Trip to Dover and beyond...

Mom (Great Grandma Marianne) and I arrived in Washington DC in the late afternoon on March 30th. Katharine and the kids met us at the gate. The boys warmed up to their grandmas pretty quickly! We were SO happy to be there. We did see Brian occasionally throughout our visit, but he was extremely busy at Dover AFB as they make changes in their media procedures. We are so proud of all the work he has done to help make things run smoothly. He's sure learned a lot in the short time he's been in the Air Force!

 Katharine took us to downtown Annapolis for dinner. It was surprisingly quaint. We had the most marvelous, huge crab cakes at a place called Buddy's. Then, we drove home to check out her rearranging and get the kids to bed!

  
The next day, we went to the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. What a great place for kiddos! McColley loves riding the carousel, so got to ride at the beginning and the end of our visit. Unfortunately for me, I dropped my iPhone in the parking lot, so now have a lot of cracks running through my touch screen. Oy. McColley and I pretended to drive away on a coveted scooter. Maybe I'll have one for real one day.
 

On April 1st, we went to Longwood Gardens. What a gorgeous assortment of flowers and plants! We had quite a time finding the (scavenger hunt) butterflies and hummingbirds in the Children's Garden, but persisted until we did. We aren't sure we really found the bat, but gave ourselves credit for doing so.

On the 2nd, we drove in Washington DC and walked about...I'm guessing...3o,000,000 miles around town. Those blocks are HUGE! But, it was decent weather, which is a first for our family visits. Obama was in France, so we didn't get to see him. Brady fit right in at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian with his Mohawk hairdo. We tried some really interesting food at their cafe - not your everyday lunch menu! I had a watercress salad and another made with barley and mushrooms. Mom's salad had some interesting little asparagus looking things in it, which we later determined were probably alder buds. 

After the first museum, we walked another 24,000 miles to get to the Museum of Natural History where Mom found Dad's name on the Washington soil monolith. She was really happy to finally see it in person. Then, we went to visit the dinosaurs. Finally, Brady kept Great Grandma busy while McColley, Katharine, and I checked out the mammal exhibit. 

After our big day, we checked into our Arlington, VA hotel and enjoyed dinner with the kids. Finally, the time came for them to leave. We all cried and threw kisses as they drove away into the night. I sure miss my baby boys and my big baby girl! 

It was such a lovely visit. As great as blogs and video chats are, they cannot match the joy of hugging, holding, tickling, cooking with, reading to (again and again), and playing with the real persons. We can't wait to see them again in June!