Ethan often has to go to Fairfax, Virginia for work, and we finally were able to tag along with him at the beginning of September. Fairfax is only 25 minutes away from Washington, DC, so while Ethan worked on Monday and Tuesday, the Girls and I were able to explore the area on our own. But, we did get a lot of family time on Sat, Sun and Wednesday before heading home.
An afternoon visit to the National Mall on Sunday.
On Monday, we visited my friend Cathy and her kids who live in Alexandria, VA. It was so nice to see the kiddos growing up so fast. We also loved having a house full of toys to play with, since hotel-living is all too great.
On Tuesday, the Girls and I visited the Natural History Museum full of dinosaurs, butterflies and children's play exhibits. Our favorite part was seeing all of the jewels from dynasties past - Olivia loved seeing the beautiful tiaras that princesses and queens wore.
On our way home Wednesday, we stopped at the Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport. It was so cool to see the huge space shuttle Discovery in and even larger hangar. The museum had a wonderful interactive story time for the kids. Too bad we're not flying into space anymore.
Ethan loved this museum.
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Fall in New Jersey
Olivia's school, Good Shepherd Christian Preschool, had their annual field trip to the West Portal Pumpkin Patch. It made me very nervous to send O on a school bus....but to my surprise it's very normal up here. Olivia is still in a 5-point harness child seat, for crying out loud! I don't think this idea would ever cross the mind of any preschool director in Houston. After not sending Olivia on her field trip last year, I succumbed and let her go this year. It was all fine....I tailgated the bus the entire way there!
Olivia helping her little sis through the hay maze.
O stands for ostrich (egg)! And Olivia....
I immediately regretted going into the corn maze with Callie....we got lost!
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This weekend, we visited Mackey's Orchard in Holland Township, about 15 minutes away from home. We purchased two empty 5-lb bags and headed up the hill on a hay-ride to the orchard. Many varieties were available, and we were lucky to get mostly honeycrisp apples...so sweet and yummy!
Daddy was so sweet teaching the Girls how to pick the apples.
Apples fresh off the branch!
After the ride back down the hill, we all enjoyed their playground, bakery (apple cider donuts!) and pumpkin ice cream. I wish I'd taken a picture of their famous 6-lb, mile-high apple pie!
Next up, fall foliage and Callie's 2nd birthday!
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