Rachel (Thad's sister) and her husband are in Baltimore for the summer for his job, so Thad and I thought it would be fun to go visit her for the 4th of July. I've never been anywhere near there so was so excited to go and see all of the sites. Thad, loving all things political, wanted to see anything having to do with history and politics. We had soooo much fun. I was afraid it was going to be super humid but amazingly the weather was awesome and the scenery was gorgeous!!! We were so lucky to not have to pay for a hotel or a rental car. Thanks Rachel and Clifton for letting us come stay for an entire week and invade your space :-)
Day 1: The Pentagon
Rachel was able to get us scheduled for a tour of the Pentagon so that was the first thing we did. I had no idea how incredibly huge that place is. They were very strict on not taking any pictures. We were only able to take pictures in the waiting room and we snuck in a few random ones of the outside. It was awesome seeing all of the historical items on display there and to see the memorial site of the 9/11 attack.
Next on our "tour" was the Arlington Cemetery. I again had no idea how large the cemetery was. Thad wanted to just walk around and try and find historical sites on our own. Thankfully, Rachel and I talked him into spending his "tight wads" of cash on a tour bus. There is no way in heck we would have ever been able to walk that whole place :-) It was beautiful and very humbling to see all of those graves, especially the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.
Rachel and Clifton have a little girl (McKell) that is only 3 weeks older than Keely. We got such a laugh out of the size difference in the two. Can you tell which one is our little "chunkers"???
Day 2: Six Flags Baltimore
After our long day in D.C we decided we needed a relaxing day at the park. So we all piled into the hummer (literally piled) and headed over to six flags. Rachel and Nicki were nice enough to watch Keely for us while Thad and I took Jacey on some rides. While we were gone they chilled at Hurricane Harbor and had a blast watching the babies splash around in the water. We then dropped Jacey off to play with them and Thad and I went on a few rides together. When I say a few I mean 3. It took us about 2 hours just to go on 3 rides. Not because the lines were long, they weren't, but because Thad is the pickiest person I've ever met. He refuses to go on any "scary" rides. He gets sick easily so we had to walk around and find the "tamest" rides we could. After riding two of the oldest roller coasters I've seen, we headed over to the Superman ride. For any of you that have been on the Superman ride at Magic Mountain ,this was nothing like that one. It was a very long and very high roller coaster that has tons of drops and dips. It took quite a bit of convincing on my part to get Thad on the ride. I have to say though that it was the funnest ride I went on that entire day. Thad loved it but swore never to go on it again.
After we all got done lounging about at the water park we headed out for some more rides. Nicki (Rachel's nanny) and I decided we really wanted to be adventurous. I can't for the life of me remember what it was called but they had this thing there where you get strapped in and then pulled up in the air several hundred feet and then drop. It's kind of like a free fall but your hooked in and once you drop your just swing back and forth until you slow down. Holy Cow, when we first dropped I about peed my pants. After that though it was soooo much fun.
Day 3: 4th of July
On the 4th we were really lazy. We slept in late, lounged around by the pool all day and then had a bbq by the pool. Keely got her first taste of corn on the cob and couldn't get enough!!! It was sooo nice to just chill out. Once it got dark we headed up to the very top of the building Rachel lives in and watched the fire works show that was right across the street. We had such an awesome view. Thad had gotten some fireworks at the store down the street and we had our own little show afterwards. Jacey got to have a sparkler for the first time and it was so cute watching her play. Thad had bought a lot of sparklers so we handed some out to all of the other kids up there and they absolutely loved it!!!!
My little Fire Crackers!!!!
Day 4: Baltimore
We left the kids home with Nicki and Rachel and Clifton took us to their favorite seafood place. Any of you that know me know that I am not a seafood fan, especially shell fish. So, when they ordered a dozen large crabs I cringed. I played it safe and ordered salmon but was a good sport and at least tried one of the crabs. The hardest part was tearing that thing apart to get to the meat. Thad loved it and it was soo nice sitting outside by the pier and looking at all the yachts in the harbor :-) We had fun driving around after that in Clifton's hummer with the top off. It got a big chilly but we loved it anyway and the view was awesome!!!!
Day 5: D.C
By the time Monday rolled around Rachel was just plain done. We dragged that poor girl all over the place so I don't blame her :-) She was soooo nice to offer to watch Keely for us so that Thad, Jacey and I could head back to D.C to see all of the sites. We literally spent the entire day walking up and down and back and forth and round and round. We parked down past the state capital and walked all the way over to the Smithsonian museums. We saw the Air and Space Museum, the Art Museum, the Museum of National History, and the Museum of American History. Then we ventured over to the Washington Monument and the White House. It was so cool to see everything up close. By the time we were done with the White House we were so tired and hot we could have dropped right then and there. We didn't want to walk all the way back to our car so we got the bright idea to get on the metro. That was an experience in it self. After we got off on what we thought was the right exit. We proceeded to get utterly and completely lost. We walked around for a good hour and a half looking for our car :-( I don't know how many times we stopped and asked for directions before we finally find it. Holy cow we where dead tired after that. Needless to say, we didn't do anymore site seeing the rest of the trip :-)
When we came home from D.C we found Keely all "pimped" out and strutting her stuff. It was sooo cute!!!
We spent out last morning there by having a "girls" day and getting pedicures. It was so nice to just relax. Especially since the plane ride home was not fun with two cranky kids.
Thad says we won't be going anywhere that far again for a long, long, time.
(Little does he know. Ha, ha)
(From left to Right-Jackson & Gina Wright & kids, Amber & Jacey, Kenneth, Delaina & Garret & Charrise & Carson)
