Washington D.C.

It started at 5 am. Sunday morning. Once loaded into the car, and then a short drive back to get a forgotten cell phone, we were off.
The Mirci boys surprisingly enjoyed the 5+ hr. (traffic ugh...) drive to Our nations capitol. Thanks to modern technology, and a new Little Einsteins DVD. Mom enjoyed a few naps, and the beautiful farms along the way in to Pennsylvania. It was a rainy day, but the big silos still shined through.

After our arrival at the Comfort Inn, Pentagon (see story below), we strolled through the Modern Art Sculpture park. I'm not one for modern art, but apparently these are really great pieces and famous or something. The boys under what I assume was a horse, and Dax running by a monster sized eraser.

Oh, and then the water. Despite the rain, the fountain was a hit. Dax found many puddles to splash around in.

I have no idea what this was.

So the story about the hotel was that when we checked in I noticed that there was a burn hole in one of the bed spreads. I, being a mom of 2 active boys thought to myself, that has to go, or fingers will rip it to shreds. We took the spread off the bed and were going to tell housekeeping that night...but forgot. The next morning when housekeeping came to clean for the day, I proceeded to tell the maid, who spoke basically no English, that there was a hole in the bedspread and it needed to be replaced. I had forgotten to tell them yesterday. Then the phone rings. I answer, and it was the front desk telling me they had a report of me telling the maid that WE accidentally burned a hole in the bed with a cigarette! Whoa. Wait a minute. They thought We did it? So I spoke to the supervisor and told them the story, not to mention it didn't even remotely smell of smoke in the room . He also spoke practically no English. He told me the Manager inspects each room after cleaning, and our comforter was fine then. So he suggested maybe I had burned it with an iron. What ? Iron the comforter? Why would I do that? ( It never even crossed my mind that a prior guest may have.) There was even an ironing board in the closet. So next I was speaking with the manager, who spoke OK English, and then it hit me! I had for some reason taken a picture of the hole when we arrived! I don't know why, I just did. Proof right there on my camera. Time and Date stamp and all! I busted it out, and suddenly she spoke English, and had apologised for the misunderstanding. They never did bring a new cover. Probably had no extras. Maybe that's why they tried to pin it on me in the first place. Lesson learned here, always take pictures of your hotel room when you check in! Especially in D.C.

My personal favorite place was the Smithsonian. Here you see my new necklace, The Hope Diamond. You think your last purchase was over packaged, I'm still figuring out how to get this out of the store!

Joey loved the bat fossils. We also ran into uncle Mikie in the mammals exhibit.

This is a Dimetrodon. Joe dressed as Donna the Dimetrodon, when he was kid, for a talent show at school. He thinks he must have looked like a tool. So I took a picture of this so he'll always remember the hard work his mother put into making the costume for him.

The next day we took a tour of the Library of Congress. It was beautiful. When it was built they really went all out, just to show off how awesome the U.S. was. They made sure to include fancy stuff like marble sculptures, gold leafing, and the works of famous artists.

Joey noticed off first hand what the painting on the left was missing. Then he was fascinated with the "real gold" on the building. And he thought this was a golden sun. He just had to touch it. It was amazing to him.

Dax got bored real fast. Luckily there were these computer versions of the Gutenberg Bible for him to mess around with while we looked at one of the the original. Lola was a little angel!

Next we visited the Korean and Vietnam War Memorials.

Here we are with our friends the Tillmanns (whom we had met up with earlier on in the vacation) in front of the Washington Monument. Lola again an angel.

Dax, Joey and Lucy (Tillmann) enjoyed Dancing at the Lincoln Memorial.

In front of the famous marble sculpture.

Joey thought he had thrown all the sticks we saw into the surrounding waters.

We then met for dinner at a yummy buffalo joint.

Lucy and Joey were hard at work coloring, and enjoying their incredibly good Mac & Cheese.

After dinner Joey decided to entertain the city....

Go Joey!

Mom and the kids in front of the Department of Treasury, and The White House.

We drove by the Pentagon many times. And the Bank of America.

A Very Happy Mothers Day

This Mothers Day, our Mom woke up to a jab in the eye by Dax trying to put on her glasses for her. Even before she was awake. "Happy Mothers Day, Happy Mothers Day...."They sang. Joey had even written and practiced a special song he created just for this day. Mom had her own special performance of his Mothers Day song. Nobody was more excited for this Holiday than Joey. And Dax too, but only because Joey was. Below you will see the stash Mom had awaiting her downstairs. Over the past 2 or so weeks, Joey has literally been counting down the days. He has been bringing home presents he had made each day at school, even when no one else in the class wanted to. For some reason (that he just could not understand )the kids at school only wanted to do one or two total. Not the 15+ he brought home. 2 or 3 each day at a time. Many pieces of masking tape went in to wrapping these projects. At home I would have to "not look" at what he was doing before and after school each day, as I handed him tape, stickers, writing utensils, ect. with my eyes closed and back turned. He had also made some very nice letters for each of his grandmothers. Mom was also not allowed to see these either until they were sealed in an envelope, and awaiting a stamp and address from mom.

On the top right you can see some of the remnants of the wrapping paper and below it are the gifts that were inside. Cut out rainbows, butterflies, colored pieces of paper, you name it...it could have been in one. Together with his class he made the tissue paper mosaic butterfly place mat on the lower left. Up top was some of his letters, including one from his Primary class. Oh, and also a Personal Navigational Device (aka..GPS System) that is a joint Mothers Day/Fathers Day present from the family.

To the left is the picture he made in Primary. I don't know what mother is talking about though. It says "My favorite thing about my mother is when she plays video games with me". His current mom doesn't even know how to work the game player. Maybe it was a wishful thinking thing. He also decorated a picture frame in church, but it's not pictured.

Here is the BEAUTIFUL butterfly place mat, and some close-ups of the presents.

Yoga instructor

Joey loves to exercise. Apparently I must of made quite the impression on him when I would be doing Yoga or Pilate's DVD's. He did do a 6 week community ed. Yoga class back in Salt Lake City with 4 boys and 2 girls, but that was over 3 years ago. This is he and Dax in their undershirts and underwear "exercise clothes", ready to tone up, Yoga-ish style. Complete with "mats" (rugs) and "exercise music" (baby lullaby music).

Dax is trying to loose that baby belly!

This particular session included some stretching, running in place, and rug jumping.

They did this every morning for at least a week. Joey is so darn artistic! He now has his own Yoga studio!

Good bye friends!

This week we had to say good bye to our friends and neighbors the Koffords. This is probably the first (of many) that Dax and Joey will both remember knowing. We are so lucky to meet so many new friends each year. But, it's still sad to see them leave. Keep in touch, and enjoy your new home!

Kaitlin and Kirstin Kofford. Dad Brandon, and mom Marian not pictured here. (with a new brother on the way!).

Faces part 2.

You just can't get enough of this little mug!