Adventures in Virginia- DC

We drove to DC on Saturday and spent the day there. July is probably not the best month to visit DC in case you were wondering. It was super crowded and extremely hot and humid. It was still fun to see our Nation's capital and learn more about our history. DC is not the best place for a three-year-old in case you were wondering. Unfortunately, Deacon was not as excited to see the sites and museums as Scott and I were. I feel like I missed out on a lot, so hopefully I will be able to go back someday to see everything I missed. This is a picture of us in dowtown DC you can see the capital in the background:

Mom and Deacon at the Natural History Museum:

Deacon in front of a plane at the Air and Space Museum:

Deacon at the American History Museum:

Deacon and Dad in front of a Vietnam helicoper at the American History Musuem:

The two Star Wars geeks with C3PO

Dad and Deacon in front of the White House:

Dad and Deacon with the Washington Memorial in the background:

I came away with a deeper love for my country. We truly are blessed to live in the greatest nation in history!

Adventures in Virginia- Williamsburg/Jamestown

Our first weekend in Virginia we visited Williamsburg and Jamestown. We had a fabulous time learning about our Nation's history. They had lots of fun hands on activities for kids. Deacon enjoyed dressing up:

Paddling a canoe with Dad:

Checking out a Native American shelter:

Scott in front of a kitchen at the Jamestown fort:

Deacon and Mom at the boat dock on the James river:

Aboard one of the ships:

The beautiful James river:

Dad and Deacon aboard one of the ships. They were big, but it was hard to believe how many people they actually fit on them for the voyage to America:

Deacon loved checking out the cannons aboard the ship and kept telling us he was a pirate. We are enjoying our time here and are learning so much!

Road Trip

Last week we packed up and headed to Virginia for the rest of the summer. Scott is attending the Army Logistics University at Fort Lee and will be here until November. Luckily Deacon and I were able to join him and will be here until school starts. I wasn't sure if we would survive the over 2000 mile trek with a 3-year-old, but thanks to technology we did! This was the scene of the back seat for a good part of the trip.

The drivers side often looked like this. We purchased smart phones right before the trip and they helped keep Scott and myself sane.

We stopped in North Platte, Nebraska the first day and took a dip in the hotel pool.

Our second stop was Nauvoo, Illinois. We spent a day there and were able to visit some of the sights like the beautiful temple:

Beautiful sunsets on the Mississippi River:

Carthage Jail:

Nauvoo visitors center:

Nauvoo Pageant:

After two more days of travel we made it to Ft. Lee (Petersburg, VA). We were tired of being cooped up in the car, so we enjoyed a little bowling while we were waiting to settle into our new apartment

This is the view from the deck of the apartment. I have a feeling Deacon and I are going to be spending a lot of time in the pool over the next few weeks.

4th of July 2011

Happy 4th of July! We had a wonderful day celebrating the birth of our Nation. It was great to spend time with family:

My dad took all the kids on wagon rides:

The kids loved playing with sparklers- we had a hard time keeping up with them:

 The kids also enjoyed lighting smaller fireworks on the driveway- especially the big kids (Gatlin and Scott)

My wonderful parents:

We ended the night on the balcony deck watching all the big fireworks set off around the valley:

 Corbin decided Deacon needed a shoulder massage :)

 It was a beautiful day and evening!