Day 41

I do believe once we made it into Missouri, we also made it past the invisible line of humidity. We were all pretty warm all night and I have moved all the cold weather clothes back up into the roof cargo carrier and exchanged them for tank tops and short pjs.

I woke up this morning and immediately got on my phone to check out the riot situation. There were a couple dozen arrests and there wasn't any news of anything happening this morning, so I chatted with the other adults and we decided to go into the city.  Ever since our first trip in 2012 I wanted to go to this museum but I knew there was no way I would be able to do it by myself with 3 kids. Now each kid had an adult and I was just hoping we could keep up!

We arrived at City Museum a few minutes after they opened and were in awe of everything we saw. We decided to go outside first in the cooler part of the day to climb and explore.  Our first stop was a giant ball pit!

Ryan was my partner for the first few hours and she must of lost me about 43 times.

I found Laney climbing toward me and Grammie and Brayden climbing above me!

We found a bunch of slides and things to climb through. After all the adults started complaining of painful tunnels Dave found easier ways around just about all the fun stuff.  We were all sweating within about 45 minutes so we headed inside to explore.

The girls were the most adventurous taking Grammie on underground tunnels and exploring above us in the ceiling.  Brayden found Laney, Ryan, and Grammie in the tunnel underneath him!

We decided to head to the roof next for more slides, the ferris wheel, and the bus hanging off the side of the roof!

All three kids even opened the door of the bus to look out! Although I'm not sure Brayden actually looked out.

 

This was by far my favorite slide!

Next we went to what looked like an indoor skate park where the kids tried a 9-foot version of a warp wall. All of them made it up after quite a bit of frustration and practice!

By this point the kids all needed a break so Dave found a fascinating little room where people were cutting extremely intricate snowflakes. Every year the kids decorate our house with at least 100 snowflakes so this was right up their alley. 

By the time they were finished we were all starving. Fortunately on the way into the museum we noticed a pizza and beer place just across the street so we headed there to refuel and catch some college football. Dave and I added a few beers in hopes it would numb our already throbbing knees! The vegetarian pizza there was outstanding and one more thing to add to our list to make once we got back home. 

We had about 45 minutes until the next project from the snowflake lady - this time native american dolls with real bows, arrows, and birchbark quivers - so we all switched partners and explored a bit more. Brayden and I headed back outside for my other favorite slide and what became his favorite slide once he actually tried it. My slide was the long one, his was the deceptively short but crazy fast one!

We spent about an hour crafting then we switched partners once again for the last 45 minutes. I had planned 3-4 hours here and already we'd been there 6!  My partner this time was Laney and we headed back up to the roof! We found a new slide that was super fast and rode the ferris wheel again. I may have also made her go down favorite slide one more time!  Here are her feet on the ferris wheel and a fun selfie to see the city behing us!

We met everyone in the gift shop for post cards and t-shirts. The kids were exhausted so you know the adults were about to pass out! I was incredibly impressed with Grammie's perseverance to hang with each of her partners all day! I do believe the kids would have stayed until closing, but there was no way these adults would make it to midnight!

We made it known we would be attending the nocturnal animals program at the campground that evening. Once we made it back to the campground, we had a quick dinner and joined everyone for the program. The naturalist speaking appeared very young so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was seriously impressed with her animal knowledge. All the kids at the program enjoyed it and we all learned at least a few things!

We watched a little bit more football they retired for the night. I wouldn't recommend sleeping on the ground after a day at City Museum. It was going to be a long night of flipping and flopping with all our emerging bruises! Ouch.

Day 35

Dave and I were up early to begin packing and getting the kids moving. Once everyone was sufficiently clean we enjoyed a nice breakfast Joann had left out for us again and finished up laundry. Joann and her home had been so welcoming and comfortable, we were sad to leave! The kids mentioned several times to me they would rather stay with her than a hotel!

We said goodbye to Uncle Mike and Aunt Sue and were surprised also be able to say goodbye to Natalie and Samantha. It was a beautiful, cool morning and they were all out getting some yardwork done. Aunt Sue directed us to a 7 Eleven for the kids to get Slurpies and we stopped by Target to stock up for the first few days of our stay in D.C. After a couple hours on the road we were there!

This time we were staying in Maryland just a few minutes from the train that would take us to the city. We were in a horrible spot with barely any room for our tents but I didn't want to deal with the hassle of picking out a new spot, figuring out if it was open for our six days, and wasting our precious potential time with Dave in the city. Once we got the tents set up for the night, we hopped on the train to explore. The night before I'd booked us a night walking tour of the monuments we were all looking forward to.

We made it to the National Mall just as they were closing many of the food options so I turned to Zamato for the 19th time this trip to find us a quick and delicious place for food. We found the Elephant and Castle Pub and were all starving after just snacking all day! We all ate as quickly as we could as we only had about 40 minutes before the start of the tour, but it was delicious!

Tonight's tour was a little bit different than the tours we'd done before. I believe the tour was called D.C. by Foot, but it was free and we were encouraged to pay what you thought the tour was worth and the end or what you felt you could give. If everyone were honest and generous, wouldn't that be a great way to do business? I do believe it might make some people in the service industry work a little harder!!

   

We were greeted by Ingaborg at the Washington monument, a native of Washington D.C., ready to learn and explore. We were treated to an extensive history lesson as well as a city background at each stop along the way.

Here we all are!!


We visited the Washington monument, World War II memorial, Vietnam memorial, and Lincoln Monument. This tour was definitely one of my favorite things of the trip.


   

   






This was definitely one of my favorite pictures from the tour. This statue of Abraham Lincoln is so big! The kids were almost as impressed as I was too!

This tour was such a nice look at all the monuments at night. The reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Monument reflected the Washington Monument beautifully. It was definitely a moment I will never forget.








We stumbled on a monument Dave and I had accidentally found in our travels here before the kids loved. Albert Einstein was just sitting on the steps free to climb all over. We might just have to come back here one day.

   

We made it back home shortly before midnight exhausted and ready to collapse. The kids were all packed in like sardines in their tent and had a difficult time settling down from the day. Dave and I however, were asleep within minutes.