Lincoln memorial

Arrival in D.C.

When we arrived in D.C. Erik drove us around in circles looking for parking. It was pretty ridiculous at the amount of traffic and expense of parking. But eventually we found a place to park and made our way to the Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, and Lincoln Memorial.

We also had the pleasure of walking by the Reflection Pool in which we saw this funny squirrel trying to avoid being photographed by a lady...so of course I snapped a quick shot of him hiding on the tree.

Now we are off to the mall and going to get some dinner. What an exhausting day.

Ocean City Beach

This morning we got up early to catch the sunrise...and barely missed it. The view was gorgeous though and the crab in the picture was definitely sad he missed the view. We gathered rocks and shells for jewelry and a picture frame. It was such a beautiful morning, we even saw dolphins swimming! Now we are off to D.C. for sightseeing.

Beach Day

Today we came to Ocean City. It was a four hour trip from Hagerstown. In the four hours I managed to lose my wedding ring down a crack in Amanda's car
Erik and Daniel had to fish it out. Lucky thing Erik has slender wrists.

The overcast day turned into a pretty wonderful beach day. We all jumped in waves and Amanda and I were pummeled by the waves. It was fun except for salt water in the eyes and nose. Yuck!!

Amanda and I picked through the sand and found shell treasures for a picture frame. It was a lot of fun wading through the sand and water searching for shells.

We found an Italian restaurant, Antipasto Restaurante, within walking distance. It was not worth it. We ended up splitting a steak. But it was outrageously priced and not that great. Anyhow, we walked down the beach and boardwalk forever. We ate some delicious ice cream and had the best fries. I'd never had fries with vinegar, but that's the way they do it here and it wasnt horrible.

We saw some neat sand art. And eventually we made it back to the Casablanca Inn. I've never had sand in so many places....

My bee crank flashlight

This is so cute I just had to share! It's the flashlight Daniel got me at Retro Metro. It doesn't need betteries, all you do I'd crank and it gets so bright! Love it!

Krumpe's Donut

Today we had our first two Krumpe's donut. We stood in a long line on DoNut Alley. The smell of grease and dough overcame you as you walked through the door. We ordered an assortment of flavors. I enjoyed the glazed cake donut best. Daniel likes the chocolate cake donut the best so far. Overall the cake donut lived up to the rave...the original glaze was not as good as the Krispy Kreme donut originals that melt in your mouth.

A Day in Baltimore

I woke up to Kitty knocking on the door. Sadly I responded thinking it was Erik or Amanda.

When we finally woke and prepared for our day, Daniel noticed a huge ground hog hanging out on the shed window. He was so cute, I even snapped a picture of him hanging in the window sill.

The drive to Baltimore was long. The navigation led us through a scary neighborhood. I snapped a picture of this door cemeted off. Crazy!!

We finally reached Inner Harbor and began our search for lunch food. We originally started looking for a nice seafood restaurant...but after looking at several menus we realized $35 a meal was too much for lunch. Daniel settled on Johnny Rockets and the rest of us ate Phillips express seafood. It wasn't bad, but I kind of have a tummy ache now..

The Baltimore Aquarium was cool. We saw lots of amazing animals. My favorites were the dolphins and jelly fish. I have some great photos to share once we get home, unpack our computer, and upload them. Hooray for today. I am so tired...I Ned to get into bed as soon as we get to their house. ZzzzZzzzzz

Arriving in D.C.

My mom dropped us off at the SLC Airport July 29th. She witnessed a very scary car accident only moments in front of her. Luckily she was not harmed in any way, just very shaken up. We flew out of SLC without any delays. Daniel is my lucky charm because usually we get stuck somewhere, but thus time everything went smoothly. At the Houston Airport we thought we were getting lucky and that we were going to get to D.C. early, but it wad not the case, the flight was a different one, nearly identical to ours. But we did eventually make it to D.C. And after we gathered our bags, we headed to Hagerstown, Maryland. It took us 2 hours because Erik navigated wrong because of the barely visible signs....hahaha....we managed to pass a toll Booth three times. It was pretty funny to me because at this point it was about 1a.m. and I was exhausted. But we did make it to their house and Amanda had yummy cupcakes waiting for us, a birthday banner, and flowers the Kitty had knocked over. It was good, and eventually we headed to bed.

We slept in the next morning. We went to Erik's school and I saw my very first groundhog. It was so cute and fat! I wished I could have seen it closer! It was neat looking. I guess a family of them use to live under Erik's class in the portables, but now he has a cute room in the building.

We ate at the Bull and Bear downtown. It was much too cold, but pretty tasty.

Amanda and I finally convinced the boys to play Settler's of Catan with us after some yummy smores. The best part of smores was when Erik brought out the lightening racket to kill bugs. It zaps bugs when You hit them with it. Erik intentionally touched it and was zapped. Daniel accidentally grabbed onto it and was shocked. It was pretty insane.

The caravan extension they have for Settler's was tons of fun. I was close to winning tonight, which was a total miracle because You go in order of birth year so it always goes Erik, Daniel, me, and Amanda. Usually Amanda and I do bad...but that night I was one point away from winning.....so close! Oh well, I am learning to be a better sport.

Crystal Grottoes

Today was such a beautiful day. We woke up to perfect weather, packed a picnic, and headed to Crystal Grottoes, a cave with more formations than any other cave in Maryland. The cave was cold and beautiful. My favorite formation was the one shaped like shark's teeth.

We went to Fredricks for a picnic and sat by these beautiful bridges. It really was such a nice day....We did get a little sweaty walking around, but overall not as bad as I thought it would be. We went to this store called Retro Metro. It was full of all sorts of great stuff. Daniel and I got these cute penguin hot pads we've been needing to replace our burned up rabbit oven mitts. Daniel got me this super cute wind-up bee flashlight. It is absolutely adorable!

After visiting this cute little down town area we headed to the bead store. I bought beads to make a necklace for our night at Mary Poppins which is at The Kennedy Center. I am excited!

We came back to Erik and Amanda's house: swam in the pool, prepared dinner, and ate. In the pool Daniel tried to bombarde me with a cold water filled splash ball. Most of the time he was kind enough to squeeze the water out...but a few times I was splashed with cold water. I felt pretty bad because I made Daniel fall off his little inflatable matress a bit and more into the water. Sadly, someone left these soft eating mango licorices Amanda gave me on the ground....ants helped themselves to a delicious treat while we sunned. It was a sad moment for us all.

The BBQ chicken was made with this great Frank's sweet and chili sauce, soy sauce, and garlic. It was so yummy!

We found ourselves at the best buy after dinner. Daniel and I convinced Erik and Amanda that they needed a blue ray player. While the boys played Amanda inteoduced me to the world of 5 or less...I think that's what it was called. But it wad tons of gray stuff for $5 or less. We got headbands to make cute flower bands, and Also got flowers. They are going to be awesome!

We had ice cream at a place called Friendly's. They were not very friendly, but the ice cream was spectacular. I got a nut of caramel and Daniel got tons of peanut butter stuff with peanut sauce. I was stuffed.

Amanda and I made our jewelry while the boys put together the blue ray player. I made a three strand necklace, ring, and bracelet. It wad tons of fun sitting and talking with Amanda. I have truly missed her.

We bought our tickets for Baltimore Aquarium-
$25 each!!! Can you believe it?!?! As long as we get to sit in the splash zone at the dolphin show it will be worth it! Gotta get some sleep because I'm waking up in less than 6 hours.....

Fourth of July

I feel really blessed to be an American. Since Daniel has been home I count my blessings he made it home safe, however my heart goes out to all the families that still have a deployed love one, or who has lost a loved one while they were protecting our freedoms. I am so proud to be an American, I love our country and am so thankful for all that we have and are able to do, due to the sacrifices of many. I hope we will always stand tall and make our country proud. May lives and time from family not be in vain...do your best in all you participate in. God bless America!!