Udvar Hazy National Air and Space Museum

Reid in Pierce are smitten by all things aviation, so we took them to a branch of the National Air and Space museum that is located outside DC, near the Dulles airport.  It has a huge observation tower to watch planes taking off and landing.  The boys were going crazy running back and forth from side to side, trying to see every plane.

They did a number of flight simulators.  There were several different types to choose from.

Of course, one of the highlights was the Discovery space shuttle.  We enjoyed watching a video of its last flight.

With two hangers and the tower, this is a huge museum.  We spent about 4 1/2 hours going through it. 

It was much less crowded than the Air and Space museum in DC, which was also nice (plus, the boys had been to the one in DC before).  Being Smithsonian, admission is free. 

A Day in Baltimore, Part 2

You may remember a couple of summers ago I took the boys to the Edgar Allan Poe house in Richmond.  There is also a Poe house in Baltimore.  It's located in a seriously scary neighborhood (like so bad I didn't want to stand outside to take a picture), but we decided to brave it briefly.  This is the attic bedroom of the tiny old house.

After we headed back towards downtown so that we could visit the Poe graves (there are two markers).  This was the boys' favorite part of the day.  The cemetery is mostly 18th century and is so interesting.

There are graves and catacombs all throughout the churchyard.  It was fun exploring.

Here is the newer Edgar Allan Poe marker.  It's on the corner by the street and has easier access for visitors.

Isn't it an unusual cemetery?  And the graves were willy nilly all over the place. 

Here's the original burial place for Poe.  You can see that visitors have left tokens at the stone recently. 

There are a number of prominent people who were buried in the cemetery.  Historical markers are dotted throughout.

And then look at this section - it actually tunnels under the church.  There are even graves located beneath in the crawlspace. 

It was a memorable ending to a full day.  And all three of the boys loved this cemetery the most. 

A Day in Baltimore

We headed north for a couple of days last week.  We spent a day in Baltimore.  I wanted to take the boys to the National Aquarium.  Here they are petting horse shoe crabs and stingray.

There was also a tank full of jellyfish to pet.  Even though we got there right when they opened at 9 am, it was still busy.

I've always like these fish.  They seem friendly and kind of have a smiley look to them.

In the Amazon section.  This aquarium is huge and wraps around and around.  There is so much to see.

Maryland is well known for its crab cakes, so we had to take a break from the aquarium for lunch at Phillips.

Only Reid will eat crab cakes (despite Cort's drawing).  But he was suitably impressed.

After finishing up the aquarium, we found a fun playground.  Tunnels and merry go rounds.

And stretches of music making instruments.  We spent some time hanging out here. 

 

 

As fun as it was, none of this was the boys' favorite thing we did in Baltimore.  Any guesses as to what was?  It'll surprise you.  Stay tuned!

James River State Park

After Thanksgiving, we stayed in a cabin for a couple of nights at James River State Park.  My brother and his family rented a cabin as well.  We saw in the cabin journal that many people saw bald eagles, so here is Reid trying to scout one out (we didn't have any luck).

There was a nice visitor center, a bit of a walk from our cabin.  Behind the visitor center was an observation deck and a long wooden boat.

The boys enjoyed playing chicken on a guard rail just outside our cabin.  We were getting ready to go on a hike.  We had decent weather, for November.

The boys introduced their cousins to the fun of geocaching during hiking.  We found four geocaches.  Reid also found a cicada, which you can see on the left side of his hat:

All five boys/cousins enjoyed the overlook of the Tye/James River.  We felt happy to be outside hiking about with family.  Virginia State Parks was having a photo contest over Thanksgiving weekend, and I submitted an edited version of the photo below.  It won grand prize, which was a gift card to the state parks.  Since we visit the state parks a couple of times a year anyhow, this was the perfect prize to win. 

There was also a playground that got much use.  My boys sure are better at the monkey bars than I am.

 

Claudia, at 12 weeks old, was too young to leave at home alone all weekend.  So she came along.  She's a good little traveler and a pro by the fireplace snuggler. 



The cabins were very nice, and offered amazing views of the sunset in the evenings.  It was one of our favorite things about James River State Park.

Overall, we had a wonderful time. It was nice to skip all the Black Friday madness (not that I ever do that) and just get outdoors for the weekend. 

Making Memories

Recently my mom and I took a road trip to Northern Virginia.  My parents lived there for a good number of years, so it was old stomping ground in a way (although the population is ever-expanding so many things look completely different).

Mom and I had never done a trip like this, and we had a wonderful time.  We ate marvelous foods - like this lemon meringue cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory:

We did a lot of shopping.  Mostly at Potomac Mills Mall.  Plus REI and Dover Saddlery for me (neither of which we have where we live) and J. Jill and Comfort Shoes for my mom.  We also ventured into a Savers thrift store - I've heard about them but we don't have one locally.  It was HUGE - wish I'd known how to take a panoramic picture because this place was bigger than a Walmart.

We tried out a Duck Donuts for the first time.  The coffee there was fabulous and so were the donuts.  We kept talking about how messy they were (they're served warm and gooey).  On our way out, Mom noticed that you are supposed to eat them with a fork.  We felt a little like uncivilized heathens then.

We were exhausted in this picture taken at PF Changs, but went back after dinner and treated our tired feet to a soak in the hot tub in the hotel. 

On the way home, we took at side trip through Charlottesville, where my youngest brother, John, gave us a tour of his neurobiology lab at UVA.  He's in a PhD program there.  I adore neuroscience anyhow, so I loved seeing his lab and learning about the fish that he uses for his experiments.  Look how happy he is - I think he truly loves what he does!

It was a whirlwind weekend, but we made many memories.  The best part - better than the shopping or the splendid food or the hot tub - was just spending some quality time with my mom.  I'm so thankful we got the chance to catch up and enjoy time together. 

Camping at Holliday Lake State Park

Before the boys returned to school, we took a four day camping trip at Holliday Lake State Park.  I ran an ultramarathon there years ago, and always thought it would be a nice place to camp.  The day we arrived, the entire place was empty except for one RV (by the weekend it was almost completely full).  So we got the pick of the tent spots - #14 (which was good because some of them are right on top of each other). 

The boys rode bikes around the camping loop while Paul and I got things set up.  We successfully figured out how to hook up the tent garage with the rainfly, so we were pleased that we weren't total idiots this time (unlike our garage setting up FAIL at Fairystone). 

The lake was exceptionally clean, and no one woke up during the night sick with stomach pain and vomiting this time around.  More success!

The boys can't get enough swimming during the summer months.  It's one of their favorite activities. I enjoyed running the trails in my spare time (and Paul biked them).

On Friday we took a side trip to get in some history at Appomattox Courthouse.  It's only fifteen minutes away.  Here are the boys in the jail.  They were suitably impressed by the big chain bolt in the floor and walls.

The little village was simple and quaint.  There were people in period dress telling stories throughout.

The picture below is the backside of the McLean house (brick).  The parlor inside is where Lee and Grant met to end the Civil War.  The guides were excellent and I think the boys were able to realize what a monumental moment this was in history.

We walked all over Appomattox Courthouse.  So many interesting things to see!  But eventually, we headed back to our camp.

At Holliday Lake, we attended five ranger programs.  The rangers were so knowledgeable and the boys adored their programs.  Below, the boys are learning how to build fire by a number of different methods.

Another day, we attended a critters of the lake class, and the boys caught water scorpions and minnows and other tiny lake life critters by net.

We had such a great time!  Now, we can't wait to go again.  Hopefully we can try a camping trip sometime this fall. 

Saguaro National Park

This is my last post to share from our trip to Tucson.  On July 4, after a visit to the Arizona-Sonora desert museum, we decided to drive through Saguaro National Park.  I'm a huge fan of the national parks, and wish I could visit all of them.  There are so many I haven't seen!  Because Pierce was a 4th grader this past year, he had a pass to get himself and his family into any national park for free.

The saguaro cacti were everywhere!  Little birds often live inside the cacti, and I enjoyed watching them flit about.  We had fun visiting the gift shop, and Pierce got his National Parks Junior
Passport stamped.  Then we went driving through some scenic loops.

It was stunningly beautiful, and remote.  We did see a couple of other cars out, but it didn't seem like a good place to break down!  Hiking trails were everywhere, and I hope we can go back one day when it isn't quite so hot to check out some of them. 

This dirt road came to a sign that said high clearance vehicles only, and we ended up turning around because we were in Paul's parents' Honda Fit.  Definitely not high clearance! 

The rest of our scenic drive was on pavement, but certainly no less impressive in beauty.  After all this fun, it was lunchtime.  It was certainly a grand way to celebrate July 4th. 

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

When we were in Tucson, we left early one morning to visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.  The drive there was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. Happily, the museum opened at 7:30 am, and we were right there at 7:32, ready to go.  It gets hot quickly! 

I've been to a lot of zoos and museums in my life.  But this was by far one of the best.  Stunning beauty, natural scenery, and lots of hands on experiences for the boys.  They started with a cave exploration, and the boys had so much fun I thought we'd never get them to move on to the next exhibit.

All of the animals in the museum can be found naturally in the Sonora desert.  The boys were very interested to see the wide variety of rattlesnakes.  Luckily, this mountain lion was behind glass.

We did the half mile desert loop hike next.  You will notice that the boys are geared up with their own water sources, hats, and sunglasses.  Even though it was already extremely hot, we were able to manage the heat just fine thanks to these preparations.  They had free refillable water sites in the zoo and they even had sunscreen in the restrooms! 

The desert hike was so beautiful.  We saw numerous birds, little lizards doing push ups, and javalina.

The terrain is so different from what we are used to in Virginia.  We never got tired of checking out the plants.

Later, we found a cactus garden, and we hiked through that, too.

Paul took a fun picture of different cacti in the cactus garden.  I especially liked the little stumpy hedgehog cacti (not pictured here).

Pierce looked out at the views through an owl's perspective.

And Cort navigated a tunnel designed just for kids - no adults could fit through those narrow crevices:

The boys had the most fun at the stingray exhibit.  It was cool with hands in the water, in the shade, and the stingrays had such personalities!

One stingray, dubbed Slappy, would flap water in your face as it passed.  They did not seem to mind the gentle touch of human hands.

We wrapped up our visit with a hummingbird garden.  It was an amazing morning, and if you happen to find yourself in Tucson, I'd say it is a must-see! 

Readers, what is your favorite museum or zoo?