Weekend Trip #1

Alright, I've finally gotten around to putting the pictures together from our little vacation Memorial weekend.

Around lunch time on Friday I put together a plan for a weekend trip consisting of places south of Philly that we'd been wanting to see. After a little of convincing, Johnny agreed to it and we packed our bags and headed out Friday night.

First off, this is the Steelman's, Sam and Stephanie. Sam (who's real name is Ryan) and Johnny have been friends since high school in Montana. They were with us the whole trip and it was GREAT! It was so fun spending time with them, and the two extra set of hands to help with the boys was probably the greatest thing ever. We got to their house late Friday night and stayed with them.

Day 1

Saturday morning, Sam and Steph showed us around their town, Baltimore. We walked along the docks and stopped for lunch at Hard Rock.

Drake was thrilled to be on a bridge hovering over chocolate milk.

After lunch, we headed down to Washington, DC where the United States Botanical Gardens were. This was high on my list of things to see, and I'm so glad we did!

Drake loved the children's garden! In the picture on the bottom left, Johnny put Drake in front of a fish then pushed a button to shoot water at him. Johnny also kept doing that to innocent bystanders walking by, right in the pants.

There was a spot in the ceiling that slowly dripped water. This is Drake waiting for the next drip, that got him right on the forehead.

We then went around and saw these different sites:

Capitol Building

Jefferson Memorial

Washington Memorial

Lincoln Memorial (from across the reflection pool)

All of the walking was exhausting but well worth it!

Day 2

After seeing the sites around DC we drove down to Charlottesville, Virginia and got to our hotel late that night. The next morning, we headed to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home.

His home sat on top of a huge hill with amazing views.

Here is a little glimpse at the gardens. They were perfectly kept, and Johnny picked lots of the vegetables and ate them along the way.

This was a little nook in the gardens where Thomas Jefferson would go to read and think. I loved it and wish I had something like that.

Here are Drake and Bubbs discussing how Jefferson idealized the independent yoeman farmer as an exemplar of republican virtues.

We walked around the grounds and this place was amazing. We also went inside, but I wasn't allowed to take photos.

Gravesite.

In the afternoon, we spent time in Historic Williamsburg, a fun little town with little shops. During the day they have people dressed up like the old days but we got there too late for that.

Our first stop, while there, was a candy shop for Drakie. I guess I should appreciate that out of all this candy, he just wanted a Hershey Kiss. I got him and Bubbs a lollipop which kept him, Bubba, and Johnny sticky the rest of the day.

A few stops on our walk around town (I love this kind of stuff):

Right before the sun went down we saw Jamestown, which was founded in 1607 and is regarded as the first permanent English settlement in the country. You know, where the whole John Smith - Pocahontas thing happened.

Day 3

Memorial Day we headed up from our hotel in Norfolk, VA to Ocean City, MD. The weather was PERFECT!

This was Bubba's first real time at the beach, and he LOVE LOVED it! He told me eating the sand felt like a soothing massage on his aching, teething gums, so I couldn't help but let him eat a few handfuls.

Every time he saw a hole someone dug, his ostrich instincts kicked in and he'd try to hide his head in it....Maybe I let him eat too much sand.

Bubba also decided to give surfing a try and was a natural. Sadly, after losing his binky in the ocean, he called it quits and vowed to never surf again.

More pics of the boys beach day.

Bubba attacking Johnny with sand kisses while he was too buried to do anything about it.

Nice shells.

Stopped in traffic on the drive home, they were all exhausted and snoring.

Cute.

This was such a fun little getaway and we're so glad we did it! I'm so thankful the Steelman's put up with us the whole weekend and we loved spending time with them, seeing these amazing places.

We've been trying to see as many places as possible each weekend before our move.

Last weekend we went south, DC, Virginia, Maryland.

This weekend we're going north, NYC, Cape Cod, Nantucket.

Lots of pics to come!

Lincoln Memorial

Lancaster & Hunseker

We only have about 6 weeks left out here in this beautiful area, so we've been making sure to get pictures of our favorite places. One of those places is a little town called Hunseker, north of Lancaster. It has this beautiful covered bridge, rolling hills, and amish/mennonite farms with their horse and buggies. It'll be hard to leave all this green!

Is a diaper bag like this ever justified?

No?

Didn't think so. But a girl can dream.

Isn't it depressing that I dream about nice diaper bags? Yes

My friend Devon posted some pictures of my boys on her blog of when she watched them while Johnny and I escaped to New York for the night. They are so cute, I thought you might like to see them. Here's the link

Party of Five

Exciting Evening Out

Last night Johnny took me on a date downtown. Before heading to dinner, we stopped by the Philadelphia Museum of Art to take some pictures. There was a lightening storm going on so here are our attempts at capturing it.

We then drove around the capital and took some photos from the car. This and the art museum are my favorite buildings in the city. While Johnny drove, I took photos out the sunroof, very BIG of me. "Eject your seat!"

For dinner we went to a fancy shmancy french restaurant, Le Bec Fin. Were we underdressed? Yes. Was it twice as much as I thought it would be? Yes. But I did get to try truffles for the first time, and each of Johnny's courses came with a weird colorful foam that looked like hair product. I giggled all night after Johnny confused cleansing your "palate" with cleansing your colon. He maintains he said it just to make me laugh, but the look on his face said otherwise. The dirty looks we got from those in suit-and-tie and Sunday dresses made the experience that much more entertaining. Oh, that and the hispanic who said "Bon appetite" with a spanish accent after placing each course in front of us.

After dinner I wanted to head back to the museum to take pictures of the river behind it.

Now, a little preface to the second half of our date. Johnny's car never gets driven, it sits in the parking lot, and we take my car everywhere. With our impending move, we decided to put it up for sale. We got my car detailed and parked it, moving everything over to Johnny's. Two nights ago, Johnny took out his old registration and insurance cards so he could renew registration online. Having said that...

We were stopped at a stoplight when an officer pulled up behind us. Ten seconds after we turned left, his lights went on. When he asked for license, registration, and proof of insurance, Johnny tried to explain the above, and get off with a warning. Yeah right, a warning. I made the most of the situation, taking photos and randomly shouting "police brutality!", "racial discrimination!", which Johnny did not find amusing.

For ten minutes we sat in the car, waiting for the police to check on the paper work, when a tow truck pulled up in front of us. After a few expletives, Johnny said he was just going to get out of the car and run. The police officer was not in his best form, and Johnny said he's good at finding hiding spots (like a five year old).

They must have been able to read Johnny's mind, so they got another police car to come do backup.

Let me remind you that Philadelphia's crime problem is pretty big, with shootings, rapings, and whathaveyou on the news every night. But we needed TWO police cars, because we are dangerous.

From there, we were hauled to the police station. Look at my criminal husband, with the two carseats. He is such a felon, I am ashamed.

Thank heavens we had the car seats so I could sit on them and not the STD, drug ridden benches they provided.

After the first picture I took of Johnny expressing himself through hand gestures, I told him to just fold his arms and act like the delinquent he was. I was entertained by the soothing murals painted to comfort those of us who horribly break the law.

After 2 hours from the time we got pulled over, almost $600 in fines later, with no car, we were rescued by a friend who drove all the way downtown at 12:30am to get us. Thanks Milt! We take advantage of you Linn's waaaay too much.

At least dinner was good : )

This is, of course, all my sisters fault who, when I asked what I should do tonight, said to go on a date...

Mnt. Vernon

Saturday we took a quick trip down to Washington DC to go to a reception for a co-worker of Johnny's. I know, who takes the whole fam damily to a reception? Someone who couldn't find a babysitter, thats who.

We made the most of it and went first to Mount Vernon to see George Washington's home. It was such a beautiful place and the grounds were sooo green. The boys had a great time running around the lawn and chasing goats, and it didn't take Drake too long to get over the woman who got mad at him for crossing the rope in Washington's personal study.

This was a record for us, asking someone to take our family picture TWICE

Great view from the back lawn

Washinton's tomb. There was such an amazing reverence here.

On our way out, we stopped and said hello to the sleeping sheep.

Johnny, Brett, and Russ - nerdy salesman

I know you are probably

a) tired of Valley Forge

b) tired of the 3 Hanna boys and

c) tired of my excessive photos of the both

but deal with it, I don't have energy for anything more exciting

These are all from a little stroll the other night, and were edited during the last night's Jazz game. I'm still not sure who won.

enjoy.

YES, he does use those teeth to bite me

Did I mention Drake could fly?

Not.