Spring Break Update

 It is Wednesday of our spring break week, meaning the fun is almost half over.  Here is Sydney at Lacrosse.  I'm sure she's in  there somewhere.

 Here is Anna at Lacrosse.  Kurt had to take her while I was with Ryan at Mathcounts.

 Here is Ryan at Mathcounts.  It was at the Disney Swan and Dolphin Resort this year.  Probably nicer than the Doubletree of last year.

 Ryan had to miss the daytime performance of the school play, but we got back just in time for the evening show of Mulan Jr.  He had a super time and was all excited about going to Steak and Shake after.

 Then bright and early the next day, I was up to take Anna to the Orlando Science Center.  I forgot to take any pictures during, but we had ice cream and bowling afterwards.  River wasn't in the competition, but he came to be supportive.

 Then, finally, we were able to start the actual spring break activity --  camping!  Day one started with hiking.  Here we are on balanced rock, which isn't quite so balanced as it used to be.

 Each day ended with 'smores of course.  So many 'smores!  Every meal was cooked over the fire.  We all smell like smoke now, but in a good way.

We took a break from the camping to take a boat out on the gulf, no fish were caught, but it was lots of fun.  And so now we are home again to rest up from our vacation.  While the laundry works its way through the cycle and the kids settle back into home again, I think I'll go remember how my sewing machine works.  

DC is Done!

We are home from our whirlwind 7 day tour of Washington DC. We saw A LOT while we were there. Walked A LOT every day. Had so much fun.

 Here is the family in front of the capitol.  We did the tour and got gallery passes to sit in the house of representatives and watch.   The kids were not impressed with the efficiency of our elected officials as they gave speeches to a scattered collection of staffers all texting madly on their phones.

 Sydney requested a trip to Georgetown cupcakes.  We combined that with a dinner, but saved the cupcakes for after.

 My favorite day was a trip out of the city to Front Royal.  The adults did a little wine tasting at Naked Mountain Winery.

 The kids picked blueberries and peaches and rolled down hills.  We don't have hills much around home, so they had a blast.

 Everyone loved the Zoo.  We even glimpsed Bao Bao the baby Panda.

 The kids got to gin cotton at the American History museum.  Combined with the outside monuments and Natural History it was a long day of walking.

We went up to the top of the Washington Monument and watched money being printed at the bureau of engraving.  What else?  Air and Space was Ryan's favorite.  He like the new one better than the old.  The weather at Mt. Vernon was unbelievably beautiful.  Honestly, all the weather was fantastic.  Sydney was disturbed by the naked people in the paintings at the National Museum of Art.  Kurt made fun of modern art in the sculpture garden.  We are all glad to be home again though.  It will be lovely to sleep in my own bed tonight.

Check out the rock from the Natural History museum.  Isn't it a beautiful shade of green?

Home Sweet Home

As much fun as vacation is, nothing feels quite as nice as being home again.

There was plenty of hand work time in the car. After finishing the last two Midgets, I still had an hour left for quilting on Dear Jane

I'm headed over to Kathy's blog to see what other handwork has gotten done before catching up on e- mail. I guess I'd better empty the car too. So good to be home again!

Fishing on Lake Lure

The sun has finally come out! We fed worms to the fish yesterday after zip lining down the mountain. Today we hiked ourselves silly at Chimney Rock State Park. Lots of car time tomorrow. I'll finish all the prepped midgets, but I've also got Dear Jane for lots of quality hand quilting. If there is any wifi along the way I'll post an update for handwork Sunday.