Summer adventures

Here and there and everywhere! It's been hard to post with little wifi throughout vacation, so get ready for the big load of everything. I'll try to fill in the blanks.

We had such a wonderful summer - with family, friends, beautiful creation, music, landmarks, and so many memories.

 

With the sweet Sawyers!

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Road trip -

Massage line at the grocery stop.

A quick 2 day stop with the Ohians!!

Our zucchini babies.

More good times!

It was so good to catch up with everybody and have some fun...including, as always, a MUSIC VIDEO.

 

Back on the road, and time for some time-passing craziness.

More with the Sawyers -

 

Annnd then Luke figured out how to turn my phone to selfie mode..:)

Ragamuffins. Oh goodness.

With darling Sarah -

Favorite place to be.

Out for ice cream!

Gabey, raiding the fridge.

Then it was back on the road for a LONG DAY OF DRIVING.
And arriving in DC! Time for exploring!

Waiting for the metro!

Peach lemonade on the streets of DC.

In front of the White House.

Frank Sinatra's star. Day made.

The incredible International Spy Museum!
This place was too cool.

Alright, listen up. International Spy Museum. If you're ever in DC, you gotta make the stop. This place was too cool and we could've spent so much more time there. We're talking everything from actual spy facts and history to spy movie items(yeah. the real things from the movies.)

They placed bug mics everywhere. In books, picture frames, telephones. You could walk around and see all the items and old bugging devices, and then listen into the headsets. Indulge my nerd side for a moment...that's pretty cool.

They had computers set up everywhere. At the front of the museum they give you your "cover" that you have to memorize to unlock different computers, and then give you further missions. This is every spy child's dream place.

The James Bond car. Tour guide presses the button and the super features activate. No big deal.

Jenny and Rambo. Dreams come true, peasants.

This. You push a metal screen, which opens up into a screen of the sea, with sharks swimming everywhere. THEN a giant shark comes at you with no warning and crashes into the screen and the metal goes down again. I think we pushed it 6 times. It got me 6 times.

Deactivating a bomb. Just casually.
[This place exists, and you need to go there.]

Hanging from the bar off the building. Just like James Bond.

Mug shots.

They let you crawl thru the air vents and have bad-guy-spy-voice-recordings set up there. It was the coolest thing.
10 points to find my Dad's eye.

Why yes I did stealthily walk like a spy the entire time.

After an amazing day on the streets, meeting lovely people at Subway, and exploring the Spy Museum, we finished off the evening at the Union Station, enjoying the sights and some ice cream..

AND went to a fresh seafood market. Just for extra adventure.

We went to Mount Vernon today!
Following the map..

There were some really fascinating videos about Washington's life in different areas of the museum.

First look at Mount Vernon - the entire place was breathtaking.

A White Ash, circu 1819.

The multiple gardens around the estate are incredibly kept and beautiful.

So, Billy. We met him in the parking lot before entering, and kept running into him and his family for the remainder of the day. He formed a quick attachment to Dad for some reason. :D

Standing in front of the Patomic.

In George Washington's backyard. Amazing.

More of the gardens...

In an extended tour, we got to go into the tunnel where the National Treasure 2 movie filmed their scenes at Mount Vernon. Although we didn't get to go back too far, we got to see entrances and walk through places where they filmed. This is the cornerstone of the original Mount Vernon home(before the extensions), and the inspiration for the movie's adventure. Too cool!!

This is 1) George Washington's ice house and 2) the doorway Nicholas Cage came up through before kidnapping the president in the movie.

It was a wonderful day and so fascinating. So many beautiful pieces of history. We enjoyed exploring the tunnel and the gorgeous Mount Vernon, but as our fabulous tour guide pointed out, the true national treasure is the life of George Washington, and we are blessed in remembering and honoring his life of service to our country.

Stephanie and Kirby had a blast playing pool together!

It was an early Saturday morning to go to a street market - so worth it. Beautiful items, foods, busking, and people.

Next, to the Air and Space Museum. It was incredible! So much to see and do and learn.

 

Planet display. No more Pluto. Just a big nothing.

 

 We enjoyed four fabulous days the beautiful Virginia Beach!

 For super sun days.

 Back on the road - a 10pm Wendy's stop.

 Our first time at the Creation Museum! It is a must see. We learned so much and it was so refreshing to learn in a museum that is Christ-based, after a flood of Evolution teaching at the DC museums.

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We're thankful for safe travels and good health for us to have such a great vacation this year! It was kinda hard to leave vacation behind...especially when school is waiting to be started upon arriving home..:-) But we are excited to get started into the new school year and especially glad to be back home with family and friends. Hopefully we'll be seeing much of you very soon!
All for now -