Washington DC

We took a somewhat spur of the moment trip to Washington DC to go the the open house of the temple before it is rededicated after remodeling. We also got to see some of the most famous sights of the nation's capitol, although we missed out on a lot because we didn't plan properly. 

Of course we had to make a stop at Target since I haven't been there in years. This Target was especially fun because it had an escalator (one of Natalie's favorite things) for people and for shopping carts. The kids had to play on this for awhile before we checked out and headed over to the temple.

We stopped at the visitor's center and then took a tour of the remodeled Washington D.C. temple.

We took the trip with our family friends, the Garcia's, and while we were there we ran into our friends the Chavez's who were on their last day of their trip (and who had given us the idea to take this spur of the moment trip in the first place). So we decided to all take a picture together.

Afterward, we had time to go see the White House as well as go to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, but we didn't plan very well and didn't have much time or quite get to see everything we wanted. 

 

 

Also, everyone was pretty tired and we had a few breakdowns, but dinner at Chick-fil-A helped.

We didn't have tickets to the Washington monument, but were told that if you went really early in the mornin you could wait in line to get them. It was a rainy day, but Asher and I got there nice and early to wait. At first we didn't know where we were supposed to be and just wandered around, but eventually we found where we were supposed to wait and due to the rain, not many people were in line.

Once everyone else got there, we left them to wait in line and I took most of the kids (all of ours and some of our friends') to explore the WWII memorial. There is a pillar for each state, so we took a picture with Colorado.

They were able to get tickets, so we got to go up inside the Washington memorial. Here are some views from the top.

And here is Natalie just outside the Washington monument and meeting some ducks on her way to the Lincoln memorial.

All in all, for how quick and not-well-planned this trip was, everything turned out pretty well and we had a nice time. We are glad we got to visit the US capitol before we head back west.





 

Ottawa Tulip Festival

We took a quick day trip Ottawa, Canada's capital city, last weekend. It was a rather eventful day and everyone was exhausted by the end, but we are glad that we got to go to the tulip festival (I love tulips!!!) and see the Parliament buildings. Its about a 4 1/2 hour drive if you take the scenic route, so we started pretty early in the morning. Unfortunately, Natalie occasionally gets carsick, and she threw up a few hours into the drive just after she had eaten her breakfast. We stopped at a nice little provincial park called Silver Lake so I could clean up Natalie and her carseat while the other kids played near the water. Please ignore Natalie's outfit in in all the pictures- it was all I had in the car as extra clothes for her. The pants were too hot for such a warm humid day, but it was better than nothing.

It was a bit of a walk to get to the tulips and everyone was tired and hungry pretty early on.

As you can see, Natalie was very grumpy before we sat down for a picnic lunch even though she had a few snacks along the way.

Here are all the kids with the tulips. There were tons of people there (thats what we get for going on a Saturday), so taking pictures was a little tricky.

We got Beaver Tails- a classic Canadian treat- which are a flat fried bread with a topping such as Nutella or cinnamon and sugar. This is probably the last time the kids will get these before we move back to the US.

Here is a great picture showing Natalie's feelings about most of this trip ;)

Leif was getting pretty grumpy too by the end- I think the heat and the crowds got to him.

While we were in Ottawa, we decided to stop by the Parliament buildings.

We had quite another little adventure as we were leaving Ottawa and a huge thunderstorm hit the area. Luckily, we had pulled off the freeway for Austin to grab something to eat at McDonald's, but as we were in the drive-through, strong winds and rain pelted the car and large objects such as signs and tree branches were flying through the air. We didn't get hit and eventually were able to move the car around the side of the building for some protection. We waited there until it eased up a bit and started driving, but when we needed to stop for gas and went to a town a couple hours away from our house, we found that all the stores were out of power, including all but one gas station which we eventually realized we had to go to if we wanted gas. We waited in line for about an hour and finally got the car filled up, but in the meantime had a few meltdowns and potty accidents, though for the most part everyone dealt with it pretty well. On our way out of town we saw broken powerlines and trees all over the place and found out later that a tornado had gone through the town. It was quite the experience and although all the kids said that it was their least favorite part of the trip, I bet they'll remember it the best.
 

Heidi is 7!

 

Heidi Rose is 7! I took some pictures of her yesterday at the daffodil fields since it has been our tradition to do birthday photos here since we moved to Canada just before she turned two! I can't believe this will be our last year of birthday photos at the daffodil fields and how much she has grown in these five years. She's becoming quite the young lady!

 

Heidi hinted several times that she hoped her brothers and I would decorate her door- something we did for Natalie on her birthday. She was so excited to break out of it and afterward, the boys wrapped her up like a mummy using the crepe paper.

We had the traditional chocolate waffles for breakfast and the kids all wanted "whipped cream faces".

Heidi was very excited to get a fitbit from her grandparents and considers herself quite the grown up girl now. Trevor and Natalie were eager to help me make Heidi's birthday cake, mostly because they are both fascinated with the mixer.

We had a delicious chocolate raspberry cake with rice krispie treats for Trevor since he can't have the cake.

Heidi sure loves her daddy! And was excited to go to McDonalds with him for lunch even though it was quick because he had to get back to work.

And here is Heidi's birthday interview:
 

Who is your favorite person? Dad

What is your favorite color? Robin's egg blue

 What is your favorite thing to watch? Studio Ghibli movies like Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service, Ponyo, Totoro

What is your favorite outfit? Blue Feather Dress (I made this dress and a matching one for Natalie)

What song do you like the best? A Child's Prayer

What is your favorite cereal? Chocolate Waffles and Crepes- not cereal, but breakfast foods

Who is your best friend? Natalie

What do you want to do when your grow up? A mom

What is your favorite book? Heidi, The Wheel on the School, Shadrach, The Secret Garden, A Little Princess (All books I've read to them recently before bed)

What are you really good at? Helping

Where do you wish you could go on vacation? Alaska again

What would you buy if you had a lot of money? Toys and clothes

What is your favorite dinner? Pot pie and hamburgers and broccoli soup and chicken rolls

If you could have a wish, what would it be? Go camping in the mountains

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Mint Chocolate Chip and Cookie Dough

Who do you want to be like? Myself

What do you like to do with your friends? Play tag or something

What do you hope you'll get to do before your next birthday? Go to Ottawa (we are going there in a couple days- so lucky her!)

What is your favorite thing to do? Play with my friends

What are you proud of? My parents

What are you afraid of? Nothing

What is Mom's favorite thing to do? Read

How strong is Dad? Really strong 

What does Dad do best? Work

What does Mom do best? Teach

What do you like best about Dad? He keeps us safe

What do you like best about Mom? She teaches me