Family Vacay Pt. 2

I have wanted to visit Washington DC for years and I finally felt the boys were old enough to understand what we were seeing. I didn't know how they would do with 3 days of museums and visiting monuments, but they enjoyed it and only complained when they were really tired. That's understandable, we walked a lot.  Mom came with us too because having an extra adult on vacation is never a bad thing!

The first day we visited the National Mall and we bee lined for the Lincoln Memorial. From there we explored the mall all the way to the white house. The next day we went to a couple of Smithsonian museums and Arlington National Cemetery. On our last day in DC we dodged the rain showers at the National Zoo. I had three things I wanted to see in DC; The Lincoln memorial, The Hope Diamond and a Panda bear. Check, check and check! 

We left DC and spent a day at Gettysburg then rounded out our trip with a day of play for the boys. We went to Hershey, PA and visited the Hershey Amusement Park. It was a memorable trip with something for everyone. I am happy to be home though, Purl missed us! 

PANDA!!

We were lucky enough to see a changing of the guard
at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

DIAMOND!!

Thanks for the help Mom!

Family vacation 2022 pt.1

 Blogging from my phone because I didn't want to forget a funny thing that happened on our trip. Wrapping up or family vacation to our nation's capital, yesterday we road tripped to Gettysburg National Military park. 

I'm not kidding you that we spent 7 hours there. We took a walking tour, bus tour of the entire battlefield and explored on our own. It was an amazing thing to experience and I now understand what happened there and the importance of it. 

Most striking to me is how a country that was so divided that cousin battled cousin, could came back together. They told the history of the dedication of the park and how soldiers from both sides were there to remember. It's a testimate to what people can hope for. (A complete opinion on my part, that type of unity will take statesmen not power hungry politicians.🤷🏽‍♀️)

But, the funny story! So leaving the parking lot 7 hours after we arrived; hot, tired and hungry. Alex playing with his spy glass he got at the gift shop pipes up from the back seat, "wait a minute, was that about the civil war?!" What a goof! Happy memorial day weekend everyone! 

After I told them not to stand
On the rocks at little round top.

Last Day of School

 Today it is a wrap for 7th and 4th grade for the Meerpohl boys. Daryl ended the year with a middle school dance last week and yesterday, Alex had a silly string fight during his after school program. They both had a good year with Daryl experiencing football and basketball and Alex winning the grade school spelling bee! 

Surprisingly, neither of them are signed up to play sports this summer, so hopefully we get a lot more weekends at the pool. That would make mom happy! I'm sure Daryl will want to do lots of fishing and Alex is enrolled in a day camp to keep him busy. 

It was a whirlwind school year but more than anything I was glad that it was normalish for them. Yes, they had to wear masks for the first part of the year, but that wasn't that big of an ask. Still have one more year of Middle School for Daryl and grade school for Alex. We will try to make the most of it! 

Couldn't take our last day of school picture
by the tree, it was raining. 

Last day of 7th grade

Graduation Weekend!

 Was able to go across the state to watch my nephew graduate from High School this past weekend. It is hard to believe that my sister's kids are old enough to be doing things like that, but here we are! 

With only 30ish kids in the graduating class the ceremony was under an hour, just the way I prefer! It was fun to come together for this accomplishment for Cedar and seeing some of my SW Kansas family at his reception was icing on the cake. I really do need to get back to that side of the state more often. 

My sister is about the busiest person you know, and she pulled together a great party for Cedar. Way to go Sofia, this was a special triumph for you too! Two down and one to go! I wish I had got a picture of all three of the kids, Darn. 

Look how tall I am! 

The boys survived the car ride to see their cousin graduate! 

You got the paper Cedar, now run!