Family Vacation....part 1 of many

Our family travels several times a year, but rarely do we have a family vacation, just the 4 of us to go to a neutral destination.  Recently, we had this opportunity to have an American vacation in our nation's capital, Washington D.C.  The trip was memorable to say the least.  Here is the first round of photos to tell the story!

At the gate waiting on our flight

Entertainment on the plane

With all the driving we've done recently & still have to do this year, it was a treat to be flying!

The family walking on the mall the day of our arrival by all the food trucks.  We learned most of the food trucks on the mall are just there on the weekends.

First stop...Air & Space Museum

This is Brook in front of the Mercury Friendship 7 space vehicle.  Astronaut John Glenn rode in this spacecraft when he became the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962.

Sisters :)

Apollo 11 crew used these pencils & pens on their flight.

Original Wright Brothers aircraft

Girls on the national mall

A view of our nations capitol

2 cute girls eating ice cream waiting on their Papa in the Smithsonians

Day 2....National Archives which holds the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, & the Constitution

We also visited Ford's Theater & the museum there.

Brook with Abraham Lincoln statue

Isabella with Abe

Looking inside the booth where Abraham Lincoln was shot

A view of the booth from across the theater

Across the street is the boarding house where Abraham Lincoln died 16 hours after he was shot.

This is looking down from the top level of the museum on a tower made of replica books, all about Abraham Lincoln.  There are currently over 15,000 books about Lincoln in print.  Ford's Theater was definitely a highlight of the girls trip, & one of my favorite DC places as well.  The museum is really well done here.

Brook with one of the Easter Island statues

Shark's teeth

Lobby of the National Museum of Natural History

This is the Hope Diamond, which is 45.52 carats.

Emerald from Colombia

Topaz...my November birthstone

Avery & Isabella

We stayed busy the first 2 days hitting all the Smithsonian museums we could because we knew there was a strong chance of a government shut down.

Brook & Isabella in front of George Washington's coat

Laura Bush's Inaugural Gown worn in 2001

Future President??

We visited one of my favorite stores!

We stayed in the Chinatown area, so it was very interesting to me that every store or restaurant had English & Chinese on its store labels.

That is our DC trip prior to the government shut down!  Next up, more DC!

Sweet Memories

An important part of my past is my grandparents. I've mentioned before how special they all were to me.  I really wanted our girls to see where I spent a lot of my childhood at my grandparents land in Mississippi.  We were able to have that opportunity a few weeks ago & it was a great day.

Here I am standing in the same spot 39 years later from the picture in the insert.

Here is my Dad with my 2 girls & below is my sister & I with my dad's dad standing in the same spot as well.

Dad with Lynn & I, & Pop with Lynn & I

The remodeled exterior of my grandparents home.  The current homeowners knew my grandparents, respected them greatly, & were so hospitable to having us there on their land.

A view of the cattle gap looking back toward the house.  The walk from the house to this spot seemed so much further when we were kids! 

A view from the "scary hill"....Pop use to pile the grandkids in the back of his truck & drive us down this hill.  We all called it the scary hill!

The side trail of the property where we use to play

Avery with the girls in front of the pond in their back yard

A view into the pasture of the silos.  Pop once had a greenhouse on the other side of the fence I vividly remember.

Discovering a trail on the property we had never seen before!

Our group at our picnic lunch.  We missed having my brother & the rest of the family there that day.  I am so thankful we had this time together at such a special place.

Homecoming 2013

We were able to go see my beautiful niece, Anna, on the homecoming court of her school.   It was a fun night with family & happy to be there supporting Anna!

Anna with her Dad on the field

Oh, and a helicopter landed on the field to deliver the game football!