vacation 2010 - Part 2

Driving through the midwest is a lot of old farmhouses and barns, but really you can't get a good picture from the highway.

and I don't know why Tim Hortons can not move South - I think they would do good business anywhere.

We probably looked weird taking the kids picture by the sign.

More pictures from the road.......

He finally took a nap!  A must for a long road trip if you have young kids - DVD player and wireless headphones.  On our long driving days we stopped the the Red Box so they could get some new movies (you can return them to any red box).

Really the kids did great in the car the whole trip.  The also read a lot and we played the license plate game - seeing which states all the cars were from.

We counted 46 states, 5 canadian provinces and 1 from Mexico.

Now on to day 1 in Washington DC!  We stayed in Rockville, Maryland and caught the Metro train into the city.  

the White House

I guess this is the Obama's organic garden

see the expression on Kate's face?  By this time we needed to get out of the sun and find a bathroom.

First museum to see - American History:

Julia Child's kitchen

the kids enjoyed the popular culture area:

the ruby slippers from Wizard of Oz

Fonzie's leather jacket -

Kermit the frog -

Archie Bunker's chairs -

A piece of the Berlin wall -

a piece of one of the World trade centers

On to the Natural History museum -

out on the mall area

the Smithsonian castle

riding the carousel

Air and Space Museum

a much needed rest stop and place to take off our shoes

views from the Old Post Office building -

Like good tourists we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe -

 

Washington DC has so much to see, you could spend many days here - we decided to do all we could in 2 days, and we did a LOT.  Next up will be our big day 2 in Washington DC.

It is great that everything is FREE to enter, the food is expensive, but the cafeterias in the museums are all really good, have a lot of fresh foods and a lot of choices.

If you don't mind a lot of walking then you can save a lot by walking everywhere too, that's what we did.

vacation 2010 - Part 1

We took a much needed family vacation and hit the road in our mini-van with the main destinations being Chicago (to stay with my sister in law) for a few days and then on to Washington DC, and then back to Texas!

Day 1 - made it to Muskogee, Oklahoma

Day 2 on to Chicago with a stop in St Louis to see the famous gateway arch.  This was the Saturday of July 4th weekend and there was a lot going on so we didn't want to wait in line to go up to the top so we just snapped some pictures.

Day 3 - some sightseeing and shopping in Downtown Chicago on July 4th.  We took a water taxi ride.

Day 4 we had a quiet day and then to a White Sox game in the evening

one of the only family pictures of our trip, but at least we have one!

coming up next in part 2 - a long drive to Washington DC, and seeing the sights there

Pottery barn style, my kind of prices

Have you ever seen the cute kids' "farmhouse" chairs from Pottery barn kids for $139 each

Yesterday the kids and I stopped at one of my favorite "antique" shops and we found these little painted chairs for $12 a piece.  The table I  had bought at the same place about 4 years ago and I think must have been painted by the same person because it is almost a perfect match in color.  The chairs are pretty sturdy and will get at least a few years use in our playroom for games and coloring.

There was one more chair there if any of my local friends are reading e-mail me and I'll let you know where I got these!  I really did not NEED these chairs, so I really did not need the 3rd one :)

Linking to the Thrifty treasures party at Southern Hospitality