Drive-In and Arts & Garden Festival

Friday night we decided to check out the local drive-in. I guess I'd never been to a real drive-in before, so I was surpised that it included a diner and playground! The girls had a blast playing around on the toys while the sun set (which was an awesome site). Then, we opened up the back of the van, got our snacks ready, and were treated to a contraception commercial as part of the previews. I thought that was kinda weird. Anyway, then we watched...

It was a great movie and I highly recommend it!

Here's a before the movie shot. The girls got more excited than they look here.

Today we decided to go to the arboretum, and again were pleasantly surprised to find out that they were having the annual arts and garden festival. There were a lot of local art/crafts type venders showing off their stuff as well as some awesome food. We ate some true pumpkin pie and got to watch some local dancers doing ballet and tap. The girls loved that part! Some students from Tech were also there doing a lot of free stuff for the kids. They took this picture of us and were amazingly successful at getting Nicole to not only look at the camera, but also smile!

My Visit with Angelene

As a Mother's Day/birthday present this year, Matt took one of my vocalized dreams and turned it into a reality. He bought me a plane ticket to visit my sister, Angelene, in Maryland, while he took care of our girls for a week. I was pleasantly overwhelmed with the thought that I could spend a whole week, one-on-one with one of my sisters, in a truly fascinating, historical, and wonderful area of the country. I think Angelene enjoyed it a little, too!

In the following posts I shared our daily excursions, which don't quite do the trip justice, but give you some idea what we were up to. Each night after our adventures, we would come back and enjoy delicious fruits and vegetables, eauropean chocolate, and would stay up until our eyelids begged for mercy as we chatted about anything and everything sisters talk about!

Thursday: Washington, D.C. Temple

Angelene's stake (Church district over several wards or congregations) has an annual temple day where members try to attend as much of the day as possible in the temple, doing temple work. Since I came out the week of this event, Matt and Angelene arranged it so I could attend that day with her. My sister, Jeanette, even provided some family names for us to do to make the day personally special.


This is our greeting view first thing in the morning.


And this was our view at the end of the day. Such a beautiful temple! It's hard to put into words, but truly an amazing experience!

Friday: C & O Canal/Silver Spring

With travel on Wednesday and temple work Thursday, we took Friday at a leisurely pace.

We went to the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal to see the restored canal boat pulled by mules,
walk alongside the lift locks that helped the canal boats move along the canal,



And see the beautiful Great Falls.

Later that day we went out to dinner with friends in Silver Spring, Maryland. While we waited for our seats at the Maccaroni Grill, we were entertained by the local outside musical performances and the children playing in the water fountain. It was such a perfect day for relaxing and chatting.

Saturday--Inner Harbor, Baltimore

Saturday we set out for Baltimore and Fort McHenry.

Fort McHenry is the site of the famous battle that inspired Francis Scott Key's poetic anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner." We got to help hold a modern replica of that banner as part of a special event day at the fort. Included in the event was the shooting of the cannons and actors in period costume showing the daily life in the fort.

They've preserved the set-up of the fort as much as possible by adding period clothing, belongings. It is amazing how much has been retained, considering that this fort was also utilized in the Civil War and 1st World War.

The soldiers' view...

The flag gracing the fort

Next we toured the U.S.S. Constellation, a civil war ship that fought against slave-ship practices. We even helped "hoist the mast."

After wandering around the outside sights of Inner Harbor, we caught this view.

Sunday: Sheila's place, Virginia

Sunday was another down day for us. I got to attend Angelene's ward and meet many of her wonderful friends there.

That afternoon we drove down to Sheila's house for dinner and visiting. She is my mom's double cousin, so she is a wealth of knowledge and stories about my mom's family and ancestry, besides being such a delight to talk to.



We made sure to capture the visit. I hope it won't be so long between visits next time!

Monday--The National Mall, D.C.

Of course, you can't get this close to the nation's capital without going to see some of its history!

We headed into D.C. on the Metro, making an important stop at the FAA. :)

Then we came in starting at Union Station, then we moved from there to the Archive building.

I'm in Texas...in D.C.!



Angelene doing our Grandmother's famous pose.


The Constitution (the documents are so well-protected that it doesn't make for a good picture, but for an incredible view). It is amazing to think of the power of words, (not mine obviously!) and the documents that helped to form our nation.

We went on to museums, passing some gorgeous gardens on the way.




We ran out of time to see the Senate building, but managed to see the Botanic Gardens. I know, I know, you can see plants anywhere...


but not so many beautiful, rare ones (I think this one is a passion flower). It was a special treat for such a plant-lover and Angelene was kind enough to "re-see" the sights of the city with me.

We also made to the Smithsonian American History building. (No good pictures here). Besides a lot of other great things, we got to see the real Star-Spangled Banner that capped our adventure from Saturday.

Sadly we ran out of energy and time, and lounged in the park with the view (yep, of the Monument) before heading back.