Spring Break 2015

We have had a great spring break 2015!

First Half ...

We spent 3 nights in Williamsburg, VA at the Historic Powhatan Resort.  It was a wonderful resort with lots of things to see and do and Easter festivities planned. We also spent one day at Busch Gardens. Tim and I rode the Griffin Roller Coaster!  It is their biggest one with not only all the fun loops and drops but and inverted section!  It was crazy but fun!  The kids opted not to try that one.  We did earn their respect by doing it!

Clydesdale horses at Busch Gardens

Fun day at the theme park!!

Dinosaur Land

So Strong!!

Simon and his squid hat

She wanted to paint it blue!

Easter Bunny came!

We toured an old Mansion on the resort property that was built in the 1600's

It was pretty neat inside

Of course the pool and hot tub are always a hit!

Second half....

We spent the second half with our friends Wayne and Elisa and their baby boy in Baltimore and drove into Washington DC for two days.

Here's Harrison!!

Hmmm not to sure of this silly guy!

Never too old to play!  It was so cute how much both boys loved Harrison!  They were really bummed to leave him when we left and keep talking about him.

The Crothers/ Long bunch!

At the White House

As we were walking to the White House we all got stopped by all kinds of police and secret service and told to stay back behind the planters and Tada out drives President Obama and family.  He was waving from the second limo! What a treat!

So all of a sudden as we are walking and taking pictures in front of the White House we get told we have to go back across the street and there are a bunch of protestors holding Bush signs in the middle of the road and then a camera crew comes by filming and then Bam there is Shailene Woodley (the girl from Divergent and fault in our stars)!

She was right there!  It was pretty cool and both Paige and Simon are big fans of her and her movies! Another treat! They were filming the new Snowden movie coming out. Which also explained why the protestors had Bush signs and not Obama signs. Who knows we may end up in the background we were next to the protestors as they filmed.

The back of the White House

This is in the White House yard.  Well, the flowers are anyways!

Next up, the Washington Monument

Simon squishing the Washington Monument!  I am pleased with how well I lined that up! LOL

Goofy brothers at the Washington Monument

It's so tall

Yeah, I am not sure what these two silly boys are doing.  They thought it was so cool and smooth they had to put their faces against it.

The reflection pool was empty, it has a crack being repaired.

Standing in the same spot as the last photo turn around and Tada the Lincoln Monument!

The Big Man himself!  Lincoln not Tim LOL!

Our two Coasties!  Been friends for 19 years now!

World War II Memorial, this doesn't do it justice, it is a huge magnificent place.

Korean War Memorial

Korean War Memorial, This is one of my favorites.  When walking through it really gives you a sense of what the guys went through and all the gear they had to carry. Makes you stop and appreciate our freedoms and the sacrifices made for it.

Vietnam Memorial.  This one when walking by all the names just hits your heart seeing all the names.  The sacrifices our soldiers and sailors and their families make, well I can't think of any word big enough to describe it.

The new MLK Memorial

After the MLK Memorial you can walk along the water and the cherry blossoms were in bloom.  It was gorgeous and behind the boys across the water is the Jefferson Memorial.

Cherry Blossoms

National Archives!  The Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. We actually started the day with this but the power went out just as we finished looking at all of them and they ushered people outside.  Lucky for us we had seen them all when it happened and the rest of our planned day was outside.

I think this might be part of the Reagan building, if not it's close to it!

We did lots and lots of walking!!

So we decided Wayne and Elisa are the best tour guides ever! All on the first day a power outage just as we finish looking at the national archives, see the President leaving the White House and see a movie being filmed with Shailene Woodley!  Geesh they know how to do it up! 

Next Day, the Smithsonian Museum of American History

President Lincoln's Carriage, the one he rode in the night he was killed.

A subway simulation, it was so cool things were moving past the windows and it was moving like you were on a real subway.

President Crothers or should I say President Nixon LOL

Next, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

This is the center of the museum, you know you are there if you see the elephant!

Nixon couldn't wait to see the Dinosaur bones!

He is all about rocks and gems so he enjoyed that section!

The Hope Diamond

Iwo Jima Memorial

It's always impressive how massive it is

While at the Iwo Jima you can turn around and get a shot of the Capitol Building, Washington and Lincoln Monuments.  Then we saw to the side of the Iwo Jima The Arlington National Cemetery. As we drove home from there we past the pentagon.

After a wonderful time at the Long House we were off to go back to NC, but first on the way home...

We stopped in Fredricksburg and had  lunch with my friend Lisa and her boys. They are friends from GTMO who moved up to VA about 6 months before we moved to NC.

Well there you have it, Our Spring Break!  Woo hoo I am actually up to date on this!! It's even still the last day of Spring Break. Sorry for all the photos but this is also what I keep as a digital Photo album for my kids when they are grown to be able to look back at!