Washington DC Trip

Our Trip to DC and then on to Georgia was so fun. What a great way to spend Thanksgiving and realize all that we have to be grateful for.
 We stayed with Slavka on both ends of the trip and so enjoyed her home and family.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures there...  From Finksburg we moved on to the temple visitor's center.  That is one beautiful temple and the visitors center was strikingly lovely.  Lily hadn't gotten enough sleep and was being a pill but here is a good photo of the boys. 

Next on the list was the National Zoo.  We didn't get to see the Pandas but everything else was a hit!

We stayed at a lovely Hotel in Rockland only a couple of blocks from the metro.  We were up early on Monday morning and off to see everything that we could.  We stopped at Ford's Theatre.  My kids love Pres. Lincoln.  It was fun seeing so many of the displays in the basement. 

Then it was on to the White House.  We got as close as we could without hoping the fence.

Next stop was the Washington Monument.  It was probably the best part of our DC Visit.  The kids loved going to the top!

Then we set off for the Smithsonian; both the Natural History and Air and Space Museums and had a ball.  I wish that I had captured their faces as they saw the hope diamond or Amelia Earhart's Plane.

We stayed again in Rockland and then headed to Buford GA.
Kenneth and Heidi have a beautiful home.  The kids paled around so well together and had a ball.  The Larchar's challenged us to a soccer tournament on Wed. morning that was lots of fun....Team Ward was victorious even though we didn't have cute head bands.

Hands down the kids favorite part of the trip was the tree house. 

They couldn't spend enough time fixing up the fort!

We are so glad that we went to Georgia.  It was so nice to see Kenneth and Heidi and the kids had such fun.  We are so grateful to be related to such a great bunch!

Halloween

I typically dislike Halloween. That said I find myself enjoying having the kids get dressed up and be so excited. This is a look at events at the Ward house this past Halloween.

Lily the poodle skirt girl

Connor: AKA Batman

Little Alec Kept saying "There Great!"  Then I realized that the costume was really Tigger from Winnie The Poo...Oops!

Iron Man

Harry Potter

We have had beautiful weather that hardly feels like a typical Halloween.  We even got this double rainbow.

Ben finally lost that tooth

Stuffed animal hide and seek in the basement

What an eventful Halloween Weekend!

New Dining Room

I have spent the last few weeks "re-purposing" our dining room and dining room furniture.  The table got a good sanding and the chairs got painted and stained.  

Here is a close-up on the project hutch

We got the hutch at a youth yard sale.  I wish I had a before picture-- the youth were selling at a neighborhood sale to pay for camp.  There were several donations and the hutch was one of those donations.  At the end of the yard sale it hadn't sold and I told the YW president that I would take it. I paid $25 for it.   It was in ill repair to say the least.  I thought that I would use the bottom part for a dresser for one of the boys.  When I started sanding and staining it I fell in love with it and decided I wanted it in the dining room.  Joseph (bless his heart) and Connor helped with the board and batten on the walls.  Connor ran the nail gun and was really good at it.  He will be my go to guy on my next project.  

The is a before picture.



Here's the after.....I love it!

Ithaca Science Center

Our last trip to the Ithaca Science center.  The kids had a great time playing with cousins and investigating all the cool things that the science center has to offer.

First day of school

Everyone was all smiles yesterday for the 1st day of school.

10-9-8-7-6  wow!

Connor 4th grade

Andy 4th grade

Lily - 3rd grade

Benjamin 2nd grade

Alec 1st grade

The bus driver commented that she calls our group "the long line".

Mount Rushmore

Mt. Rushmore was one of the highlights of our trip west. It is a bucket list item for sure, but we loved the scenery, the history, and the experience.  We even got some decent pictures there....here are the best.

Benjamin comparing the profiles with the pictures of the presidents on a $1 and $5 dollar bill.

There was a motorcycle rally going on at the same time we were their and a nice biker took this photo.  I feel so blessed to live in this country and so lucky to share my life with this guy!