We had a short but wonderful trip down to Washington DC /Virginia. By we, I mean Madison, Hunter and I. We left on a Thursday afternoon. Madison was working on her "traveling" merit badge for American Heritage Girls. So, I handed her the map and away we went. I've been there a few times before, and had a general idea of where we were going, besides, we had a gps in the car - not plugged in, but we did have it in the car. She tried her best to figure the map out and tell me where to go. Somehow we ended up on all the right roads - and headed south. I ALWAYS manage to get lost in Williamsport, no matter what - and guess what?? I did it again. Well, not really lost, but after trying to find our way out of the middle of town, and resorting to the gsp which promptly directed us to . . . . head back home - we stopped for dinner, at McDonalds, where Hunter downed an Angus burger and Madi and I ate. Then we loaded back into the car, set the gps for the correct destination - and were on our way. So, approximately 1 hour after I turned left instead of right at the detour, I turned right - and we were on the correct road. Night fell, the kids nodded off, and I had my trusty gsp to get me into the heart of DC to my brothers house. Never would I attempt this without a gps - totally crazy terrible roads down there.

We slept in, and enjoyed Friday at the Smithsonian with Jacob Mender - who turned out to be a fabulous host. He took us on the metro, led us to the right places, was patient with the kids, offered to help pay for lunch, and oohed and aahed in all the right places. He even posed for a photo. When we landed on the "mall" at the Smithsonian, we saw them setting up scaffolding, and getting ready for something that looked rather "big" to us. Little did we know - it was for the protestors for the Health Care Bill. Glad we missed that rally. From the photos, you can see that we raise some very strong children in Upstate NY. Happy ones too.

Saturday we slept in, enjoyed Uncle Drakes Waffles with real Maple Syrup, wandered over to Great Falls state park, only to find out that everyone else was headed there too. You see, it was in the 70's, sunny, and absolutely!!!!!!!!!! gorgeous outside - one of the reasons I headed down there that weekend. I'm no dummy! We waited patiently and finally found a parking spot. Wandered out on the bridges and through the trails. But, alas, due to a very wet and snowy winter - our favorite hike was closed. We settled for walking the canal trail, but it really wasn't the same. Because of the wet weather, there were some awesome falls lots of water going over them. I tried to take photos, but didn't realize I had the camera set to video. Needless to say, we have some very short clips of the falls. Neat. So much better than a photo. Whenever Drake tried to take a picture of us, someone would offer to take a photo of all of us, and Drake would ablige, but explain that I was his "sister" not his wife. And, there were times I'm sure he was deliberately walking a few steps behind us when some cute girls walked by. After the hike he treated us to lunch at Champs, and the kids got ice cream at Maggie Moos. Both are places we have at our local mall. On hindsight, I should have insisted on something they couldn't find at home, but whatever, they had fun, and I think it was the biggest plate of Nachos Madison had ever seen.

Sunday found us in church, listening to stake conference broadcast from SLC, with Boyd K Packer as the keynote speaker. He was amazing, and we were filled spiritually. After letting the kids get some steam out, we headed on the long drive home. Hunter and Madison were perfect travelers, and I'd love to take them on some more adventures.