TOP TEN
10. Washington D.C.-the capitol really is magnificent, so much history. Next time, however, there will be no kids allowed on the trip. I'd like to see all of it. The next day we did however, get to see the Washington D.C. Temple. We you are driving down the road the sides of the freeway are thick with trees. All of a sudden, just before the freeway bends to the left, the spires on the temple with Moroni on top rise up out of the trees. As you get closer the whole temple becomes visible. It is so beautiful. The surrounding green from the tree and the immenseness of it towering above as you drive by seemed Oz-like, the Emerald City. We went to the visitors center and watched the Joseph Smith movie. Truly he was a prophet of God. No man, who did not know God, could have done such work or sacrificed so much. We also met my Grandpa Paul, Colleen, and Allison at the National Zoo for lunch. They were sweet to the kids and each one left the zoo with a new T-shirt and stuffed panda bears.
9. Orioles Game-Adam is a huge baseball fan and he was able to check that ballpark off his "Too do" list. The kids had a great time, the Orioles won and we got to see some sweet fireworks after the game. Not to mention Ammon got us some $6 tickets. Yeah!
8. Crabs-A must if you are on the East Coast. They brought them out spicy, steamy in a bucket and dumped them on our table. Once our bibs were on we grabbed mallets and went to town. My lips are still burnin'.
7. Minivan-Ok, I'm am totally anti-minivan. I don't like they way they look or the way they drive. I love my Jetta stationwagon. It's got tons of cargo space, sport racks on top, seats five, and fun to drive(I love stick shifts). So we rented a minivan on our trip so our family and my sister's family could all fit in one car. This thing was fully loaded. Electric door openers, seats and a DVD player with two screens in the back. I never had to lean over to buckle up kids and the pick up speed wasn't bad on it. I'm still not totally sold, however, if we have more kids I could see it's practicality. Of course we can't get that van. It was a Chrysler and got recalled once we took it back to the rental place.
6.Tropicool-This little ice cream joint we frequented with Juli and Ammon had this yummy concoction of soft serve ice cream served in layers with gelati(sort of a shaved ice texture that came is a million flavors). So good!
5. Ocean City, MD-It is a destination beach. There is a long boardwalk with shops and ice cream and food shops and carnival rides. Juli and I rode the zipper, I can't remember the last time I screamed so much. The girls rode a bunch of kid rides. Then we got ice cream and then got some of the much anticipated Thrashers Boardwalk Fries. Big, crisp, natural, fried in peanut oil and then doused with cider vinegar while they are hot. I had them six years ago when I went to Ocean City and have always remembered them. We got the gallon bucket, which was heaping with fries. I can't believe how we horked them down.
4. Cherry pickin'-It is amazing how you can drive just forty-five minutes north of Balitmore and be in some of the most beautiful country in the US. The farms and homes on them are so deliciously picturesque. Juli took us up to a farm to pick sweet cherries and blueberries. It brought back memories of my childhood when my parents would take us to blueberry farms in Louisiana. They weather was warm, but not hot and there was a breeze. The girls had fun and Jensen couldn't stop eating the berries. We finally had to drag him away. We picked 17 pounds of cherries and about 10 pounds of blueberries. We made berry pancakes and syrups and jams and desserts and bottled the rest of the cherries.
3. Camping-I have to admit, despite the challenges we faced along our way (I'll list those in the bottom ten list) it was fun. I think we all had pretty good attitudes and the situation was just so funny that it was hard not to have a good time. We camped south of Ocean City, on aa island, on the bay side. It was inhabited by wild horses and rabbits and had miles of beautiful beach.
2. The Beach-Our first beach day the weather was perfect, breezy, warm but not scorching. The water was cool, but not compared to the pacific. We got to do some good boogie boarding, beach walking, sand castle building and crab catching. Jensen didn't think to much of the beach and mostly just wanted "go". The girls played for hours in the sand and running back and forth trying to escape the waves. No one got sunburned, except Adam's feet(the only place he didn't put on sunscreen). There were showers at the camp to rinse our bodies free of sand. This involved weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth as there was no hot water. The next day we just went home dirty. Our second beach day got rained out.
1. Family-Of course the whole reason we went to Balitmore was to visit my sister Juliana, her husband Ammon, and their cute kids Ryley and Jensen. My sister is a great host and made us comfortable. The girls always take to each other every time they get together, but they are so big and smart now. They are so cute together, playing with dress up and princesses. Olivia did have a hard time with Jensen. She just didn't understand him, why he didn't share, why he cries, why he screams, why he wants to play with them. Sisterhood is going to be a big shock to her (No, I'm not preganant yet). Jensen is still a little snack pack, always looking for a handout when we went anywhere. "A cacker peas" "A wawa peas" "A bar peas" "A movie peas" He was so polite, even when he would raise his voice. It was fun to see them again and hope our next meeting won't be to long off.
BOTTOM TEN
10. Camping woes, more funny then bad-The mosquitos were vicious and the horses were worse than bears trying to get into our food. The wind was so bad the first night it took two hours to start a fire, by then we just heated up hot dogs in water on a pocket camp stove instead of cooking the foil dinners we brought. Unfortunately, the second our hot dogs were ready it started to pour down rain and we had to jump into the tents to eat them. Thankfully it was brief and didn't put out the fire, so we were able to make smores.
9. Airlines-There isn't much a can say about this one. Delayed flight to Balitmore landed us there at 2am and a lost bag containing our sleep bags, which we did not get in time for our camping trip. Thankfully Juli had extras.
8. Washington D.C.-There are many variables that added up to make this less than fun. Fist, we didn't plan well, so when we got there we couldn't find parking forever. We had to walk about 6 six miles, at least, to see all we saw. It was crowded, the kids were whiny, it was hot and humid and I generally had a bad attitude while we were sight seeing. Next time I go, I'm going in the fall and renting a Segway.
7. Rain-Not that rain is bad, but we got completely drenched as we were packing up the car to go camping. I have never been in such a down pour. When we were finally loaded and in the car it started to steam. We were wet down to our undies.
6. Mondays-No one likes Mondays, especially when you are on vacation and it's so hot and the kids are bored and the pool in your sister's neighborhood is closed on Mondays.
5. Smoking-Not me. Other people. Apparently people on the east coast didn't get the surgeon general's warning that smoking LEADS TO A SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH and second hand smoke can really piss off those around you. I'm done.
4. Roads-The roads in Balitmore are weird. One minute you are in a seemingly neutral lane and then you are in a left turn only lane. So after you swerve into the other lane you soon find yourself in a right turn only lane. Weird. I think they need more lanes.
3. Leaving-I hate when vacay is over. We are going to miss the Posey's so much. Not sure when our next meeting will be, but are hoping for Thanksgiving 2010 in Mexico!
2. Work-We got home at midnight and I had to work the next two days. So tired! Thankfully Adam has it together and can unpack, clean, shop, etc. If I haven't mentioned this yet, he is a gem!
1. Nothing-I ran out of things to say.
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