Spring Break Outing #2

Our original plan for Spring Break was to drive to Ohio and make some stops along the way for a real road trip adventure, so when we changed plans, the boys were still wanting to have some kind of big trip that included a hotel stay because the pools are so stinking awesome ;)   So after the Natural Bridge, Safari Park day-trip, I started to plan the next adventure.  I presented the boys with some options:  stay in a great cabin in Gettysburg and explore that area, stay in a hotel in Williamsburg and spend a day at Busch Gardens and one day in Colonial Williamsburg, or stay here and make a day trip to the Zoo and maybe the Space Museum and then possibly to the trampoline park in Richmond.  They all quickly dismissed Busch Gardens (not warm enough for roller coasters they decided).   Jonah and Gavin had zero interest in taking a "tour" around Gettysburg or Williamsburg because, they argued, we just had a "tour" yesterday in the cavern.  They were apparently "toured out"!  Liam and Caleb were luke warm on Gettysburg, but everyone was totally on board with taking a day trip to DC one day and then two days later a trip to Richmond.  So after spending about 4 hours trying to locate a place to spend a few nights and finally coming up with what would have been a fantastic place in Gettysburg or Williamsburg, we slept in our own beds and took a road trip to DC with a plan to hit the Zoo and possibly the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum.  

Highlights of this trip:

1. Waking up and having everything ready to get dressed and drive.  

2. Stopping at Bodo's Bagels for breakfast on the road and laying down the law for Caleb to eat at least one egg bagel before consuming the 2 others with plain cream cheese!  

3. For the kids: watching Tin-Tin on the drive.  For Jared: utterly frustrating that he couldn't synch the headphones with the DVD player so we could listen to music.  

4. Finding the parking lot at the Zoo closed because it had reached capacity already.....it was Spring Break, and this was DC mind you.  We found a "Service" spot at the entrance for Zoo workers where Jared parked illegally for one our before going back to move the van to a permanent spot.  It worked like a charm!

5.  Favorite sitings:  Giant Panda Romping around, an up close view of the elephant we saw years ago as a baby (we watched the video of his birth the last time we were there about 6 years ago), and the Tiger Roaring for 5 solid minutes;  he was amazingly loud for how little he actually opened his mouth.

6.  Voted favorite exhibits: Elephant house and Amazonia.

7.  Spending 7 hours exploring around.  This was by far a record for our family and shows what can happen when little people start to grow up.

8. Jonah's new stuffed Red Panda.  We all went into the gift shop so he could pick it out and I expected that the others would start asking for something they could get for themselves.  But to my delighted surprise they didn't make one single request.  Not one!  They were happy that Jonah got a new stuftie and that was good enough for them.  

9. Eating at Cafe Rio on the way home (only the 2nd time in our lives).  

10. Stopping at the Moo-Through for Ice Cream for the kids.  Even though I knew they were too full from dinner to really eat more, we were on vacation.  The Grandpas in their lives would appreciate this!
11.  No one complaining that we didn't make it to the Air and Space museum.  They actually never even mentioned it after we got the the Zoo which was great because we left at 5:00 and we were in Washington DC....the worst time to be in that city.

The only "lowlight" of this trip was that Jared had strapped to his belt the camera, and for some reason that I still find mind boggling, he only took these two pictures of the kids.