mall right in between the Capitol and the Washington Monument. We saw both those buildings that way for so many days! We actually laughed about it every time we saw them.

The first museum we went to was the closest to us: National Air and Space Museum. We had decided to only see a few exhibits in each museum to cut down on the time and the possible disappointment at not seeing the whole thing. What a good idea that turned out to be!

We saw a whole exhibit on the stars and light and how the universe is made. They did some of it through refraction with prisms (ohhh, pretty rainbows, mommy!) and cartoons. Evie really liked all the stuff about stars, what they're made of and how that same material can be rain.

We also entered the "How things Fly" exhibit. It was so perfect for us. Evie loved all the hands on learning and even Joseph found some things to do. It was so great. They had all the mechanics of flight described in easy to understand object lessons. Even Chris and I learned something new, like a wing on an airplane is shaped the way it is to allow the wing to slice through the air (like I already knew), but comes to a point in the back to allow the air to reconnect itself in the back (new information) in order to keep the plane aloft.

Evie learned that she could change how much she weighed by being on different planets and that gravity was at fault. (try explaining that concept to a four year old!)

They had lots of hands on activities and all the employees encouraged the kids to manipulate the exhibits.

Evie really liked the little "game" that had you re-enter the earth's atmosphere by using buttons that simulated the way it maneuvers. She crashed a whole lot and laughed every time. I think she laughed the hardest when I crashed it though!

After that exhibit daddy and the kids wandered through a space capsule/station kind of thing where people lived in space for a while during missions. Evie thought it was very cool. We looked around in the history of flight section for a bit, but the kids were ready to go so off we went without regrets!

The second museum we went to was the Museum of Natural History. The sky had darkened suspiciously in our trip across the mall and by the time we were inside about 10 min it poured outside. It was so funny. All our time and attention to seeing DC and the museums with the kids and they were most enthralled with the rain storm outside!

Anyway, so the first thing we saw was the Insect Hall. Evie liked the spiders and JC liked the snakes and stuff. I was a little creeped out by the black widow and the scorpions. Even Lizzy found a bug she liked: the little water creepers that swim and run on top of the water.

The hall even had a giant ant hill replica that the kids crawled through.

We left the insects (not a horrible experience by the way) and headed toward the "Living Sea" but got caught in the gems and rocks exhibit first (a previously unknown Chris love). We saw real meteors that had fallen from the sky and watched as a computer generated all the volcanoes and earthquakes that happen in just a few short years. It was amazing. Evie liked the giant globe circling above us. Of all these fun things, including giant rocks and crystals they encourage you to touch, the whole family was most enthralled with the glow-in-the-dark rocks in the simulated mine and the rock that was rendered magnetic by being struck by lightening! We threw paperclips at it (they were provided). Joseph laughed and we had to drag Evie away.

Evie and I took a quick look at all the "princess" jewelry in the gem section. My favorite part is when she gave me the crown of over 200 diamonds and she got the necklace with over 100 diamonds and several sapphires. Then the part where she squealed loudly that "mommy, you have one of those" when she pointed to the largest sapphire in the world not only made me smile, but had me dreaming for a moment. We ended that exhibit with the famed "Hope" diamond which by the way, is boring, relatively small, and not worth taking a picture of with your camera or cell (though most of those crowding the diamond must've thought otherwise).

Finally, we made it to the "Living Sea" section with a giant whale suspended above us and a giant jellyfish whose tentacles were as thick as my arm and three times as long as I am tall. This is where we lost JC to sleepiness. We wandered the penguins and the fish. I loved the tropical fish tank with all the colorful specimens as did my kids.

We ended the exhibit by hitting the antarctic section and the current "show". We watched a globe spin and lasers drew the currents on it as a voice told us about how the water affected the weather and the animals. It was so fun to watch. The best part is we knew the exact moment when Joseph woke up because he shouted loudly, "wow" and pointed at the lighted earth.

The last thing we did was to check out the giant African Elephant and get a picture. The kids weren't as excited after having seen the living ones the Friday before, but they were good for the camera.

Well, that was the end of our last day with the kids in DC. After that it was just the parents. We had a great time with them and though they are quite young it was worth it to take them to all the fun places.