Monday, Monday

*Last week Mary Beth had her 4 year appointment. My Little ME Lou has always been a peanut, and usually wore the size down from what her actual age was. Over the past few years, she has been between 30%-40% for height and weight. Given that I am the shortest girl in my family at 5'6", and Bryon is 6'2", this always surprised us! I have noticed that ever since Christmas, she has really filled out and shot up. She was measured at her appt. and was in the 65% for height and weight! Her doctor said that most children who struggle with kidney problems are smaller than average. Since we got her kidney fixed, her body spends less time keeping infection at bay, and more time growing! Her doctor estimates that she will be 5'6", just like her mama!

*My sweet Thomas is more reserved than Matthew, but talks to everyone. It isn't unusual to go places with him, and he runs into people he knows, that I might not know. Bryon said that at the Baylor game on Friday night, he and Thomas passed by Mamadou Diene, Baylor's 7' star basketball player from Africa. He looked down and said, "Hi, Thomas!" He remembered Thomas from basketball camp this summer, and it touched me that he still remembered his name!

*We had a wonderful, quiet weekend at home, although we were anxious to hear how Bryon's parents, grandmother, and sister fared, and wondered the fate of his aunt and uncle's house. Bryon's family lives about an hour north of Galveston, and are still without power. They have been told it could be up to three weeks before it comes back on. We have been thinking of our wonderful visit to Galveston in late June when we spent quite a bit of time at Bryon's aunt and uncle's house. Aunt Lisa, who primarily lives in Dallas, and her sister did a beautiful job of decorating it. Their house is believed to be destroyed as it is situated in the hardest hit part of the island. We are just thankful they are OK. Here are are a few pics from that weekend:




*This looks to be a much quieter week than last week. No PTA meetings!

Update

I neglected the blog for Facebook last week, so I am trying to be fair and write a bit on the old blog. Here is what has been going on:

*I have decided that if PTA volunteering was paid by the hour, I would have earned a trip to an island somewhere by now! I am Matthew's room mom, and the 1st grade room mom coordinator, so much of my days have been spent in meetings, preparing for meetings, and a few trips up to the classroom to help put things on walls. I love it, though. I love spending time with the teachers and hanging out with my PTA friends.

*Matthew was working on a page he was writing to introduce himself to the class. He had written several cute things like, "I love to go to school. If you want to be a gastroenterologist, there is a lot you have to learn." He had 3/4 of the page finished when I asked him if he wanted to write anything about being a Christian. He quickly put his hand up and said, "I really don't want to get into politics or religion." Where does he come up with this stuff?

*Last week, piano and ballet started up again. This year, three of us are taking piano! Thomas started this summer, and I had my first lesson on Friday morning. Now that the kids are getting more independent, I figure I have earned the right to do something for myself. After a 17 year break, I walked into the piano studio with sheet music in hand. I played most of my years growing up, and I can still play my old pieces, but have trouble picking up new music. I consider the boys' teacher an amazing musician, and I feel honored to be taking from her. I have been practicing quite a bit since my Friday lesson. I find it funny that I hated practicing as a child, and now that I love to practice, every time I sit down to play, either the boys ask if they can play, or Mary Beth starts banging on the keys along with me!

*This week is going to be crazy. I had a PTA meeting this morning, I am hosting one at my house tomorrow morning, and have two nights to be up at school for Parent Night. You stick that in the mix with lessons, sports practices, ballet, work, homework, and church, and you have yourself a busy week!

Interesting

Your Personality is Somewhat Common (ESFJ)

Your personality type is generous, accepting, humble, and considerate. About 11% of all people have your personality, including 15% of all women and 7% of all men You are Extroverted, Sensing, Feeling, and Judging.

How Rare Is Your Personality?

I got this from Stephanie. I agree that it sort of depends on what mood I am in when taking the test. I equally love being with friends and being by myself. Just depends on the day!

Looking forward to Fall!

I am starting to get that feeling that Fall is right around the corner! Yippee! My soul is happiest in the fall. Heaven to me is crisp autumn air, homes decorated with pumpkins, chili and apple pie, school buses, falling leaves, soccer games, and football on tv. Next to my children's laughter, no other sound puts a smile on my face like football on TV!

I am looking forward to what I anticipate to be a great Fall. Our schedule is set, and I am going to try to have set chores every day. Mondays, I will do any necessary PTA work, respond to emails. Tuesdays, I will work, and do one organizational project. Wednesdays is work, and grocery store day. Thursdays, major cooking day. Fridays will be laundry and work. I am anxious to test out my new system!

*The boys will be busy with soccer and piano. So far, school is going great. Matthew is LOVING 3rd grade! He loves that he gets to keep everything in a huge binder, and that he is not a primary grade anymore. He has come home everyday with interesting lessons learned during the day. Your guess is as good as mine with Thomas' day. He hates giving me details about school, but seems to be really happy! Mary Beth is loving preschool as well.

*I have a large stack of books sitting on my nightstand that I intend to get through this fall, and maybe this winter:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
If I Am Missing Or Dead (book club selection this month)
Interpreter of Maladies
Brideshead Revisited
The Memory of Running
Vile Bodies
The Worst Hard Time
Garden Spells
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
The Pillars of the Earth
Bel Canto
Frenchman Creek
The Beach House
The Shack (I started reading this week, but it is making me very sad!)

I always love hearing commentaries on books, so if you have read any of these, let me know what you think!

*Also this fall, I am hosting our book club at my house. We are reading The Thirteenth Tale, which I read last winter. I love how the author writes, and think it will be an interesting discussion.

*We are tentatively planning a trip to Alabama to watch a Bama game in October. Hope this works out!

*After two years of living in our house, we are doing a master bedroom and office redo in the next few weeks. I have been watching HGTV like crazy trying to get ideas!

*For the first time, I will be hosting Thanksgiving at my house! We always go to my in law's house for the holiday, as do my sister and brother. This year, my sister will be almost to her due date, so I am having my parents, sister and family, my in laws and family at our house for the holiday. I can't wait!

That's all for now! I can't decide if I want to crack open a book, or watch a little college football!

First Day!

Well, this morning went off without a hitch! Everyone is happy and all is well in the world. I got to spend quite a bit of time with Matthew's teacher yesterday getting her room ready for math, and I love her! I can't wait to pick the boys up in an hour to see how their days went!

This weekend

So much has gone on the past few days!

First of all, we found out who the boys would have as teachers on Wednesday night. Thomas has who Matthew had for first grade. I am looking forward to being with her again! She called Thomas and they talked on the phone for 15 minutes. Thomas spent lots of time in her classroom as a preschooler, so he feels very comfortable there.

Matthew has a teacher who has been teaching at the school for 25 years. I hear that she is a great teacher and she does lots of fun things with the kids. I am not as excited about 3rd grade as I have been about the rest. The kids change classes and tons of time is spent devoted to getting ready for the TAKS test. Matthew can't wait to take the test, so he is ready to go!

Both boys had their first soccer games on Saturday. We have had cool, cloudy weather all week, but the oppressive heat came back just in time for soccer! I had butterflies in my stomach on the way to the field. Thomas is no longer in what he calls "Tiny Town". They play on a full field, and Thomas was goalie! I was worried that a bunch of goals would be scored on him, but he did great! Out of around 10 shots on goal, Thomas blocked all but 2. He was thrilled with this, so I was too! Matthew played well, and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed spending my Saturdays on the soccer fields!

Saturday night, we had a Sunday school class back to school swim party and potluck. We have a great class, and I am ready for the new year. This is our last day at home together, so we have been watching Camp Rock, watching cartoons, and playing Wii. All the things that will go by the wayside when school starts tomorrow!

Exsadded about the end of summer.

I asked Matthew the other day if he was sad or excited about starting school. He said, "I am sad and excited. I am exsadded!"

I am ready for school to start, but I will look back with wonderful memories of this summer. The kids and I were talking about our favorite things of this summer. Here is what we came up with:

1. Going to Mt. Rushmore.
2. Going to Rhode Island.
3. Traveling over 8,000 miles through 25 states.
4. Baylor baseball camp (Matthew).
5. Baylor basketball camp (Thomas).
6. Sports camp
7. Music camp
8. Matthew getting to play piano in Houston.
9. Going to Galveston.
10. Going to San Antonio.
11. Watching Michael Phelps break the Olympic record.
12. Fourth of July parade.
13. Hanging out with neighborhood friends and starting a neighborhood friends' club.
14. Reading great books. I am reading the final few pages of the Twilight series today. 2,000 plus pages in a little over a month!
15. Thomas playing coach pitch for the first time.

Yes, it was a memorable, wonderful summer!

Preschool!

Mary Beth has been so excited about starting preschool! The other day, she ran over, put her arms around the boys' necks, and said, "Now, we are ALL in school!" I think she feels so big! This morning, I woke her up and said, "Today is preschool!" She bounced up and said, "Now I am not a baby anymore!" We are so thrilled about the year. School is a mile from home, she adores her teacher (me too!) and she has three very sweet friends in her class!

Watching the rain together.

We have had rain almost every day this week! During a particularly hard downpour, Mary Beth and Thomas decided to get a front row seat to the action on our front porch. Mary Beth has been very weepy this week since Thomas will be at school next week. They have enjoyed good bonding time this week.

Dart Tag around the Barnhill house

Matthew says, "In dart tag, it's every man for himself."

ME's party and the upcoming week.

We had a fun birthday weekend! We woke up on Saturday morning to gray skies. This always thrills me, but I was slightly concerned about it raining during Mary Beth's swim party. This is something we rarely have to worry about in August, but it has rained more in August than June, which is very unusual. Fortunately, the rain held off. Even though the humidity seemed nearly 100%, it was in the 70s during her party, which made being outside very bearable! Mary Beth received many wonderful gifts, and I am so thankful to our family and friends for loving my daughter so much!

This week, we are making final preparations for school. We have begun getting the kids to bed at a regular time, so next week won't be such a shock! Tonight, we are going to Mary Beth's new preschool for an orientation. I have used our Mother's Day Out program at our church since Matthew was a baby. It was a hard decision to change schools, but I think that 3 days a week will be good for Mary Beth to ease into kindergarten (gasp) the following year. It is closer to our house, and I will be able to take on additional patients, and not have to work on the weekend, should I get several intakes in a row.

I never enjoy change, but I was thrilled to find out that one of my best friends, Amy, would be teaching at Mary Beth's school this year. I found out this week that she will be Mary Beth's teacher! Two of ME's best friends will also be in the class, so I am very excited about the year.

I am so excited about school starting again! I just love almost everything about school. I love the fall, I love getting to know the kids' teachers, doing homework, watching football, watching the boys play soccer, seeing my PTA friends, and getting on a schedule again. I know that after school starts, there will be days that I will miss our more laid back summer schedule, so I am trying to enjoy every minute of this week will my little ones at home.

Hope you enjoy your week as well!

Mary Elizabeth turns 4!

I just wanted to take a minute and say how blessed I have been to know my daughter for 4 years. Mary Elizabeth has been such a shining light in my life. For four years, she has been our sunshine.

Here are a few facts about my Little M.E. Lou:
1. Her favorite colors are "rainbow, pink, and purple."
2. Her favorite foods are "tomatoes and candy". She also requested ribs as her birthday meal! What a hoot!
3. She wants to be "either a princess or a mommy" when she grows up. Can't she be both? ;)
4. She LOVES to sing! This week, we were in a public bathroom, and she belted out "It's too late to apologize! It's too laaaaaate!" by onerepublic. Also, thanks to her adoring brothers, she also loves to sing, "We will, we will, rock you! Rock you! Flush you down the toilet, see if you enjoy it! We will, we will ROCK YOU!"
5. Makeovers are her favorite thing to do. She will do just about anything for a swipe of my lip gloss.
6. She still loves all things princess, but is now getting into Barbie.
7. Mary Beth is a cuddle bug and still loves her blankets. She holds her blanket up to her mouth and makes a "na na" sound. When she is upset, she will ask to "Na na her blankie!"
8. She is always happy among her friends. Her brothers' sporting events are a thrill to her, because she gets to see lots of kids.
9. She LOVES her curly yellow hair, and makes comments when she sees someone else with curly yellow hair.
10. She adores her brothers. She wants to marry Thomas, and loves for Matthew to tuck her in at night. I love watching how the boys are with her. Matthew wanted to stay up until midnight the night before her birthday, so he could see her for just a few more minutes as a three year old.
11. I would say that her personality is very spunky. She is a bit of a rascal, but rarely gets in trouble. She is such a fun and easy companion.
12. She is hilarious. She loves to laugh and have people laugh with her. The other day, the kids kept saying, "Ummm, Daddy?" Bryon said, "My name is not UmmDaddy!" Mary Beth called him "UmmmmDaddy" the rest of the day. Belly laughing after each delivery.

What a joy she is! We had fun celebrating her birthday in San Antonio, and will have her birthday party this weekend!

Heard from the backseat part 2.

I knew if I posted once, I would start back again! Three very funny conversations were had in our car again yesterday. The first two stemmed from the boys having a little two much time together:

*Matthew inherited our old cam corder, and uses it on vacations. He and Thomas decided to do an internet sports show for kids and spent the morning writing the script. Thomas wanted to call it iThomas. Very original, eh? For those of you out of the Nickolodean years, there is a show called iCarly that the boys really love. Anyway, trouble was had in paradise, and the two came to a creative impasse. While on the road yesterday, Matthew told Thomas he couldn't be in the show anymore. That is was his cam corder and he wouldn't let Thomas use it. Thomas then turned to me, and asked if he could use it. Matthew then chimed in, "Thomas, I am the judge, and this is NOT a jury trial!" When I relayed the story later to Bryon, he and Matthew had a "talk", but I know he was so proud! The boys have since mended their differences, and are back to work on their show.

*While the boys were sitting in the backseat, they started arguing about something silly. Matthew got upset and said, "Thomas, one of these days when you grow facial hair, I am going to SHAVE IT OFF!" Be afraid, Thomas, be very afraid...

*All of us were coming home from a drive last night. Something was said, then Bryon said, "Boys, that's why I love your mother." Thomas said, "Daddy, that's not the reason. You love her because she is sweet and HOT!" Man, I love that kid!

Last week.

Watching the Hannah Montana musical!

Will. Have. Will. Power. To. Write. Blog....


OK, I can do this.

Last week was lots of fun, and crazy! The boys were at different camps, and completely different parts of town, and they both had to be there at 9a.m! Matthew was involved with Sports Camp at our church, which is his favorite church event of the summer. Basically, the youth group plays lots of different sports with the elementary school kids. I am fairly sure that Matthew's version of heaven is something like Sports Camp.

Thomas and his good buddy, Rhett, went to Baylor Basketball Camp. They had tons of fun, and loved having Mamadou Diene, the 7 foot plus Baylor player from Africa there every day.

Monday, I started grilling some pork, then walked inside to answer the phone. When I came back outside, I heard a roaring sound, then realized that my grill was on FIRE!! I raced over to turn off the propane, then raced inside to find the most dispensable beach towel. Goodbye, Blues Clues beach towel. You outlived your show's popularity. I got it under control, then got to spend a while cleaning up the smoke damage on our siding.

My birthday was Tuesday. It was the nicest day! I dropped the kids off at their activities. Lauren, Mom, and Dad took me to my favorite Thai food place in Waco for lunch. I picked out my new dishes from my in laws, then went on a date with Bryon that night. The perfect day!

Thursday night, I went out with some dear friends. Before I go any further, I must say that Waco has been in a drought this summer. Hardly a drop of rain. Anyway, after a dinner at Pei Wei, we headed out to do some shopping. That is when the heavens opened up and FLOODED Waco. I am talking, water on the streets, street lights out, sideways rain. It cut our evening shorter than we had planned. Seriously! Is Mother Nature so against a good Girls Night Out?

Sunday was our anniversary. Last weekend, my parents went to see Jersey Boys in Dallas with their dear friends, the Seidels. Mom raved about it and offered to watch the kids for us so we could see it on our anniversary. I bought the tickets before she had a chance to change her mind! After Sunday school, we headed to Dallas and enjoyed a great lunch, good shopping, and a fabulous musical. Now, I will warn you, like my mother did 30 or 40 times, it has terrible language, BUT the music was great, and Bryon said it was his favorite musical ever. We had a wonderful time together and enjoyed thinking of our special day 12 years ago.

And then, there is Twilight. I have joked that I have put on 3 pounds since our trip, and no, it isn't from the clam chowder and ice cream that I ate daily. No, it is the large book that has been attached to my hands since last week! I read Twilight in less than two days, took a few days off, then finished New Moon in about the same time. I have been known to pick it up during commercials, during waits in the car, and even try to get a paragraph in during a red light! I haven't felt so wrapped up in a series since Mark of the Lion. I love it. I want to marry it. I am sad I am half way through it. I say I am going to take a break, but I am sure that Eclipse, which is sitting on my nightstand, will be attached to my hands by this evening.

That's it for now! There, I did it!

Blogger Doldrums

I have so much to write about, but have gotten wrapped up in Facebook, and there is only so much time in the day to sit at the computer when all three kids are home!

I am hoping to write a post this weekend about sports camp, basketball camp, my birthday, a crazy girls night out,and our fun anniversary planned for Sunday!

Have a great weekend!

Heard from the backseat

You can't spend hours on end in the car with three funny kids without hearing some hilarious conversations. Here are a few of my favorites...

*Heard while driving through the Shenandoah National Forest...
Thomas: "I am voting for Obama."
Matthew: "Why do you want to do that?"
Thomas: "Because he gives really good speeches, and I think he would make a great president."
Matthew: "You don't want to vote for a Democrat. Obama wants to grow our government, which means higher taxes, which means that our toys would cost more money."

Ahhh, the political musings of an 8 year old!


*Matthew and Thomas love American History and are trying to teach Mary Beth some things about presidents. Last month, they taught her who the four presidents on Mount Rushmore are. One day, we were driving around and she said, "Who was that president with the long beard?" (Meaning Abraham Lincoln). Matthew said, "Oh, you mean Rutherford B. Hayes?"

Not exactly the president that usually comes to mind when talking about a president with a long beard!


*I asked the kids at one point what their favorite thing on the trip was. Matthew said, "Definitely seeing Josh Hamilton beat the record for most home runs in the first round of the Homerun Derby." This, of course, he could have seen staying at the Motel 6 in Peducah, TX! He has since amended this, and now says NYC was his favorite thing!

*Mary Beth let us know that her favorite song is the "Andy Anna Jones song".

*While touring Monticello, we spent some time in Thomas Jefferson's room. Here, we were informed that T.J. died in his bed. The bed happened to have a pink coverlet on it. Mary Beth, lover of all things pink, told everyone she met that Thomas Jefferson died in a pink bed.

*This happened last night, so technically it wasn't on the trip, but a funny story nonetheless...I took the three kids to Luby's last night for dinner. We all shared a slice of Coconut Cream Pie. Mary Beth looked at me and said,"Will this give me another bite of pie?" She starts batting her eyes and said, "You look SO pretty tonight, Mommy!" Ha! The waitress heard this and brought her a complimentary slice of Coconut Cream Pie!

Picture are up!

At long last, my pictures are finally uploaded, organized, and labeled! It only took about 5 hours! We are enjoying a quiet, organization day. You can view my pictures in our Family Picture link on the right.

Aahhhh, I can't look at my computer any more today!!!

Heading home!

We had a great trip and are finally heading south. Here are a few highlights from the last few days...

*We went to Block Island off the coast of Rhode Island on Thursday. My two aunts and one cousin joined us. This island is where my grandmother worked while in college during the 1930s. My grandmother died when I was 11 months old, and although I don't remember her, she is always very much alive when my mother and her sisters are together. Stepping on this island was like stepping back in time. The hotel where my grandmother worked is still in operation. It reminded me of the hotel in the movie Somewhere In Time. We walked the grounds, then headed inside. In the lobby, there was a poster commemorating the 100th anniversary of the hotel and a few pictures showing the hotel during the different decades. As I looked closer at the dates, I noticed one was a picture of the staff from 1938, 70 years ago this summer. I scanned the faces in the picture and found my grandmother's face! I couldn't believe it. It was so special being there with my mother and her two sisters, and we all felt our grandmother's presence there.

*Thanks to hurricane Bertha, hundreds of miles away, we had incredible waves at Narragansett beach. There were also strong rip tides, so strong that it made national news. Matthew and I went out to ride the waves on Wednesday. I got tired, so Michael started watching Matthew (who never gets tired) and I walked to shore to hang out with Jilinda and Mary Beth. After a while, we saw a life guard race into the water. Jilinda and I looked to see who he was rescuing. He swam over to Matthew! Matthew had gotten caught in a rip tide and was having trouble swimming back to Michael. Michael reached him before the life guard did, and I was so thankful that the situation was under control before I figured out what was happening! As it turned out, the life guards had to save several people in the same stretch of water that Matthew was in, so they closed our section of the water. We watched in awe as 10-15 racing around like a scene from Baywatch, as they saved many trapped swimmers. Fortunately, everyone was OK. I absolutely loved watching Matthew diving into the waves. He was so joyful, and watching him was such a treat.

*We went back to the beach on Friday, and Bryon, Michael, Lauren, and I body surfed on huge waves. Some were fun, but I got knocked around quite a bit, and scraped my back on the ocean floor. I still feel like my equilibrium is off! Mary Beth and Thomas loved digging into the sand. Mary Beth stayed busy for hours making "dough" with her sand cut outs.

*I had such a fun week with my family. Hanging out with my parents and siblings (I consider Jilinda and Josh my sister and brother as well) was such a blessing to me, and I will never forget how magical the week was.

*Our family reunion was yesterday in Seekonk, MA. I absolutely love my mother's maternal family! I am named after the women in this family. My grandmother was Mildred Elizabeth, her mother was Sarah Elizabeth, and her mother was Elizabeth Ann, which is my first and middle name. My grandmother (mentioned earlier) was the oldest of 5, and the baby, Aunt Winifred, is the only one left. She actually came to my wedding, and was my honorary grandmother. It was nice to visit with her, along with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. The day was over before it started, and we spent the night with my aunt in Providence last night.

*We are now on the road, and anticipate a very long day in the car today. Tomorrow, we will make it to Alabama, and I am excited about meeting my blog friends, Karen and Tesney!

I guess my next blog will be with pictures! We should be home sometime on Tuesday. Just another 28 hours of driving left!

The last few days.

Things are still going great!

We headed to NYC on Saturday, and had a great day in the city. We got a great view of the Statue of Liberty coming in from New Jersey. We got to the city via the Holland tunnel and headed downtown. While there, we drove past where the World Trade Center was, then parked near Battery Park. We took a few pictures of the Statue of Liberty, then headed uptown. I was able to help Bryon navigate uptown and got to see Madison Square Garden, 34th street, Empire State Building, then parked on 42nd street near Times Square. We walked over to one of my favorite restaurants in the world, Carmine's. No words to describe this place...

After a great lunch, we walked to Times Square, took a few pics, then walked over the the largest Toys R Us on the planet. What a treat! We rode a four story ferris wheel inside, and Mary Beth was in awe of the two story Barbie house inside.

After this, we headed up to New England. We were so happy to pull into Bonnet Shores, RI and see my parents. Lauren, Josh, James, Michael, and Jilinda pulled in a few minutes later. It was nice to all be together, and we headed out for clam cakes and lobster rolls.

Monday, we spent the day at Narragansett beach. My aunt and her friend drove down from Providence to hang out with us. The waves were huge...three times higher than normal, and major rip tides. As I watched my dare devil 8 year old paddle out to those large waves, we might have been at the North Shore of Hawaii! I said a little prayer, then sent him on his way. Matthew rode the waves with the best of them! Thomas and Mary Beth had a great time making sand castles. We had a great day!

Today, we went to Newport, RI, where my parents met and lived after they were married. This is a special place for all of us, and enjoyed the best clam chowder on the planet, shopping, and a harbor cruise.

I'll write more later!

In the middle of Maryland...

We had a great day yesterday!

We spent the early part of the day at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's plantation. There was a great children's tour that they offered. All the lecture was geared toward children, and my kids loved that adults were supposed to stay in the background. ;)

After leaving Monticello, we headed to Washington D.C. We made our way to our hotel on Lafayette Square. This was our Priceline.com, name your price, treat. When we were checking in, I asked the man at reception if we could get a room with two beds instead of one. He upgraded us to a suite! We stayed at a Four Star hotel for the price of Holiday Inn. What a treat!

We then headed to Union Station to grab some Pizzeria Uno and get our tickets for the Monuments by Moonlight tour. I posted a question on Fodors.com as to what to do in D.C. with limited time. Someone highly recommended this tour. I am so glad he did! The city is breathtaking at sunset and night. We lucked out and had beautiful weather and a gorgeous sunset. We were able to get out to see the Iwo Jima monument, Arlington National Cemetery, Lincoln Memorial, Washington monument, FDR memorial, and the Korean War monument. The last one was particularly haunting at night. We also got to see the WW2 memorial, White House, Capitol building, Watergate, and countless museums in our trolley. We got back to our hotel, and felt like we got a feel for the city, and a deep desire to go back in the next few years to really tour it right.

We left late this morning, after finally getting to sleep in a little and stopped in Maryland for some Chesapeake Bay crab, and are back on the road in route to Philadelphia to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

It has been so much fun watching the kids together. The boys have been babying Mary Beth and holding her when she gets tired. All three are getting along well, so the car ride has been great.

Tomorrow, we will take the Staten Island ferry into NYC. We will get to see the Statue of Liberty, and a few other interesting sights. I can't stand driving in any traffic. Selfishly, I like a personal space box of at least a half a mile on the higway (Wyoming was blissful!), so wish me luck in the front seat tomorrow as we make our way up Manhattan Island!