Summer Vacation Day Twenty-Six: The One With The Visit To Mount Vernon

 

 

Today, we visited Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington.

 

Overall, it was a wonderful visit. Although extremely HOT, we had fun walking the grounds and taking in a variety of the stops. We visited concessions first, so we could get water. After that, we started to tour many of the different outbuildings found throughout the property, taking videos to use in the classroom.

 

We were able to walk Washington's backyard to tour the grounds and were able to get a tour of the mansion, even though we arrived late.

 

We went to visit the museum. Although it was closed, the Education Center was amazing. It actually took you on a walking tour of his life, which several videos, a lot of interactive stations, and a fabulous 4D experience about his role as leader of the Continental Army. I wish I could show that at school.

 

We did have one interaction where a teen or young adult - who seemed to have something going on - got mad at me because I cut her off and, unbeknownst to me - swore at me. But, Emmie took care of staring her down.

 

We went to the food court for lunch and the gift shop - of course. There, we found that Kiff had met the requirements (or at least most by that time) for a Mount Vernon Historic Trail  badge and could also earn a reading pin as well....which we will order in the future. 

 

All and all, an amazing trip.

Summer Vacation Day Twenty Five: The One with the Spy Museum

 

Today - Wednesday July 14, we went to the Spy Museum in Washington DC.

 

There were plenty of highlights there. First, getting there was a trip because the Google Directions for DC actually stink really bad.

1. James's Bond's Asten Martin was there. Delightful car.

2. The museum overall is fabulous. They have many interactive exhibits where you take on the persona of an agent and answer questions. LOVED THAT! 

3. We learned a lot about spying throughout the ages in the US, as well as spying in WW II, spy failures, and even ways spies are coerced to giving information.

We ate at a food court after the Spy Museum. It was pretty good. We got some nice food at the Panda Express.

 

We came home and ordered a coffee at the Le Cafe which was nice.

 

We then went to Old Ebbitts Grill for supper. It was great. Bri had a salad, Emmie had the brick chicken, Kiff had lamb, and I ate a cheeseburger. We had awesome desserts there, too.

We went for a night walk by the White House. Kiff heard that Olivia Rodrigo was there today, so we asked a security guard if she was there. He confirmed it and thought she was still in the city.So, Kiff kept looking for her.

We came back and played 45s.

Summer Vacation Day Twenty Four: The One With The Smithsonian Museum of American History

 

 

We visited the Smithsonian Museum of American History during the day. While we were there, we:

 

1. Saw the Girlhood, It's Complicated exhibit.

2. The American Wars exhibit, which was excellent.

3. Emmie bought a TON of stuff at the gift shop.

4. We saw the ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz.

5. We visited the transportation section, which rocked.

6. Kiff collected all the free mini index cards about different exhibits.

7. Bri almost got demolished by the gate at the cafe. 

8. The kids were AMAZED by the Star Spangled Banner exhibit and the sheer size of the flag.

Later, we did the moonlight tour of DC on the Old Trolley Tours. It was just as amazing as it was back in 2006, when Emmie and I did a version of it. We went to the FDR memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, which blew the kids minds, and the Iwo Jima memorial, which is amazing!

Summer Vacation Day Twenty Three: The One With The DC Road Trip

 

 

Well, today was the day we left for Washington DC. It was a carefully planned route through CT - NY - NJ - DE - MD.

 Overall, it was a pretty good trip. A couple memorable moments include:

 

1. Confusion at a Nathan's hotdog stop in NJ. No one knew where to order food and they were not helpful at first.

 

2. We had a gas station hiccup where the pump did not want to work at first.

 

3. We had a great ride over the huge Delaware bridge.

 

4. We got sidetracked on the way to the Marriott.

 

 

Summer Vacation Day Twenty Two: The One With The Run Around for Our Trip

 

This Saturday, we did a lot of running around in preparation for our DC trip.

 

It was exhausting. Our list included a jillion things to do!

Summer Vacation Day Twenty-One: The One With Tropical Storm Elsa

 

 

This was a wild Friday. We had to try to fit a lot going on as Tropical Storm Elsa passed nearby.

 

First, we had to get Emmie's car inspected and double-checked, which is always fun in the rain.

 

We also had to do twenty things around the house.

 

In order to prepare for our trip to DC, we watched NATIONAL TREASURE, which is a great summer movie as well and might be added to our collection. It was a lot of fun to watch!

 

 

Summer Vacation Day Twenty: The One With the Rainout and Emmie's Migraine

 

 

This day was a huge rainout tropical storm Elsa approached.

 

Emmie also was dealing with her migraines still.

 

All and all a really crummy day!

Summer Vacation: Day Nineteen The One with Dance

 

 

This has been the summer of tapdance for me. Emmie and I signed up two do tapdance, but for her, it has been a disaster. We did have to miss the first two lessons. She had a problem with the 3rd lesson - we did not want the kids to have to be dealing with a passing thunderstorm that day - and she had the migraine for the 4th lesson. So, I went solo again.

 

But I have to admit it is fun. I am learning a lot and getting some good exercise. It was great to see a friendly face at that class, too. And the teacher, Ms. Michelle, is great.

 

I think we plan to do it again in fall, too.

Summer Vacation Day Eighteen: The One With Mom's Start to a Headache and Forty FIves

 

 

All of the dust from cleaning the porch seemed to have a negative affect on Emmie. We did play 45s and watch Jaws 3 (something I was actually interested in watching, which is a SHOCKER).

 Emmie and I partnered up, but we lost to straight games to Bri and Kiff. Yikes!

I think the loss sparked a migraine for Emmie that lasted two more days.

Summer Vacation Day Seventeen: The One With Fireworks in Gloucester

 

 

 

The highlight of this Monday was going to Gloucester to see their fireworks. They had been reschedule from the 3rd of July because of rain. So they were postponed until today - July 5th. It was sort of like a second Fourth of July.

 

We actually went to Stage Harbor park. We had a great view (although a car horn kept going off). We also saw drones try to fly through the fireworks - always a bad idea! But it was a great show!

 

By the way, earlier in the day, we redid the porch. It looks great!

Summer Vacation: Day Sixteen The One With The Rainy Fourth

 

 

 

Happy Fourth of July 

 

Today was the fourth of July, but really not much happened. It was sort of a rain out. It was the first fourth without Mom 2 and Dad 2 was in rehab. We did our own mini grill inside, but it was rather quiet.

Summer Vacation Day Fifteen: The One With Jaws

 

 

We continued our summer series by watching Jaws on TV. We had a lot of fun with that!!!

Summer Vacation Day Fourteen: The One With Cards

 We played cards today. It was very rainy.

Summer Vacation Day Twelve: The One With The Pool

 

 

Yesterday (Wednesday) we ended the month of June with a pool day. We spent a lot of time in the pool, and it was nice. The water was as warm as we have ever had it.

 

We enjoy some pool games and we even tried out some of our Pina Colada and Lemon Drop popsicles. Those were interesting.

Summer Vacation Day Eleven: The One With The Mighty Orphans

 

We decided that we should make sure to have time for movies this summer now that we can return to the theater. We did notice that people are not returning in droves, which adds to the safety I know I feel.

We did a quick pop in to Five Below, like we often do. Then, we headed over to see The Twelve Mighty Orphans. The movie told the story of a football team in Texas comprised of orphans in 1938. The team was coached by an orphan. A great cast and a phenomenal story made for an outstanding movie...and one I will always remember.

After the movie, we noticed how barren the Liberty Tree Mall was at 8:30. It was wild!

Summer Vacation Day Ten: The One With a Return to School Meeting

 

 

The beginning of summer often comes complete with some end of the year school meetings. And, this Monday was no exception. I had to pop in to have a social studies wrap up meeting. It was fantastic.

After that, I did have to get my teeth cleaned. A new hygienist brought new techniques...and my cleanest gums ever! Wow! I mean WOW!

I did drive home without AC...always fun, but it worked.

Summer Vacation Day Nine: The One With Bri's Party

 

 

Because it has been a wild year, it has been almost impossible to have parties the way we want. However, this Sunday we tried to do a party in a fun sorta way. We had a mini get together to honor Bri's birthday (which was 6 weeks ago) and Bri's moving on.

 

We had everyone in our backyard for  a couple of hours. It was weird because we realized it was going to be hot and we could not have everyone. It was also the first big get together without Mom Number Two....which was so strange.

 
We opened up the pool and made the grounds like nice...which was actually great to see. And we had lawn chess out, as well as Corn Hole. 

 

It was a great mini-event and one that reminded us of what it would be like to have more of them soon.

Summer Vacation Day Eight: The One With The Eighth Grade End to Softball

 

 

On Saturday, we bid a final farewell to DGS with the annual wrap up "gala." Normally, this would have been done at the Yacht Club with a formal party. However, that was not possible this year. So we were all able to enjoy a Softball Party at Tiggies, which was fun.

 

We got a chance to send Bri on a Farewell. She got flowers as a retiring 8th grader and a photo with the entire group, which was AWESOME! And we got some nice pictures.

 

Thank you DGS for a wonderful career.

Summer Vacation Day Seven: The With a Visit to Nani's and Lunch at Sea Dog

 

We wrapped up out stay with a visit to Nani's house, which is always fun. She enjoyed sharing beauty secrets with Bri and talked about the fourth of July.

We also found the Ping Pong table! Hallelujah!

We did go to the Sea Dog Pub. Although I liked it - loved the Tater Tots - it was not a hit with everyone!