July 7, 2011

Uh oh!

Highlights from today: (Click here for pictures)

• Robby took Anderson, Graham and Campbell to Grannymom’s house to play and then he took Reagan to meet Kennedy and play at her house for the day early this morning
• At Grannymom’s house, the crew rode bikes, got hot and went in the back to swing.  Campbell wanted to swing first but she had her turn second.  Grannymom also let them drink water out of big, big cups-this report comes from Graham so I am not sure about its validity but it sounds accurate. 
• At Kennedy’s house, Reagan and Kennedy played all day long in Kennedy’s room.  They played dollhouse and even pretended they were going on a trip.  They ate a cheese stick in her room and had lunch and jello but weren’t allowed to eat those in her room-this report was from Reagan
• Robby picked the little 3 up from Grandpa and they came home to play before lunch.  When I made it home, they were all 3 sitting quietly, playing in the den.  So I hid as long as I could before I was spotted.  They soon picked up most of the toys because they wanted to play legos and played legos until lunch
• It was a bit after 12 when I started getting around to lunch but Campbell must have already been hungry.  While I was working on lunch, she got the pop tarts out of the pantry, put them on the table, climbed on top of the table and started eating one.  I think I may have to get a pantry lock-but I still let her have her pop tart for lunch-after all, she worked so hard for it.
• Soon it was nap time and everyone slept.  Usually Reagan doesn’t sleep so she gets up earlier than everyone else.  But without her here today, I had already finished my list and didn’t have anything to do until the kids woke up.  I am sure Baby V will change all of that.
• We loaded up right after naptime to pick Reagan up and then headed to Staples.  The kids were great following me around up and down the aisles-until Campbell started screaming.  It wasn’t pretty but we made it out of there without too many stares.
• Next up was meeting Robby at Sams for supper and to buy a few gallons of milk.  The kids enjoyed watching themselves on the video camera while Robby was researching printers.  Graham did some how manage to cut his hand pretty good but he is one tough boy-wouldn’t let me put a bandaid on it, wouldn’t let me wipe it with a wipes and just held it against his shirt.  He finally let me put ice on it-I think it was just a pretty good paper cut from cardboard or something. 
• Soon it was bedtime-Reagan was able to take a few pictures with her camera before bed and conned me into letting her take it with us somewhere tomorrow.  She is so pleased and must feel like a big girl…because she then asked us if she can have a phone!…She’s 5, who would she call?

July 6, 2011

Did someone call a
Superhero?

Highlights from today: (Click here for pictures)

• The boys are still on East coast time and were awake before 6.  Robby was so asleep that he didn’t know what time it was and let them get up.  They went right to the fridge and looked for milk (there wasn’t any), then Graham tried to find a pillow in our bed (there wasn’t any) and Anderson tried to take some more blanket for himself (there wasn’t any).  They calmed for awhile, then became to rowdy and we kicked them out!
• I took the kids to Nonna’s house while I did a little bit of work.  When we drove up, Campbell started shouting “pa, pa” while raising her hands looking for Pops.  Before we could get into the house, Pops drove up and she was one happy girl
• Nonna and Pops had a new boy’s bike at their house and the bike rider of the bunch, Anderson, wasn’t that crazy about it.  The training wheels were a little bit uneven so it wobbled and he didn’t like that.  Graham didn’t mind though and rode it pretty well-at least for someone who couldn’t peddle a few weeks ago.  Reagan could have cared less about the bikes at all
• Back at home, I told everyone that they would go to bed after I cleaned the kitchen and Reagan was ready for nap so she helped me unload the dishwasher and then helped clean the table.  She was ready for nap because I told her I would let her use a camera.  On the trip, she told me that she wanted to save her money and buy a pink Barbie camera-I told her no because kid cameras weren’t good enough and we had extra cameras here she could have.  And of course, when it was camera lesson time-the battery was dead.  But she is so excited about having her own camera!
• Everyone else slept until after Robby made it home and then we all played play doh and had supper while Robby worked outside.  Sometime during this, Anderson took off his clothes and ended up in his underwear and Campbell who had gotten her clothes wet and was just in a diaper, put on Anderson’s shorts.  I put his shirt on her-no reason to waste any clothes.  And before long Reagan and Anderson were giving Campbell “a makeover”-the worked on her hair, patted her face with toys and just really bothered the mess out of her.  Next time I walked in the kitchen, Anderson was doing something to Reagan’s toenails-I don’t know if he was supposed to be cutting or painting them-I just turned and left.
• Then we worked some outside and everyone had a chance on the riding lawnmower.  Then it was time for popsicles and showers.  Busy day and another one tomorrow!

July 5, 2011: 4th of July Trip to D.C. and Surrounding Areas

Heading Home!

Highlights from today: (Click here for pictures)
Anderson woke up at 5 this morning asking for me to fix his covers and also said that he couldn’t find his pillow.  I gladly got out of bed to fix his covers but I sure didn’t want to help him find his pillow-since it was under my head.  Pillows have been in high demand on this trip-Robby had one, as did Reagan, Anderson, Graham and even Campbell.  She slept in her same spot as last night and fell asleep sprawled out on the pillow so I couldn’t take it for me like I did the night before.  Anderson wasn’t on his pillow when I went to bed, so I snagged his.  Might just have to bring pillows for the next trip (or at least inflatable pillows since packing space is at a premium!)
Robby just dozed until the alarm rang and was out of the shower by the time I woke up.  When it is just the 2 of us and everyone else is sleeping, we can still get ready in about 25 minutes.  And that is what we did this morning.  At 5:55, we pulled the sleeping bags off of everyone, put Campbell in the stroller and had everyone else potty before heading back to Baltimore.  The traffic was minimal but the talking was non-stop.  I would have thought that the kids still would have been tired and quiet but they were not at all.  They just talked and talked and asked a zillion questions about everything. 
We stopped to fill up the car and the kids all changed into their clothes (again their matching tshirts).  You wouldn’t believe how many comments we get on them.  Anderson even told me “people like our shirts.”  Then Robby unloaded us at the curb and started the curb checking in process and headed off to take back the car.  It was a suburban and I don’t know if I have said or not but it was a decent car with a trunk that we liked better (even though we have great trunk in the van) but seriously, moving a seat every time someone gets in the back is ridiculous.  And no sliding doors?  What are people thinking?
Anyway, the curb side check in process took a long while today and by the time we made it inside and I passed out breakfast, Robby was already back.  We finished our breakfast and headed to security.  The suitcases are a bit difficult for Graham to manage and his back pack is huge on him but he sure tries.  After a while, he will just hand his suitcase to me and grab a seat in the stroller.
Back to security, today Reagan and I were following the boys and some lady jumped in line in front of us.  Maybe she didn’t notice we were together-Dad, 3 kids all wearing matching shirts and then another child wearing the same shirt walking with a Mom-I could see how you might be confused.  Then she practically ran the boys over trying to pass them.  I know they aren’t the speediest of things but the line was stopped, she wasn’t going to get anywhere.  Robby finally had to tell them to scoot over so she wouldn’t run them down. 
Similar to a man on our first flight on the way there.  Robby was taking the kids suitcases down from the luggage bins and the man kept getting closer and closer to Robby.  I should mention, the plane door was still closed and no one was moving.  The man edged so close to Robby that Robby even asked him to give him a bit of space.  Then the man said “I can see this will probably be taking a long time.”  Robby hauled off and “knuckled” the man (that is what Graham would have said)-well, that is just what Robby thought about doing.
The flights were fairly smooth-especially after Campbell went to sleep on the first flight.  We all snoozed on that flight and then the second flight was just as easy especially since Campbell fell asleep before we took off. 
Here were the trip highlights from the kids: Reagan-playing at the play area in the Dallas airport, Anderson-getting the cannon toy and the ship toy, Graham-seeing the presidents (possibly meant seeing the White House).  My favorite was the kids folding the flag at Fort McHenry and Robby liked Fort McHenry and the day in D.C.

July 4, 2011: 4th of July Trip to D.C. and Surrounding Areas

Spectacular 4th in D.C.

Highlights from today: (Click here for pictures)
Video 1 from today: (Click here for video 1)
Campbell woke up about 4 this morning, picked up her bear and taggie and stood by me with her arms up for me to pick her up and put her into our bed.  Graham joined us around 7 and before long we were getting ready to go.  The kids had pop tarts and cereal this morning and we loaded the bag and headed on our way.
We only had about a block and a half to walk to the subway and were there in no time-well, we did get turned around a few times and had to stop and look at the map but we made it none the less.  Our stop was just down the line so were at the Capitol Visitors Center around 8:45.  The security guards kept shouting “no food, bottles, liquid” and seemed pretty serious about it.  We watched as people were throwing out new sports bottles, sunscreen-actually, we thought about opening up a “we will watch your stuff while you go in for a small fee” business.  Since it was early and we had our bag loaded with snacks, we sure didn’t want to throw everything out so we decided to split up.  The boys went with Robby while the girls stayed with me.  It didn’t take long for them to see the visitor center and next it was our turn.  Kind of funny because we took pictures of the same things while we were inside.  Robby saw that they had plenty of walk up tours and decided that we might come back later in the day.
We walked up to Union Station to grab a snack-pretzels and pizza and we also stashed our bag of snacks in a locker so we could not worry about having to throw them away back at the capitol.  From there, we caught another subway and back to the parade area.  It was pretty crowded there but we managed to snag some spots about 3 people deep on the curb. Our spot was right in front of the National Archives and we were pretty pleased.
While we waited on the parade to start, Robby bought the kids red, white and blue popsicles.  They devoured them and for most of our pictures for the rest of the day, some one has blue on their face.  Poor Campbell’s hands are colored blue-she will just stare at them like she doesn’t know what happened.
When the parade did start, people started pushing and jockeying their way infront of out strollers.  I did take one picture of Anderson with a ladie's rear end in his face.  I couldn’t get him to hold his nose for the picture though.  Anyway, he actually stayed there because he could see everything at an angle.  Graham had to stand in the stroller to see but he could see well.  Reagan stood behind Campbell and they could both see.  Campbell would shout “neigh neigh” when ever she saw a horse and even waved at a the bands.  We so Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird, Curious George, Garfield, McGruff, and Fred Flintstone.  Everyone enjoyed it but they were getting ready antsy, hot and crowded.  So we ventured out of the crowd-it took us about 10 minutes to walk half a block but at the end of the block, there was a fire truck spraying water-and this was probably the highlight of the parade for the kids.  They got wet, then wetter and were pretty much cooled off by the time they were finished. 
We walked back to the subway and rode a few stops and even switched trains.  Soon we were back at the Capitol liquid and food free and ready to go in for a tour.  The walk up tour line was empty and they said they had the next tour in one minute so before we knew it we were watching a film getting ready for the tour.  After the film we were handed headsets to listen to the guide.  The first person didn’t give the kids one so we asked and the lady said they might be a choking hazard-um, okay.  We did ask someone else and were given headsets for the kids. 
Reagan’s must have been on a different channel because once we were on our tour it started cutting out.  So I switched with hers and let her listen to our tour guide.  I, on the other hand, listened to a nearby tour guide.  Of course, I had to follow Robby’s lead since I didn’t know what was happening with our group.  I was listening to my tour guide on another channel and would look one way and the other 50 people in our group were looking the other way.  When it was about over, I looked down at Anderson and should have taken his headset from him earlier because he was sound asleep.  I thought the tour was fairly interesting but I guess he didn’t agree!  Ha!
We left the Capitol and walked back to Union Station for another bite to eat-more pretzels and ice cream.  By now, the troops were getting pretty tired and we rode the subway back to the hotel. 
At the hotel, Robby had a shower, we all had something to drink and rested for a bit before heading back out to see more of D.C. and catch the fireworks.  I tell you, last year when we were here, we walked over 9 miles during the day.  But this year, there would have been no way I could have done that.  Obviously, the kids all probably weigh an average of 10 pounds heavier and I also weigh a few pounds heavier.  But we still made it around pretty well and made good use of the subway system but you just really can’t get around without walking a lot in D.C.
It wasn’t a crazy walk back to the White House and then to the Washington Monument.  The Mall had security screening to enter into it and people were everywhere. It wasn’t crazy crowded but the crowds were pouring in.  We watched the people for awhile and listened to the music.  Robby went to see about getting a hot dog inside of the Mall area but they were 10 bucks and outside from a street vendor they were much, much less.  We have been giving the street vendors lots of business today because many people are selling bottled water for a dollar-and you just can’t pass that up.  Tonight when I cleaned out our bags I threw away at least 12 bottles of water. 
We left the Mall and walked along and found a vendor and ate our hot dogs.  We sat on the sidewalk and watched the people and police cars go by.  It was kind of nice because most streets were closed so we could cross as much as we wanted.  After our hotdogs, we worked on cleaning out our leftover food-chips and cookies. 
Then we headed to the Lincoln Memorial.  They are redoing the water in front of Lincoln (it needed it in September).  But that probably made the viewing area smaller for the people in that area.  People had covered up the Lincoln Memorial but we did make our way to the front for a picture.  Next up, was trying to find our fireworks spot.  We knew we didn’t want to be trapped inside of a gated area during the fireworks so we headed back towards the White House and the hotel.
We found a place that was fairly empty and let the kids run around in the grass with their flag glow sticks that I had brought from home.  I should have opened up a stand and sold them and could have paid for the trip.  We had to wait about 45 minutes for the fireworks and they were all getting pretty restless by the time they started. 
When they started, Graham came running to me as fast as he could.  But he soon saw Reagan and stood holding his glow stick towards the fireworks-like an air traffic controller.  Anderson enjoyed the fireworks at first but then he decided he was going to be scared.  I told him that no, he couldn’t be scared and to move away from me.  Trust me, he was fine.  But poor Campbell, she was nearing hysterics.  She tried her best to climb out of her stroller and then when I got her out, I guess she thought she would just run down the street away from them.  Finally, she calmed and even sat in the stroller for a bit until the finale and then she lost it again.
The fireworks were pretty good but comparable to Riverfest only a bit more impressive.  When it was over, Reagan said “we stayed for the whole thing"-she has never stayed for all of the fireworks anywhere.  She probably thought that you have to run for the boat/monorail/car at the end of them.  But we stayed tonight and then walked along with 1 million other people on the way back to the hotel.  Actually, the walk back wasn’t crazy-I had an empty buggy, Reagan and Anderson kept up fairly well, many streets were closed so we weren’t trapped on the sidewalk and we just had about 8 blocks to hike. 
Back at the hotel, we dipped the kids again and then tried our best to pack up for in the morning.  Our goal is to leave here around 6 so we will see if that happens.  Actually, it has to happen because we have a plane to catch.

July 3, 2011: 4th of July Trip to D.C. and Surrounding Areas

Anderson and artillery duty
Yorktown National Battlefield!

Highlights from today: (Click here for pictures)
Video 1 from today: (Click here for video 1)
Video 2 from today: (Click here for video 2) Warning: long version of video 1
Video from 2009 of Anderson during a live cannon firing: (Click here for video) You can’t seem him but you sure can hear him!
Video 3 from today: (Click here for video 3)

We were up and out of the hotel this morning with a little more urgency than yesterday morning-as fast as any family with 4 kids can load up and leave a hotel.  They even had breakfast but we skipped it and opted for McDonalds so we could eat on the way.  Going down to breakfast is great and all but it takes at least 30 more minutes and we had lots of sights to see today (even though the only item on our agenda was getting to D.C.).  And no, the hotel never resolved the issue from last night-Robby will just have to take it up with Marriott when we get home.  They did call my phone twice today (he didn’t want to talk because there was nothing else he had to tell them) but they never left a message.  Anyway, that isn’t too big of a deal because it will all be settled when we get home.  Back to the day….
Not too long after breakfast, Graham said he had to potty so we found him one.  We were in Elizabeth City and it seemed like we were taking some back roads to get towards D.C.  At our potty stop, we even rented a few Redbox movies so that kept everyone entertained for the longest.  Campbell’s car seat doesn’t change but the big 3 all are in booster seats so they can switch seats.  Everyone wants to sit up front by Campbell so we do have to take turns.  Reagan is good at riding up front but she plays with Campbell a bit too much.  Graham is not good at riding up front because he wants to talk to us constantly and he is in that “I’m always right” stage.  But he can’t really ride in the back with Anderson because Anderson will ignore him which sets him off.  Reagan will at least humor him.  Anderson is good up front but wants to know what is going on in the back and he would gets too rowdy riding in the back with Reagan.  So no matter how you slice it, the car gets pretty rowdy frequently. 
We saw a sign to Yorktown National Battlefield and decided to swing in there for a few minutes.  We arrived a bit before they started a cannon demonstration talk and thought we would watch it.  When the ranger asked for volunteers, Anderson’s hand shot up.  He was chosen and then Graham and Reagan thought maybe they wanted too as well but it was too late.  They didn’t seem to mind too much and when the ranger asked Anderson if he was fast, Reagan said to me “oh, he is real fast”-she was proud of her brother. 
Anderson’s job was being the “powder monkey” which means that he delivered the ammunition to the cannon people.  That little boy took his job very seriously.  When the park ranger told everyone to follow her outside, he just walked right on and then eventually turned to make sure we were following.  He listened intently to her every direction and stood as still as he could waiting on his few moments to shine.  Reagan was very into listening, Graham was so excited when the ranger told everyone else that they job was to say “BOOM” (he was glad he had a job to do) and Campbell spent her time trying to eat a rock.
After the demonstration, we walked around the battlefield and even looked out over the York river.  Then we were back in the car and drove down the Colonial National Parkway until we reached Jamestown (the first settlement).  They had a great picnic spot again under some trees and we had our last picnic lunch for the trip.  The kids really enjoyed it because that meant they could eat all of the chips, cheese and meat they wanted.  At Yorktown it was cloudy and comfortable but at Jamestown it was sunny and warm.  But we pressed on and hiked out to the settlement. 
The most impressive thing out there to them was the statue of Pocahontas.  We haven’t seem the movie but we have seen her before at her other home in DisneyWorld and she did not look the same.  This caused big time confusion for everyone.  We will have to watch the movie when we get home-man, I just can’t wait until everyone is a bit bigger and we can do things were history really comes to life for them.  After a stop at the gift shop, we were back on the road.  And again we didn’t make it too far because Robby saw a 7-11 and some icees were calling his name.  At the settlement, they had one house that was a food area and we assumed they would have ice cream there and since that was our bribe to encourage them to walk in the sun out to the settlement and back they needed some type of nourishment-and Robby loves him some icees.  I even had some ice cream-so everyone’s tummys were full and bladders were empty (for a few minutes at least).
When we made it to D.C., we stopped first at the Pentagon Memorial.  We tried to explain to the kids what happened on 9/11 and they just can’t understand.  Reagan and Anderson get some of it but since they really don’t understand about dying yet they think everyone was fine.  And Graham couldn’t figure out where the plane was but they did understand that we needed to be respectful. 
The Pentagon Memorial is nice and now I would like to see it at night because I read the lighting under the monuments are pretty.  Anyway, at Disney the kids learned that mono means one from the monorail and they learned today that pent means five from the pentagon.  Graham could not understand why we couldn’t go in there and see the army men inside.  Robby finally told him that it was closed because it was Sunday and the army doesn’t work on Sundays.  This appeased him but kind of frightened me-the army doesn’t work on Sundays? 
After leaving the Pentagon, we saw another building and Reagan asked “is that the octagon?”  I don’t know if she was kidding or not but later in the evening I looked over and saw a building called the Octagon House but we passed it before I could show it to her. 
Next up was the Iwo Jima Memorial.  Parking is sure nice on weekends around here and we were right nearby.  So we walked around it, took a few pictures and then passed out juice boxes back in the car.  We then found a spot at our next destination: the Air and Space Museum.
It was pretty crowded inside but we made our way to the Wright Brothers exhibit.  They had lots of hands-on stuff like touching fabric from the wings and touching other pieces like the real Wright Brother’s plane.  They all were impressed with us saying that it was their real plane hanging up there.  We also explored the area about planets and Robby and I feel outdated because we remember when poor Pluto was a planet. 
About this time, we looked outside and the sky was getting dark and before long it was pouring outside.  We could tell the storm must have been bad because the entryway was packed full of people trying to get inside and go through security.  Later, as we walked along we could see that many, many branches were down-some were about 3 inches in diameter so it must have really been some wind. 
The kids went through a few airplanes, saw Amelia Earhart’s plane and even piloted a plane.  Reagan could stop and look at everything-we practically never could get her to leave one room and go to the next.  When everyone is older, we will come back just for museums-of course, it would be days and days of museums.  I glanced through one museum gift shop while they were going through one plane and decided that I just love all of that gift shop stuff.  I wish we could just have/get that stuff for Christmas. 
Our last stop at the Air and Space was seeing a moon rock and Anderson asked if it was still floating-it was not.  Then we walked across the street and grabbed supper at McDonalds and then found our hotel.  We are about 4 blocks from the White House so after checking in and finding awesome street parking (like within 20 feet from the front door of this place and avoid the $42/per night parking fee. Yikes!).  Our room is huge-huge for a big city but also huge for a regular hotel room.  It is twice the size of our den at home-needless to say we have spread ourselves out (even though we have to check out and recheck back in tomorrow so we will have to change rooms and move all of our stuff-not a big deal though since we are pretty much packed for the plane now). 
We couldn’t just be a few blocks from the White House and not go and pay the Obamas a late night visit.  Of course, Graham really didn’t understand why we couldn’t go in the White House and see Obama.  I told him that we had to know him to go in and he said I know Obama.  Even though, we were not invited in for coffee.  But we did walk around the house and Reagan was fascinated by learning that 2 girls lived in the White House. 
Back at the hotel, Robby hosed everyone down in the shower while I dressed them, brushed teeth and put them in bed as he finished.  Campbell laid on Anderson’s sleeping bag and said “night night” so I laid her down a blanket and she surprisingly stayed on it for a bit.  Then Robby laid beside her and she is still there.  We will see if she stays there through the night-though we now have her caged in with the bathroom door and suitcases. 
Oh, the kids did get a little something we picked up at the gift shop today.  I had seen a cannon pencil sharpener and thought Anderson would like that so we got that so he could remember his cannon firing experience.  There was a ship pencil sharpener that Graham got so he could remember the boat the settlers came over on.  And Robby picked out a little sticker paper doll book for Reagan.  Earlier in the day, she had shown me a larger one and said that she really wanted a book like that.  So needless to say, everyone was thrilled.  Oh, Campbell wasn’t let out-she received the bag that the other gifts were in.  Good, good day!

July 2, 2011: 4th of July Trip to D.C. and Surrounding Areas

Flying high at the
Wright Brothers National Memorial!

Highlights from today: (Click here for pictures)
Video 1 from today: (Click here for video 1)
Video 2 from today: (Click here for video 2)
We moved around slowly this morning and later in the day we paid for it.  We had some left over donuts from yesterday and the kids munched on them while we finished getting ready.  The hotel last night was a suite so it took Robby and I much longer to pack up since we had spread ourselves out all over the place. 
When we made it downstairs to breakfast, the kids weren’t hungry and it was a good thing because they were about to close up since it was nearing 10.  We gobbled down our food and even waited to get Reagan some eggs while Robby loaded up the car.  They finally came out with more eggs and they were still frozen.  She was able to eat the edges because they were still warm.  Anyway, soon we were on our way.
Traffic wasn’t too bad the first 5 miles of our trip this morning and we only had about 70 more miles to go…and then the traffic started.  Apparently everyone in this area is going to the beach this weekend and they all left when we did.  Seriously, it took us 4 and a half hours to go 70 miles.  At least we were driving through beach towns and there was plenty of look at.  Lots of fruit stands, lots of people with luggage racks on the top of the cars, lots of people stopped at gas stations for potty breaks (took Robby and the kids 15 minutes to all potty because of the line when we stopped-I needed to go but just decided to wait since I didn’t want to wait in that crazy line).
One of Robby’s new movie players went kaputz this morning so we were just down to one movie player but we did rig it up where all of the back seat passengers could see it.  Actually, the kids handled it much better than we could have ever expected-probably even better than Robby did!  About 10 miles from our stop, most of the traffic turned off and headed towards the town of Duck.  I was getting worried that all of those people were going to be at the Wright Brothers National Memorial with us. 
We drove in and circled the monument and stopped near the airstrip, bathrooms and picnic table.  I was the first out of the car to head to the bathroom.  While I made lunches, the kids climbed on the great climbing tree and watched a plane take off from the airstrip behind us.  After lunch, we let them play with their bubble whistles.  It was too windy for the bubbles to work but the whistles worked great.  Robby and I just sat down and finished our lunch while ignoring them and their loud, loud whistles.  Oh, Nonna and Grannymom, you will so enjoy having those at your house!!
After a few tree pictures and more whistle blowing, we headed up to the top of the monument.  It is quite a hill that the Wright brother’s glided off of (more than 1000 glider flights from that hill).  “Ms. Independent” was the first up the hill and was happy to beat the rest of us.  Robby pushed “Mosquito Bite” up the hill in the stroller (yes, she has at least 20 bites-don’t worry, she is hydrocortisoned and benedryled often).  On the way up, some one even said “those poor kids they are scratching from a sun burn.”  This bothered Robby to no end-no sunburn, not in the sun that long, scratching from mosquito bites and mind your own dadgum business.  Anderson said he needed a place to sit down but did manage to run some-we have got to toughen that boy up.  He almost had a conniption about standing on the edge of the monument to take a picture-tears and all.  Did I mention that he was only 3 feet off of the ground?  Anyway, I pulled Graham up the hill and we were even able to pass an elderly gentleman on the way up-I was quite pleased by this. 
We took some pictures. walked around the monument and then headed down.  Reagan just waltzed down and was at the bottom sitting on a bench before we were 1/4 of the way down.  Next up was a quick drive around to the statue for more pictures.  We let them climb on it since other people were and there wasn’t a sign.  Just letting them climb on the statue made Anderson say “I love you more than the rest of our family.” 
Next up was the visitor center and of course the door we walked into was the door full of 50+ people sitting, listening to a ranger give a lecture.  Seriously, could they not have put up a sign to use another door.  We made it through without too much of a scene and walked around.  Next we were back outside to see the spot where they took off with their gas powered plane-markers 1-3 were close by but marker 4 was 852 feet away and Reagan took off for a run.  She ran and ran and ran and finally we motioned for her to come back (she couldn’t hear us).  Later, she said she “just kept running but it kept getting further away.”  Eventually, all of the boys took off in her direction and they all came zooming back like airplanes.  Priceless.
Another visitor center area and then back in the car since we had closed the Wright Brother’s National Memorial up.  They closed at 5-that is what happens when you get a late start and then get stuck in traffic.
We drove out towards the Bodie Island lighthouse but decided to press on for the Cape Hattaras lighthouse-until I looked it up on the GPS and we realized it was another 40 miles down the coast.  It was a pretty coast but it wasn’t that pretty!  We had promised the kids that we would swim tonight at the pool or get our feet wet in the ocean.  So we pulled over and walked up the dune to the water.  The kids had a blast running in the surf-as the video shows.  The shells were neat and we even saw animals in some shells-I guess Robby and I are a bit citified because we didn’t know what they were and it even gave us the heebie-jeebies.  And I feel that I should clarify, that the little children were never out of an arms reach from us even though it appears they are going to get washed away on the video.  And yes, Graham had to have a complete change of clothes back at the car and so did Campbell. 
Campbell thought the waves were fun but the first time she got her feet wet, she went back to get her shoes and sat down to put them on.  After a few minutes though, she was back in the water with the rest of the kids but she wouldn’t let go of her shoes-Robby had to chase one into the surf at one point. Campbell, sweet, sweet Campbell, threw a knock down drag out fit when it was time to leave the beach.  Robby said it was all he could do to carry her back to the car-leaving me to bring up the other 3 and 12 shoes. 
Reagan could have stayed on the beach all day long looking for shells and I had enough in my pockets on the walk back that I was also struggling keeping my pants up from the weight of the shells.  Back in the car, we headed back into town.  We did see two guys who had gotten their car stuck in the sand on the side of the road.  They were trying to push it so Robby decided to stop and help them-but as soon as he got off the road, he could feel the deep sand on his tires and decided that 1 car stuck in the sand was better than 2 cars stuck in the sand-especially one of those cars being our car! There was no place to stop so hopefully they found some help but it wasn’t from the Dennie fam. 
We had supper at 5 Guys and Campbell has become quite the screamer.  I don’t remember the other kids being like her-she can just be difficult sometimes.  She was hungry though and after she started eating she was fine.  We have around 100 days to get her fit throwing into shape before V come along.  Wish me luck!  Ha!
Our hotel was in Elizabeth City and it didn’t take us too long to get there.  Of course, it upset Robby seeing the traffic-less road on the other side that had taken us so long to drive down earlier in the day.  We were glad the hotel had a room for us-they have actually called us multiple times today.  Robby gave them an expired credit card by accident but when he called to give them a new one, he reminded them that his stay was free from a certificate.  They were clueless about this so Robby had to forward them his confirmation email to which they still don’t understand-the cooperate offices will be getting quite the email/call from him in a few days.  Anyway, the room is nice, right by the door and laundry and we even have a pack n play tonight.  So everyone is sleeping, laundry is done and we are planning tomorrow.  Don’t worry, we won’t get another late start-we did break one of our Dennie rules today: Be at places before they open.  But we won’t break it tomorrow.

July 1, 2011: 4th of July Trip to D.C. and Surrounding Areas

Feeding the goats?? in Virginia!

Highlights from today: (Click here for pictures)
Another good night.  Campbell started stirring around 6 but would just roll over and then turn back around.  I seriously don’t know how people sleep with babies in the bed with them.  Because of baby v, I can’t sleep on my back or tummy so that just leaves me my sides to sleep on.  But I feel like I have to keep an eye on her (probably silly since both eyes are shut while I’m sleeping), I end up just sleeping on one side.  So my side was sore this morning for a bit-and come to think of it, it probably didn’t help that I didn’t even have a pillow!  When Reagan, Anderson and Graham all take pillows off of the bed, it doesn’t leave us too many.  Actually, it only left us one the past two nights-I had it the first night and Robby ended up with it last night.  Pillow or not, we all slept very well and can’t really complain.
Since the McDonalds yesterday was a bit slow, we decided to just drive along our route until we found the next McDonalds.  We saw a sign and exited the interstate but McDonalds must have been miles down the road but we did see a nearby Dunkin Donuts.  The kids were perfectly happy to give up their pancakes for donuts so that is what we had.  I worked on putting ice in the ice chest with help from Campbell while the big 3 went in to pick their donuts. 
Once back in the car, everyone ate their donuts and we pressed on.  We drove for awhile until the kids started going a bit crazy and we needed a stop quickly.  We saw a little roadside attraction and pulled over.  We stopped at Wright’s Market-they sold trinkets, fruits, veggies, jellies, salsa, Adirondack chairs and many other things.  But for us the main even was the bathroom first and then the goats.  Yes, the goats.  They had an interesting set up-people like us give them money to buy feed to feed their own goats.  My Reagan busied herself just picking up the feed off of the ground until Robby decided she looked to pitiful and found some quarters for everyone. 
Once you got the food, you could hand it to the goats or put it in a box and use a pulley type system to take the food to the top of a ramp.  The goats would hurry up the ramp to eat the food-the kids loved this.  They could have stayed there forever.  So Robby is trying to figure out how we could rig this system up from the back deck to feed Belle. 
We then took a few pictures in their chairs and Robby picked out some jalapeño mustard and I grabbed pineapple salsa as my snack.  We were then back on the road and everyone was calm and ready to ride again.  The traffic was pretty heavy since I guess everyone was going to the beach.  But the sights were great-just quaint little towns.  Some where beach towns, some farm areas and swamp lands.
Our plan was to pass through Chinoteague, Virginia and then see the Southern area of Assateague Island.  We hoped to have a picnic and even see the horses-neither really happened.  We drove around looking for picnic tables and didn’t find any-we did see lots and lots of people on a tiny beach but passed it by.  Next stop was the Visitor Center and since they confirmed there were no picnic tables, we decided to eat in the car near a trail we were going to walk on.  The ranger said this trail would be our best bet to see the horses.  We had our lunch and while we were eating, Robby noticed something buzzing outside-mosquitoes  Lots of mosquitoes-lots is an understatement.  He decided that we probably shouldn’t do the 1 mile trail but maybe we could go down the road to a shorter trail and have some relief.
The lighthouse was a nice little walk away but the mosquitoes were still heavy.  We had to keep shouting at the kids-keep moving, keep moving.  But unfortunately the mosquitoes could keep up with us.  And really-someone pushing a double stroller through sand uphill and a large pregnant woman pulling a 2 year old along the trail-of course those mosquitoes could keep up though I am surprised they could bite us since they should have been too busy laughing at us!
Anyway, the kids moved faster than we have ever seen them-we ran up the hill to the lighthouse, lined them up for a picture and then ran back to the car.  The mosquito count was Robby-5, Tara-8, Reagan-6, Anderson-1, Graham-1 (seriously? The boys must not be sweet) and Campbell-6….Since she was in the stroller they were hanging around her.  Robby would try to swat them off but one must have gotten under her shirt because tonight during her shower, I discovered at least 6 more. 
Of course, we weren’t going to get back out of the car on that island and we sped off-I was still holding our lunch trash bags and a dirty diaper and instructing the kids to swat the mosquitoes trapped in the car up towards us so we could shoo them out of the windows.  But we weren’t stopping until we were well away!  We finally stopped and readjusted and put medicine on all of the bites.  It may sound crazy, but it was still alot of fun-mosquito bites and all!  And all was made much better by a few icees. 
The next big event was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel.  The bridge was crazy long (and it should be for a 12 buck toll) and included 2 different mile long tunnels along the bridge.  It was a pretty impressive structure.  The kids were in awe when they saw a cargo ship going over the water right in front of us and then we went in a tunnel while the boat was above.  We stopped in a gift shop after the second tunnel and walked along the pier for a few minutes. 
It was only a few more miles and we were in Virginia Beach at our hotel.  We unloaded and headed to eat.  We found a Dairy Queen and sat outside to eat our hot dogs and then ice cream.  Campbell was exhausted and just sat in the stroller and had herself a little fit.  Well, she had a fit until I started eating my ice cream and then her fit just turned onto shouts of “more, more.”  Back at the hotel, everyone had showers and then into their sleeping bags they went.  This hotel had a pack n play so Campbell is in her usual hotel spot-the bathroom.  Hopefully, this will be another restful night.