The Best Day

My favorite day was Saturday.  I'm not sure why it was my favorite.  Maybe it was the fact that we didn't park in Greg's secret cool spot, or that we got to wear super cool ponchos, or that we didn't have to deal with the MILLIONS of 8th graders, but it was my favorite day.  We walked all the memorials/monuments and ended up at the White House.  

I thought this was sweet so I took a picture for Grandma Norby.

Washington Monument.  There was an earth quake a couple years ago and they are just now fixing it, hence the scaffolding.  Also the trail we are standing on was in the most recent season finale of The Amazing Race. (love me some reality game shows)

Jefferson Monument

Some school aged children playing music in front of the Jefferson Monument.

My favorite monument/memorial...FDR.  It was like an outdoor museum mixed with a park with great photo opportunities.  

My dad with a bunch of tweens.

lunch by the DC war memorial.

Ok I guess those ponchos weren't so cute, but at least they were functional.

Korean War memorial

Coolest thing about this memorial was that there were a bunch of Korean War Veterans there touring the memorial.  Got me a little teary.  (You can see a few of their reflections in the stone.)

Lincoln Monument.  Only group shot we got.

Standing at the Lincoln Monument looking at the Washington Monument and Capitol building.

Vietnam Memorial

Autumn napping hailing from her place of birth.

Wear Evan was born... 

Where I was born.

didn't know my feet were going to be in this picture..

White House!

Michelle Obama's mini van.

TWINNERS

On the first day of our trip I mentioned to my mom that I liked that girl's shirt.  So of course she went and bought me and my sister MATCHING ones.  I jokingly mentioned to my sister we should wear them together the next day.  When I woke up the next morning she was ready to go in her matching shirt.  I insisted I had been joking.  She insisted that she already got dressed and I must put on my shirt too.  So we were not only dorky tourists, but we were dorky tourists wearing matching outfits.  Heather got lots of compliments from 8th graders on what a cool shirt she had.  (Hey Heather, we should both wear them at the reunions this summer!)

The little girls were also twinners.  My mom bought them matching outfits.

After naps we drove into the city. Parked in a super secret cheap parking spot Greg found.  If you want to walk for over an hour to get to the Capitol it is perfect.  We checked out the Supreme Court first.  It is  under construction, but they put up this big drape thing over it to make it look like the actual building.  It reminded me of Despicable Me.

Then we walked by the capitol on our way to the American History Smithsonian.

Hanging out while everyone else took a tour of the Supreme Court.

Hanging out at the American History Smithsonian.  I was too tired to really look at anything.  We just found a place to sit and the kids climbed all over everything.  Autumn also rode the escalators with Evan for 15 minutes.

Even bigger tourists.  And now this was not a planned shot.  I was sick of the boys using their phones for directions, since they were only giving driving directions.  

Sea food place.  Greg picked it.  I ordered steak.

Autumn just chillin' taking a break from dragging the chairs around all over the patio during dinner.

Best shot I have of all three of the kids...and Evan

She hasn't mastered the "duck face" yet, but she is pretty good at "selfie" shots!

Family Vacation

Evan had a week off so we headed to Washington D.C.  I told my sister to come.  So she did.  Then I convinced my parents to come too.  The first day Evan took Autumn to the Air and Space Smithsonian with the other men and children.  My sister Heather, my mom and I went to the Holocaust Museum.  The Holocaust Museum is on my "want I want to do before I die list".  Side bar:  When I was in college I had a professor suggest that we write down 100 things we want to do before we die.  So that when we have a midlife crisis we can look back on our list and realize we have done lots with our lives.  I thought this was a cool idea.  I could only think of about 25 things, but I keep adding to it here and there.  Anyhow then the movie "Bucket List" came out and all of a sudden it was super trendy to have a bucket list.  Well since I'm ahead of the curve I'm sticking with my original list title...even if it is long and cumbersome.  Back to DC Heather and I took the kids home to "nap" even though it took us 2 hours to get home from the exchange point to get home and Alice slept in her stroller.  I stand by the fact we should have taken the metro in that day.  Then the "men" went to the Natural History Smithsonian and the National Art Smithsonian.

The beginning of Autumn's stair obsession...You don't realize all the places that have stairs until your kid insists on climbing all over every stair she spots.

Climbing on Heather's stroller

Sitting in a strangers stroller

Autumn makes strangers very uneasy...Love the ladies face in the back!

Mom and uncle Mark

Natural history

BBQ that night

Ok I guess we do kinda look alike..Holocaust Museum

All good things must come to an end

Since Evan accepted a job offer as a second year family medicine resident in Cheyenne we'll be moving...again.  The move this summer will be move number 5 for the Norby family, and that doesn't include the move we made to move into our first place together.  Anyway we are making preparations to move across the country again.  Last time we hauled my little car across the country this time it is going on to a better place.  My little car has been just chillin' in the parking lot for months, because both of us were too afraid to drive it for fear it would be its last drive.  I bought this car while I was in college and spent all my money to do so.  It was harder than I thought it would be to part with it.  To me this car symbolized freedom, independence  and hard work.  Ok that's going a bit far, but I am going to miss seeing it in the parking lot!  And now a photo shoot for you enjoyment.

 Autumn decided to join in the fun.  And as you can see by our attire it got cold again after a couple teaser weeks of Spring.

In case you were wondering we sold the car and it didn't even cover the cost of our hotel for our anniversary.  Is that because we stayed in a SUPER nice place or because the car wasn't worth anything...hmmm more on that later.

Mother's day 2013.