Washington, D.C. Trip

 To start my summer in a new way, I decided to go on an out of school field trip with 8 other teacher chaperones and 41 eight grade students ( what an adventure). It started bright and early with a 4:30 am drive to the airport and on our way to Washington, DC, Jamestown, Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Mount Vernon in Virginia.

Our first stop was to the Newseum, which is obviously a museum dedicated to the news. Anything and everything you could think of news related was there, even an Anchor Man themed level with fun articles of clothing and props from the movie. The Newsuem also had large parts of the Berlin Wall, 9/11 pieces from both the buildings and planes, and newspapers from every year.

{Berlin Wall}

{View from the terrace}

The next museum was the Air and Space, which was really neat to see the Wright Brother's original hang glider as well as Amelia Earhart's plane that she flew.

{Wright Brother's glider}

Being a fan of the movie "Night at the Museum", I was really excited to visit the Natural History Museum, especially for the dinosaur exhibit, but that specific exhibit was closed, and I was only able to see one dinosaur ( I was hoping to see T-Rex).

{The Hope Diamond- 45.52 carats- found in India}

{The head of the T-Rex}

The last museum of the day was the American History,  which has very random items, but the best item was the original Star Spangled Banner; however, I couldn't take a picture of because it is slowly fading.

{First Lady Dresses}

{The Wizard of OZ's ruby slippers}

After a long day of Museums, we drove to Jamestown, Virginia, home of the first permanent English settlement in America on May 4, 1607, but the land they settled on was home to the Powhatan Indians (Pocahontas's father's tribe).

 

Yorktown, Virginia is most famous as the site of the siege/ surrender of General Cornwallis to General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War on October 19, 1781.

Williamsburg, Virginia was founded in 1632 as Middle Plantation on high ground between the James and York rivers. This area served as the capital of the Colony of Virginia from 1699 to 1780 and was the center of political events leading to the American Revolution.

{An adorable home that I loved}

{Got a picture of my parent's favorite painting in their house}

{Bruton Parish Episcopal Church where George Washington attended while in Williamsburg}

{Williamsburg Governor's Palace}

{Colonial Williamsburg}

That night we drove from Williamsburg, Virginia back to DC to end our day by doing a night monument tour.

{Abraham Lincoln- 56 steps to see him, which was how old he was when he died}

{Washington Monument}

{Where MLK Jr. gave his "I Have A Dream" speech}

{Vietnam Memorial- the 3 races that served: White, Black, and Hispanic}

{Korean War}

 

The next day we went to the Crime & Punishment Museum, which was neat and disturbing at the same time. They had all major killers, mobsters, and other random pieces from the law enforcement.

{The car in which Bonnie and Clyde were killed}

{Ted Bundy's car (very disturbing)

The WHITE HOUSE

{our 41 kids}

The Holocaust Museum was so powerful and gut retching because of the personal touches that they added to the four levels. Anything from uniforms, diary's, pictures, and actual films were there to provide you with the most detailed moments of the war and to help you remember the survivors and victims.  

National Archives was wonderful to enter in and see the most important documents that started our Nation, Charters of Freedom:

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 1776, announced the separation of the 13 colonies from Great Britain and the establishment of the United States of America. The Declaration articulates the highest ideals of the Revolution—liberty, equality, and the right to self-determination.

THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION, 1787, codified the spirit of the American Revolution in an ingenious, practical scheme of government to promote the welfare of all its citizens. Considered one of the most influential legal documents of all time, it has served as a model for over 100 countries.

THE BILL OF RIGHTS, 1789, spelled out the rights of individual citizens. The First Congress of the United States proposed 12 constitutional amendments. Of those, 10 were ratified and are known as the Bill of Rights.

The Kennedy Center 

 {Watergate Hotel}

FDR Memorial

MLK Jr. Memorial

{Jefferson Memorial}

Being able to go inside and see Washington from above was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Washington Monument

 

{White house from above}

WWII Memorial

Mount Vernon, my favorite stop on our trip, was home to George Washington and Martha Washington for more than 40 years.

 

{George's view from his back porch as it was when he was alive}

{Potomac River}

{George Washington's tomb}

US Capitol

Arlington Cemetery

  

President John F. Kennedy and First Lady

 

Monumental May

The month of May was jammed packed with fun filled weekends of family and friends of whom drove from out of town to be with us :)

The month started with our little baby, Addie, who turned a year old on May 2, 2014. It was so much fun because Cole and Ashley came into town from Augusta, GA and Taylor made his way in on Sunday for a week of work in Atlanta. On Saturday we celebrated Addie's birthday with friends and family, which was a great excuse to have everyone over for a cookout. We had perfect weather the entire day, which made it easy for games of corn-hole, Richard manning the grill as he prepared grilled artichokes for appetizers and burgers/ hot-dogs for dinner with the help of the moms who were so nice to bring delicious sides.

(Addie's sweet gifts that everyone brought- and Caroline's mini cupcake}

{Our sweet family}

 {Celebrating the first birthday}

{Addie loved to cuddle with Ashley}

{Wishing she could get in one game} 

{A little flashback of how quickly she has grown in just one year}

A weekend later Matt & Jessica Crawford came in for the weekend from Savannah, GA. We spent most of Saturday at the Braves game. We had an hour rain delay but great seats with wonderful friends. We always enjoying seeing them since it is not too often with the distance between us.

A week later I went to Charleston for a field trip with my 8th grade class. I always love seeing Charleston even if its only for two short days. 

{Love King Street-wishing there was one in Atlanta}

{Great teacher friends: Chris, Nicole, and Lindsey} 

Then John's 30th birthday was on May 21, 2014, which we celebrated by going to a great local Italian restaurant near their house. Even though I don't have any photos from the event, John enjoyed being "Applefied" with a new i-Pad and Apple TV. Happy 30th, John!

Memorial Day weekend Richard, Addie and I headed to St. Augustine, Florida for a quick weekend getaway. Since we will be gone most of the summer (June), Richard and I wanted Addie to experience seeing the ocean for the first time. Saturday morning we woke up early and decided to take her to the intercoastal so she wouldn't be nervous by any of the waves (she gets nervous with everything).  She was very hesitant for the first few minutes and would get very upset if either Richard or I would go too far out in the water. Then Sunday, our last day, we headed to the beach. She wasn't quite sure about waves or even the smallest amount of water coming towards her, but she managed to get in and did very well, even if she drank way too much salt water and was "sick" at the beach. Either way, Rich and I had the best time with Addie.

{On our way down- trying not to get caught in too much Atlanta traffic}

{Until next time}

The last event of the month was Leslie's 60th birthday, which was on May 27, 2014,  a great SURPRISE celebration at Milton's.  One of Leslie's great friends wanted to celebrate her birthday by getting some of her dearest friends together on the night of her birthday. We had dinner out on the back porch and enjoyed some of the best southern dishes you can have in the south. Happy 60th birthday, Leslie.

{A Great celebration to a women who is very deserving of it}