2015 Vacation - Washington DC

We spent a lot of time of the Metro.  This picture must have been right after we got on to head into town - most of the time there was standing room only - and not much of that!  

We also spent a lot of time doing this - walking!

Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

Museum of Natural History. Some of us were at the Holocaust Museum - Todd & I took turns going through the Holocaust Museum and taking the youngest kids to the Museum of Natural History and Museum of American History.

I think this was in the White House

This was taken in the Capitol Building.  We took a tour with a young man who worked in our Representative's office and then sat and listened to some of the senetors' speeches for a few hours in the Senate Gallery

Happy 16th Birthday, Abigail!

We love you very much!!

2015 Vacation - Arlington National Cemetery and Monument Tour

The Arlington National Cemetery and Changing of the Guards was a very sobering experience.  As you walk through the cemetery, you see row upon row upon row of grave stones. Even though the changing of the guards is done time after time, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year... it is still a very solomn, quiet, respectful service.

We didn't get many pictures of our tour guide of the cemetery and monuments, but we really enjoyed our evening with Kelly and were happy to have her show us around.

We also didn't get a good picture of our hostess for the nights we were in DC.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time with Sue and really appreciated her putting us up for a few nights.

We were all outside watching the lunar eclipse

Vacation 2015 - Mt Vernon

On our way from the Williamsburg area to Washington DC, we stopped at George Washington's, Mt. Vernon.

This lady portrayed Martha Washington.  She did an excellent job of telling about the life of the Washington's.  We could have listened to her for hours.

An interesting riding chair

Vacation 2015 - Norfolk & Virginia Beach

Thursday morning we headed to Norfolk, Virginia.  We took a boat tour of the naval base there, visited a museum, and were able to walk around on the USS Wisconsin - Those ships are HUGE.

Driving through an underwater tunnel

One of the many navy ships we saw

Everyone loved the boat ride!

 Dolphins!

 We had planned to go to Virginia Beach the next day, so didn't take along appropriate beach attire... We checked out the weather forecast for Friday, and it wasn't supposed to be very pleasant - so we decided to hit the beach, anyway.  The kids started out just getting their ankles wet, but within a few minutes they were soaked from head to toe! By the time we left, they were riding the waves.  Good thing it was really windy to help dry them off. Like several of the places we visited, we could have spent many more hours at the beach.

2015 Vacation - Yorktown and Jamestown