Our second day in DC we actually took a drive over to Maryland to visit Butlers Orchard. We had heard of the pumpkin patch, all the fun fall inspired kid activities and homemade treats. What better way to celebrate Autumn and the Halloween season? And aside from the shockingly expensive admission price it was a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
In October we took advantage of what could potentially be Mckay’s only fall break while at Notre Dame and took a trip out to DC to visit Adam and Carley. What made this trip even better was that Mckay’s mom and brother (just home from his mission) joined us and we also got to meet up with Mairin and Chad. We felt so lucky to be able to spend time with so much family. We were seriously in Heaven. We had left the trip open-ended, not completely sure how long we would be able to stay with the kids. But we just didn’t want to leave. So in the end we stayed 10 days and seriously had the best time. Not only was it amazing spending so much time with family but we fell in love with DC. We tried to soak up as much as we possible could. I’m shocked at how much we did with the two babes. We’re so blessed to have kids that our so good at travelling.
DAY 1.
{MT. VERNON} Mt. Vernon was beautiful. We walked around the beautiful grounds and learned a little history. Henry loved all the attention he got from his aunts and uncles he missed and running around outside.
{AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM} We got to the museum late in the day so we only had an hour. We obviously knew our airplane loving boy would love it. He also fell in love with rockets and carried his souvenir space shuttle around the rest of the trip. We made plans to go back again.
{NATIONAL MALL}
{LINCOLN MEMORIAL}
We left Utah shortly after Hazel’s blessing and made the three day drive to South Bend, IN. We were so excited to finally pull into the driveway of our new little yellow house! I was extra excited since this was my first time actually seeing it in person. My wonderful parents made the trip out with us to help drive the truck, unpack and get settled. They stayed for our first week there and once they left we were faced with the reality that this would be our home for the next 4-5 years. Just the four of us, away from all our immediate family. It was exciting, scary and of course overwhelming, just like any major change in life. We are still in the process of figuring out the whole home owners thing, but really, truly love our little home. It is perfect for us. We wasted no time in exploring our new area and quickly found some of our favorite spots.
POTOWATAMI ZOO. A short drive down town is the cutest little zoo. Perfect for a late morning outing. It takes about 1.5 hours to wander around the whole thing. Perfect place to let this little man explore.
SILVER BEACH, MICHIGAN. We are 45 minutes from the cutest little beach town up in Michigan. The drive itself is beautiful and we instantly fell in love with the lake. Being so big you actually feel like you’re at the ocean, only better because the waves are smaller (perfect for Henry) and it’s fresh water instead of salt. We had been missing home and feeling a little out of place when we first visited Silver Beach but this became our happy place. We will never get enough of this place.
AMISH COUNTRY. Wanting to become familiar with as much of our surrounding area as possible we are always up for going on family drives. We are lucky enough to live very near the Heritage Trail that winds through Amish Country. This road is known to be one of the prettiest drives to take in the Country. And I have to agree. It is hard to find anyone around more enthusiastic about Amish Country than me. We drive out there quite a bit but the first time we drove out there, I about died. It looked like something out of a book. Quaint little white homes, pastel laundry hanging out to dry, tidy farm land, horse drawn buggies. Everything was so clean and…wholesome looking. I was snapping pictures like we were driving through a safari, Mckay was tactful enough to not give in to my demands to pull over to take pictures. I guess I should respect these peoples privacy, but I was just so obsessed with it all. What’s more is that the Amish seriously know how to make a donut, or pie, or any baked good really. So we always come home with some really good treats. And pictures will just never do this place justice.
