Visit from family - part two

On our second day of outings we headed down to Washington DC. We wanted to explore somewhere new. Robyn heard that the Postal Museum had some interesting things to see. It was actually really kid friendly and they all had fun picking out stamps to bring home.

always getting smashed penny souvenirs 

Next we headed over to Capitol Hill to see if we could tour the Capitol building. They had some space in a tour, but we had a bunch of stuff we could not bring in from our picnic lunch. Michael was amazing to volunteer to stay behind. I took Miriam and Simon inside for the tour.

Levi insisted on walking, so Grandpa hung back with him

Visit from family - part one

My Mom and Dad have come for a visit to Virginia. Luckily they also brought Ashley, Eric, and Devon. We decided to have a couple of days of outings. On our first day trip Michael had to work so I took the kids to a visit to Maymont. It is an old estate near Richmond, VA with some really pretty grounds. The kids loved running around with cousins although it was really hot. I didn't get too many pictures because I was busy chasing Levi who insisted on climbing everything.

After a picnic lunch we took the kids to the science museum in Richmond. It was fun to watch the kids explore the museum with their cousins. I wish I would have taken more pictures.

trying out a wind tunnel

It was a very full and fun day spent with family.

Day with Cousins

Yesterday we spent the day with Trevor, Robyn, and family. In the morning we went to see Finding Dory. The kids loved it and had fun seeing it with their cousins. A lot of popcorn was had by all.

We went back to our house for lunch and to hang out for a while. If you go the the Air and Space Museum after 4:00 pm parking is free. So that is just what we did. We had plenty of time to see all the airplanes and space shuttle. Once again the kids just had fun being with their cousins. (However, I'm still terrible at getting pictures of everyone.)

The brotherly love is strong with Simon

We finished the day off with Frostys at Wendy's. We sure love having the Braswell's close!

Bowling with Cousins

Simon was excited to go bowling with his cousins for his birthday (well, the day after his birthday). It was kind of crazy bowling with so many kids, but they all had so much fun together.

Mount Vernon

On Friday we took Miriam out of school and went to Mount Vernon with cousins. It ended up being a pretty cold and windy day, but we made the best of it. We hadn't been back in a while so we were excited to see it all again.

Mansion Tour:

Walking around the grounds:

For the first time we went down by the river and explored. We had never seen this part of Mount Vernon before.

Lastly, I can't end this post with out mentioning Simon's birthday. He was so nice to postpone his birthday wish to go bowling for one day so we could hang out with cousins. I hope he still had a very happy birthday.

Farm

While the older kids were at school we took the younger kids to the Fyring Pan Park Farm. I love going to the farm on slow days. It is nice to have the place practically to yourself. Simon and Levi loved seeing all the animals with their cousins. We missed Miriam, but had a fun time.

We tried a couple of times to get a picture, you know the one. The impossible picture where all the kids look and smile at the same time. At least they are all so cute.

Downtown Washington DC

We were so excited when we found out Laura, Ashley, Natalie, and her kids were coming out to visit us for their spring break. Unfortunately it didn't line up with our spring break, but we hope to make the best of it. Our first outing was Downtown to the Natural History Museum. We arrived first and looked around the rocks and gems while we waited. Miriam took my phone and I ended up with a lot of lovely pictures of rocks, including some nice selfies. Once everyone else arrived we spent some time looking at bugs, animals, and dinosaur bones.

After some lunch we headed over to the American History Museum. As usual the kids really liked the transportation section. They especially loved pretending to pick the noses of the maniquins.