Family Vacation to Annapolis, Maryland

Our little family of four left on the airplane on Saturday, April 21, to go to Annapolis, MD to visit Dan's parents, brother Mike and brother Tim. We had a LONG journey there, but we made it and arrived around 7 p.m. East coast time. It's hard work travelling with two lil guys that NEVER stop moving! But they were sooo good! We were exhausted when we arrived, but that didn't stop us from seeing where Tim lived on the Naval Academy and staying up talking with Dan's parents! Josiah and Micah were quite excited to see their grandparents! On Sunday we went to the chapel at the Naval Acamdemy, and Tim had liberty so he was able to join us for most of the day! It was great to see him also. He is a plebe (freshman) at the Naval Academy and almost finished for this year...it's been quite a year for him! On Sunday afternoon we had a nice BBQ with Tim and then later dropped him back off at "The Yard." We then decided, or I should say Dan and his Dad decided it would be fun to drive to Delaware...so off we went, thank goodness the boys took a long nap. They then proceeded to drive to the Atlantic Ocean Coast...which ended up being a 2 1/2 hour long drive...longer than what we wanted to do. We arrived at the coast around 9 p.m. and Dan, Josiah and I ran out and touched the water...so now we can say we've been from sea to shining sea. :) WE didn't arrive home till almost 11 p.m. We were EXHAUSTED! No sleep for the weary.

Monday...we hopped in the van and went to see Mike, who is in the army and a guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and went and saw him. He is now doing the changing of the guard and is wonderful at it! He will be finished up in July this summer! We are very proud of him as well! It was a neat experience to see Mike doing all the commands and seeing him in charge! We also got to go down where they get ready and hang out with Uncle Mike for a while. Josiah wasn't too sure about his Uncle Mike, but Micah absolutely LOVED him! :) AFter the tomb we went on a drive to Mount Vernon where George Washington lived. We had a yummy lunch and then went on a tour of his house, while Pa and Mama took the boys to look at the animals. What a beautiful old house and it is right on the Putomac River. It was an absolute gorgeous day out and about!

Tuesday, Dan and I woke up quite early 5:15 a.m. to be out the door by 6:15 with his Dad to get to the metro station so we could ride it in to D.C. Mama stayed at home with her lil boys...enjoying her Mama time! Dan and I got to tour the capitol, Air and Space Museum, see the White House, the Holocaust Museum and ate lunch at ESPN Zone. We had a FULL day of walking and it was a warm, muggy 80 degrees out. We had lots of fun just the two of us! We then took the Metro to Alexandria and walked to the water front where we waited for Mike to pick us up and then took us back to his house. Dan's parents arrived with the boys and we had a BBQ...it was another long day and lots of walking!

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we enjoyed relaxing more and went to the Naval Academy and was able to see Tim on Friday evening where we took him dinner and walked around the base. We also had a delicious dinner at Buddy's Crabs and Ribs with Dan's parents and we experienced our first crab cakes, pretty yummy! Thursday evening Dan, his Dad and I went to a Boston Red Sox game against Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yard in downtown Baltimore. There were more Red Sox fans than Oriole fans! That was kinda funny! The Red Sox won which made Dan very happy! It was a GREAT game and fun time with his Dad. Grandma stayed home with the boys and had fun times there!

Saturday morning we left at 4:15 a.m. It was another very very long day ahead of us and poor Josiah had a fever all day while travelling, but they again both did very well! We were sooo tired when we got home, but we made so many memories. There is a LOT more I could write but I really don't have time. And there are many more pics but I couldn't put them all in. We can't wait to go back and visit again! :)