Washington Trip

This weekend we headed up to Washington to visit my cousin Drew, his wife, Kirsten, and their son Alden. We left around 3 so Google had us take a crazy country road path rather than the normal highway path. 

It was kinda crazy, lots of sharp turns. It made it hard for this kid to eat his ice cream (he was so delighted that I got him his very own!), but it was so pretty! Thanks to the ice cream, Aaron didn't nap till the last hour or so of the trip, but he was a good sport anyway. Even Audrey was awake for most of the trip... Silly kiddos!
It really was a fun drive though. Once the kids fell asleep Eric and I sang to the radio - I love it when he sings with me!!!

We got there in time for a spectacular meal and put the kids down! We brought lots of games and had a blast playing with Drew and Kirsten. We may have been a bit hyper and super happy the kids went down  --  but that makes the games more fun, right?

In the morning, the kids played for a bit and then we packed up to head to the Army/Air Force base.

Now, I want you to throw everything you've ever seen in a movie about a military base/post out the window. Good heavens they over dramatize everything! Perhaps it is because we went on a Saturday so the only people we saw in uniform were those who checked our ID's at the gate, but it seemed so civilian! We drove through neighborhoods, saw schools and parks ... the barracks look like dorms. Talk about an eye opener! We saw movie theaters, shopping centers, etc.

The most "military" like place was the museum and we had a blast there! Really, going to the museum with 2-year-olds goes like this:

Hey, look at this Aaron, it's a gun -- hey wait, no, come back! That's an emergency exit, don't touch that! See these ropes, don't go under them! YOU CAN'T CLIMB ON THAT! Oh shoot, where'd he go now?

But it was fun :)

 Aaron wearing a hat, me shooting a gun

Aaron thought this odd statue thing was Toothless. It was his favorite part of the museum. He wanted to touch it's nose and play with it ... It was hard to get him to leave. At least, until we told him there was a helicopter.

 Aaron got to pet a horse and pinch Saddam Hussein's nose!

Look, a motel made out of caution cones...

 We went to the mall for lunch afterwards and both boys were pretty tired so we headed home in hopes of naps rather than go bowling. Sadly, no naps for either boy... We watched Frozen before Eric and Drew headed off to go shooting. While they were gone, we opted to put in another movie for the boys.

Eric and Drew came back, showed us the shots, as requested by me (head shots are Drew, chest shots are Eric ... different guns for each page) and then got to work installing a garbage disposal - so manly ;)

After the kids went down we played more games super hyper once again. We were all so tired! But it's a vacation, it's supposed to be that way! Do you think Audrey has a dance career in her future?

We headed out after breakfast. We were sad to go but ready to have the kids sleep in their own beds.

It was such a fun trip, one we will for sure be making again! It's great to have them so close! (Though, let's be honest... while "3 hours" doesn't sound long, it is when you are in the car with children who refuse to nap ;)