Favorite trivia facts:
1. Supreme Court justices are not required to be U.S. citizens.
2. Robert Todd Lincoln, Abe's oldest son, had a connection with three presidents who were assassinated: His father as well as Garfield and McKinley.
3. John Wilkes Booth's brother saved Robert Todd Lincoln's life by pushing him out of the way of a train the day before Wilkes killed president Lincoln.
4. Ok, this is not trivia but I never knew that the Philippines were a U.S. territory until WW 2! Must have been asleep that day!
5. The year after Washington left office he and Martha had 677 visitors at Mt. Vernon!
6. The Lincoln Memorial has 35 marble columns, one for each state in the union at the time Lincoln died.
7. The Statue of Liberty (minus the base) would fit into the Capital rotunda with 30 ft. to spare.
8. If you check the lower right corner of your bills and see FW you will know that the bill was printed in Fort Knox otherwise i5t was printed in D.C.
9. In 1919 a tank filled with molasses leaked in Boston and actually flooded the city drowning several people.

Favorite quotes:

1. "I believe in sharing my good fortune" Rick, the gentleman from Cape Cod who bought the kids water and gave them each $10.00 when we were in the train station on our way to Plimouth. He also made sure that we got on the right train!
2. Braeley: "I actually don't like red and yellow leaves!"
3. Todd to the kids: "Be patient like our founding fathers"!
4. William Penn after he heard the outcome of a trial of a suspected witch in Philly: "It's never been illegal to ride a broom in Philadelphia"!
5. Rhonda "You are here to learn not to have fun!" (It was a joke)
6. Norman Rockwell: "I paint life as I would like it to be."
7. Todd: "I bet George Washington didn't complain about----when he was fighting the British!"

Next Time We Go to D.C.

Reserve an entire day for Gettysburg
Williamsburg and Jamestown (after reading the mystery books)
Monticello
The Hirshhorn
Corcoran Gallery of Art
National Museum of Health and Medicine

Gaby's D.C.

The last time I was in D.C.was when Michael was 15, Rhonda was 13 and Marc was 7! It's been too long and it's great to be back in town! Ron and I headed to Frederick, MD right after we were married. Our honeymoon was a car trip in our Edsel station wagon. We were hailed with "Look an Edsel!" "Oh, it's from California"! We only lived there for 6 months but I missed my family so much that it seemed like forever even though my parents came and spent a couple of weeks with us for Christmas.
Todd, Rhonda, Bella, Braeley and I took a 1:00 flight flight out of Ontario on Wed., October 20 to Ronald Reagan in D.C. I changed the original flight plan due to the fact that our Congressional tour person scheduled the White House tour for Thursday at 9:00 and our flight was not scheduled to arrive until 11:00 PM. It would make no sense to go to Washington without visiting the White House therefore as we were on American vs Southwest it cost $700.00 to make the change:-( Ron joined us the next day on the original flight.



The Omni Hotel was a highlight of the D.C. portion of our trip. Rhonda made the arrangements and got a killer dealer. The rooms go for $450.00/night and we paid $171.00 and we had adjoining rooms with refrigerators and free room service coffee, tea and juice every morning. We were in heaven and all six of us were so happy to come "home" at the end of a busy day of walking, metro-ing, taxing, sightseeing!





Todd's D.C. top three:
1. Sitting on the Steps of the Lincoln Memorial at sunset.
2. White House
3. Air and Space Museum (he has been wanting to go here since he was seven!)

Rhonda's D.C. top three:
1. 2 Amy's
2. National Museum of Art/National Gallery of Art
3. Beautiful views/watching the kids interact with each tour guide.

Bella's D.C. top three:
1. Washington Monument
2. White House
3. Spy Museum

My top three:
1. The National Archieves
2. Mt. Vernon
3. Steps of the Lincoln Memorial at sunset.

Braeley's top three:
1. Spy Museum
2. Air and Space Museum
3. Watching the scenery out the window of the car


Top three for the second week:

Bella:
1. Hershey, PN.
2. Little Italy neighborhood
3. Gettysburg

Todd:
1. Gettysburg
2. Liberty Bell
3. Hershey factory

Rhonda:
1. Finally being fever free, getting a map and cooking fresh pasta in our apt.
2. Kids talking t0 the re -inactment guy in Philadelphia who started the Marine Corps.
3. "Our neighborhood" in Little Italy section of Boston.

Me:
1. Return to Salem: Eating at the Polish Deli.
2. Gettysburg
3. All of our tour guides saying how MY grandchildren were the best audience they had ever had!

Wednesday in Boston 11-3-2010

Today we walked a long way to the Boston duck tours I got to drive it when it was in the water. it was fun . than we went to the science museum . After that we walked to the Boston common to see the make way for ducklings statue .I stood on Nack and Ouack. Then we went to the borders headquarters. 5 stories high shelf to self books. then we went home.

OUR LAST FULL DAY IN BOSTON!!!

Today we went on a Duck Tour. I got to drive it! Did you know that they are building a Skate Park? Then we went to the Science Center we saw a live animal show, a cool bridge that shows how birds fly, a Sculpture with balls inside it, and a x-ray exhibit!

Then we went to the Boston commons and saw a "Make way for Ducklings" sculpture, a frog sculpture playground, and a lot of squirrels! Then we went to Starbucks and I got a Peppermint Steamer with extra foam. Then we went to Borders and I got Savvy.





Then we went to this cool Italian restrant by our apartment. It was REALLY good!

THE END

Tuesday in Plymouth 11-2-2010

Today after maria's we ran to get tickets for the commuter rail . We went on for 2 hours ! It was fun . When we got there we took a 3 mile cab ride with a smoker :-( YUCK! Then we went to the Plymouth plantation we saw Indians cooking duck. And a black smith! We even saw some one hanging a turkey . Then we took smokers cab to Plymouth rock. It was tiny!! then we waited in a candy shop . We got zots! Then we went home.

Boston 2nd to Last (full) Day

Today we walked a really long ways to South Station to catch a train to Plymouth Rock. At SS, we got postcards and met a REALLY nice guy who's name was Rick. He bought Braeley and I water bottles and when he got off of the train at Kingston, he gave Braeley and I $10! Turns out he is a rich Vice President of M.I.T. and he does a favor a day.

When we got to Plymouth, our Taxi driver took forever to pick us up. She finally got there and when we got to Plimouth Plantation (that's how they spelled Plymouth in the olden days,) I looked at the pricey thingy that all of the taxis have and it said $17!! So in the Plantation, we saw the Orientation film, and headed out for the Indian area. They were actually roasting duck and pumpkin to eat! Then we went to the Pilgrim area. My favorite part in that area was the Blacksmith. Then we went to the Gift Shop. Mommy and Gaby bought pilgrim dolls there.

Then we waited 45 minutes (out in the cold) then she finally came. Than she started making up excuses about why she was late. Then we went to the Mayflower 2 (it was closed) but then she was gone. So we went to look at The Rock. She was still not back! Then we went to the Restrooms. Gaby, Mommy, Braeley and I warmed ourselves up by using the air-dryers. Then when we came out, She STILL was not there!! Then we went to this store across the street and got Hot Choco and Zots. We just called another cab to pick us up.

Back at SS, we ate at Cheese Boys and got Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup. Then we walked ALL the way back to our apartment. THE END

Monday in Salem 11-1-2010

11-1-2010 Monday
today is Monday. Walked over to Maria's. I got bones of the dead (a hard cinnamon cookie). Then we hurried off to a commuter rail going to Salem. at Salem we walked to a Book store it was covered with old dusty books. the stacks where floor to ceiling. The cashier was hid in behind a stack of books. it was a wonder they didn't fall! we ought harry Potter and the Deathly hollows. After that we walked to a visitor center and watched a movie. on the way back we stopped at a harry potter store then we came back and went to bed.

p.s. Mom and I made perfect angel hair pasta together! It was so perfect you could squish it with your tongue. We also made a special super secret super yummy sauce. And we got an awesome sausage. It smells like wet dog, but tasted like steak! Not sure what it was made of....

Salem 11/1/2010

Today we set off for North Station to go to Salem, MA. The train ride was fun. As soon as we got off, we discovered a red line on the pavement that would lead us to all of the attractions.

Braeley and I got Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at the hole-in-the-wall bookstore.

Then we walked to the visitors center and I got my Junior Ranger packet and we saw a movie.

Then we went to this polish restaurant and got pierogies and galumpkies. Then we went to the Orientation center and I got my Junior Ranger badge! Then we went to the House of Seven Gables gift shop and Gaby got me "The Scarlet Letter".

Then we went to a candy shop and yarn store. We just barely made it on the train, we had to run to get back home!

We got home made pasta at Monica's Market for dinner.

Sunday, Halloween, in Boston 10-31-2010

10-31-2010 Sunday
On Sunday we walked and walked to a walking tour! it was really fun. we went to a grave yard it said weird stuff like i lie here and so will you" FREAKY! then we went to the oldest restaurant in the united states. we got famous clam chowder. yum! And trick or treated all the way home to our apartment. its cozy and warm i got the couch good night

Boston day 2 Sunday 10/31/2010

This morning we moved all of our luggage into a storage area. Daddy left that morning, but before leaving, he dropped us off at the Visitors' Center in Boston.

We went on the 12:30 tour from the visitor center. Did you know...
1. A woman was executed because she came back after exile because she was persistant about her religion?

2. You can drink a cold Sam Adams while looking at cold Sam Adams? :-)

3. The patriots actually fought in lines like the British?

We went trick-or-treating on the way back to our apartment. On the way back from getting our luggage, we met a nice family from Monteray Bay.

Then we lounged at our apartment.

The End.

Saturday on to Boston! 10-30-2010

Friday in Philly 10-29-2010

10-29-2010 Friday
On Friday we went tot he Hershey factory. we even saw chocolate being made and the gift shop you ask floor to ceiling chocolate! pepper mint patties, kisses, 5 pound chocolate bars. make your own chocolate. We found a hotel and went to sleep.

Hershey PN Day 9 Friday

Today we drove and drove. Chocolate World was fun because on the tour, there were 3 cows named, Gaby, Harmony, and Olympia who were singing "Hershey's milk chocolate, Tasty Treat! Hit it girls! Moo, moo, moo!" (repeat)

After that we got cookies and creme kisses! Daddy got me a Hershey's chocolate chip cookie!

That night we stayed in a Comfort Inn and Suites before setting off for the 2nd to last time.

Thursday in D.C. 10-28-2010

10-28-2010 Thursday

This is our last morning in our Omni hotel - the best hotel we went to! We went to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving
then we started to go to Gettysburg when we got there we rushed into the museum. There were interactive things. like you feel How much the backpack weighed. And you packed your own bag! finally we went into a giant cyclorama. I recommend it. after that we got a hotel and went to bed

Washington D.C. Day 8 Thursday

Today we woke up early to go to our tour of the Bureau of Engraving. It was cool seeing all of that money being made!

After that we went to the Washington Monument. Did you know that on the inside of it, everyone of the 50 states has a brick?

Then we drove all the way to Gettysburg. When we got there, we had just enough time to run through the museum, watch the movie, and watch the Cyclorama before the building closed.

Then we listened to the audio tour and Mom took a picture of me where Abraham Lincoln said the Gettysburg Address.

We stayed in a Holiday Inn Express before setting off that next morning.

Wednesday in D.C. 10-27-2010

10-27-2010 Wednesday
On Wednesday, we went to the National Cathedral. There was stained glass everywhere! There was even an Apollo 11 window. Do you know why it's called a cathedral? Because there's a throne like chair and the Greek word for chair is Cathedra. When the bishop sits in it the whole church is called a Cathedral. Mom was so thirsty when we were going up the elevator to the top floor. The man giving us the tour said that we could push all the buttons but we could only get to the top floor. But apparently, he was wrong, we pushed all the buttons and they all worked! On all the floors there was a drinking fountain outside the elevator door, it was taunting my mom. But when we got to the top floor there was no drinking fountain! Ha ha ha ha ! Then we looked out an saw the Darth Vader Gargoyle. There was the Darth Vader because there was a contest at a school. The winning drawings would win their picture on the National Cathedral. The four pictures were; an umbrella, a Darth Vader, a book, and a girl with braids and braces sticking out her tongue!

The weather was raining and dark and stormy. After leaving the National Cathedral we went to "2 Amys". It was really fun! The pizza was really good! After we were done eating, we came out side and it was POURING! So we ran and caught a bus to the Capitol building.

At the Capitol there were statues everywhere! The one with Ronald Reagan had pieces of the Berlin Wall in it. Each state got to choose two statues of famous people that were born in their state. California had Ronald Reagan and Father Serra.

We also went on another tour where we got to go and see where the court was held. It was really cool.

Washington D.C. Day 7 Wednesday

Today it rained and rained and RAINED! We were going to take pictures but it was raining too hard. So, we took a taxi to The National Cathedral. Did you know that there is a chair (called a "Cathedra" in Greek) and only when the Bishop sits in the cathedra THEN it is called a cathedral?

When the tour was over, we went up to the Observation Tower and this nice lade showed us how to get to 2 Amys.

2 Amys is SO good! Mommy and I shared a Calzone and I had a little bit of Gaby's pizza. When we came out, it was DOWNPOURING!

After a while huddling together under cover, Daddy came back with good news! A bus stop was around the corner! Then he set off at a run with Braeley and Mom following. I just ran to catch up with Daddy!

Then we went to the Capitol.

We did 2 tours at the Capitol. I think the 2nd one was the best because we got to go behind the scenes!

Tuesday in D.C. 10-26-2010

10-26-2010 Tuesday
Arlington Cemetery
When I saw: I felt:
1. Changing of guards: unimportant
2. Lee Memorial bored
3. dad doesn't fit in the bus happy, it was funny
4. eternal flame amazed
5. 10,000 graves sad
6. passport happy

Then we went to the library of congress we got a cool passport and we did challenges and got prizes then we went to bed

Washington D.C. Day 6 Tuesday

Today we hopped on the blue line to Arlington National Cemetary. The Tourmobile bus that we took took us all around the cemetery. We saw the changing of the guard, the Eternal Flame, and President Taft's and JFK's graves.

After that we went to the Library of Congress. Braeley and Daddy found this cool program called my LOC. You did the activities and collected things that have something to do with your activities! We also saw the Guttenburg Bible!

Monday in D.C. 10-25-2010

10-25-2010 Monday
On Monday we went straight to Air and Space Museum. I entered a paper airplane contest, and I got second place! Then I looked up at the Washington Monument. I could see when they changed quarries. Because at the middle it changed colors because World War II started. They stopped building it during the war because the didn't have enough money. Then I walked to the WWII memorial and walked by the reflecting pool to the giant Lincoln. We sat on the steps and looked at the reflecting pool.

Washington D.C. Day 5 Monday

Today we took the Subway to L'Enfant Square so we can go to the Air and Space Museum. We went into SPACELAB and saw a collapsible shower! Also we went into a Boeing Plane! There was also a paper airplane contest, and I got 3rd place!

Then we went to a cafeteria that was between the West and East buildings of the National Museum of Art and was under these cool glass pyramids that we liked to look in. We also took pictures of us jumping over these stumps around the pyramids.

I split a sandwich and shrimp salad with Mama. Then we got apple pie, citrus and blueberry gelato which we split between all of us.

Then we went through a cool light tunnel with a motorized pathway inside it. The exhibits were cool, lit me tell you about them:

1. Elements/Seasons paintings
2. Adam Goldsworthy scultures
3. Calder Sculptures
4. Disney painting
5. Hand Sculptures

Sunday in D.C. 10-24-2010

10-24-2010 Sunday
On Sunday we went to Mount Vernon. There were lots of animals, my favorite where the sheep. At the museum it had George's fake teeth. They were made out of hippo teeth, not wood. Also, we saw the key to a famous prison "the Bastille". After that we went to Fire House Subs it was really good! Then we went to bed.

Washington D.C. Day 4 Sunday

We went to Mt. Vernon today. First we did a tour of the mansion. Did you know that George Washington owned 3 farms? The one that is open to the public is the mansion farm.

The smokehouse was cool. It had a lot of meat in it and it looked like it would burn easily.

On the way back, we went to a city called Fredrick where Gaby and Poppy lived for a while.

We went to bed.

Saturday in D.C. 10-23-2010

10-23-2010 Saturday
On Saturday I was dying to go to the Spy Museum! So we did. It's really fun. You had to memorize names and throughout the museum you're tested. There was also the James Bond car. It had tire cutters and machine guns. I also got an awesome shock pen. Then we went to the Museum of Americana. I saw the original flag "the Star Spangled Banner". Most of it was gone. The men that served in the army cut pieces out for souvenirs. That night we went on a Lincoln Assassination Tour. We saw Ford's Theater and the house that he died in.

Washington D.C. Day 3 Saturday

Today we went to the International Spy Museum. It talked about WWI (The Cold War) and WWII. You can go through air vents and listen to peoples' conversations!

There was a spy car that could"
Turn its licence plates
Turn its trunk into a shield
It has a tire shredder
And the lights at the front flip down to reveal machine guns!

You also had to memorize a name and all throughout the museum there were challenges. I was Jan Meyers. I am 13 years old. I was born in Sweetwater, TN. I was going to Dublin, Ireland for 7 days on a vacation. I would ask Thomas Doyle about vikings and he'll give me an activity book that had nanobots on it.

We ate lunch at The National Gallery of Art. I got a PB and Banana sandwich. Then we saw Norman Rockwell paintings. My 2 favorites are a boy that was looking over a high dive, and my other favorite is a gmae of marbles and a girl was winning by a long shot.

Friday in D.C. 10/22/2010

10-22-2010 Friday Today I had breakfast in bed (cereal and orange juice ) .we spent so much time figuring out what we're going to do that when I walked out we went strait to lunch at five guys.after that we went to the old post office we went Up a rickety stone tower 12 stories high! Next I went to the natural history museum. First we went to the hope diamond-a beautiful blue/black diamond. They say it has a curse connected to it. I don't think so though. When we were coming down I noticed that the marble stairs were inward dented because so many people slid down them. And when we were going up they were dented from so many people stepping on them. We also went through the ancient seas exhibit. Then we went to see old papers at the national archives. I was so ticked because I thought we were going to air and space, not to see some stupid old papers! But finally after we saw them we got to go to the public vaults. There were some weird papers that showed blueprints. One looked like a bicycle but it was a phonograph! Next we went to Georgetown and ate at Filamena. I got a steak, it was the juiciest thing I've tasted! For dessert we had a yummy coconut cream cake. And we saw gnocchi being made, how awesome is that?! Then we went on a ghost tour. On the ghost tour he did a magic trick where he vended a stainless steel fork by touching it lightly

Washington D.C. Day 2 Friday

The first thing that we did was go to lunch at an amazing burger place called
"5 guys". I got a mini cheese burger. (A "normal" burger is a double cheeseburger.) Then we left for the Old Post Office. Actually, on the way to the Old Post Office, Daddy and I walked in funny ways and changed behind the pillars on the EPA building. At the Old Post Office, we went up to the top of the Bell Tower. We took 2 elevators to the top of the 12 story tower. The elevator to the 9th floor was scary because the floors were tall so we went high up (the people looked like ants when we went up to the 9th floor)!

Up at the top we saw a lot of D.C.

Then we went to the Natural History Museum and saw the hope diamond, sea fossils, and dinosaurs.

Then we went to the National Archives. There was a section about WWII. My top 3 were:
1. The Movie
2. Learning about D-day
3. Making my own state seal

Then we went to Georgetown and ate at Filamena. I got gnocchi and saw it being made! We also got spinach ravioli. It was so good!

Then we did this wierd ghost tour. It was crappy because he went on and on about demons and spiritualism. He even did a "magic" trick about "Oh goddess moon!" and bended a fork.

Washington D.C. Day 1 (1/2)

We woke up at the break of dawn, (6:30 here, 3:30 at home) and set out for the White House. We went in a really cool Taxi to the White House. We had to go through 2 security check-points (+a metal detector + an x-ray.) We could not take cameras into the White House so I will just tell you about it. The first rooms were the vermeil room, the library, and the china room. My 2 favorite rooms were the East room and the Blue Room. The East room is my favorite because of the great big Chandeliers, the portrait of George Washington (the only thing that survived the fire of 1814,) and the window overlooking the Oval Office. When we left, my mom saw a butterfly sticker on one of the girls window.

Then we ate lunch at the museum of American Indian. I got the Chipotle Chicken Taco. It had tomato, lettuce and chipotle on Indian Pita (at least it looked like pita!) Gaby got the same as me but she also got homemade Indian Blueberry jam on a "Pita."

Then we went to the Supreme Court. My top 3 were The Spiral Staircases, thinking about "how much money all the marble had cost," and the Rosettes on the ceilings. Then we got our luggage, caught a "red" subway line to the Woodley Park Zoo/Adams Morgan station, went up this HUGE escalator, checked into our hotel (The Omni Shoreham) and got dinner at Chipotle. When we got back to our room, there was milk and cookies waiting for Braeley and I because we were "Spectacular Kids!" I kept my milk and cookie (it was actually only one HUGE cookie :)) in the fridge until after we got back from CVS Pharmacy to get breakfast stuff.

I'm in Washington D.C.! 10-21-2010 Thursday

10-21-2010 Thursday
I'm in Washington D.C.! I went to the White House. In the window there was a window art butterfly. After the White House we went to a park. I liked to chase squirrels. For lunch went to the Native American Museum, I got a buffalo burger. We also went to the Supreme Court it was kinda boring. Then we went to our new hotel I got a free giant cookie. Cookie Monster's dream!

WHAT??

SO, I totally accidentally deleted our blog. I was trying to clean up the blog by deleting the extra email followers (I was listed 3 times as a follower from 3 different email addresses). I then deleted the email that I never used. By doing so, I deleted our entire blog. GREAT! NOW WHAT? Nothing is ever really deleted, right? So I tried to contact Google. Took forever to find the "Contact Us" link, "click"...wait a minute... where are the phone numbers and email addresses? It took me directly to a trouble shooting tree. Ok, fine, I'll try this. At the end of the section, "Was this helpful?" No, it wasn't helpful, you just told me that if I deleted my email, my blog would also be deleted. I ALREADY KNOW THIS NOW! What I need is help to recover it! The only other tab under "Contact Us" is the user forum. Ok, let's see what other people are saying about Google blogs.... 5 hours later I've read user after user beg for help recovering accidentally deleted blogs hoping for an answer. Some resolved, some just hanging there in cyberspace. I have now learned an entire world exists in Google-land. A world where, "Don't find us, we'll find you" is the motto. I googled phone numbers for Google, and even searched on a website of hard to find "back door" numbers to call companies. Google was rated 1 out of 5 for customer service. No luck on the phone numbers, if you didn't key in a valid extension, you would hear, "Thank you, good-bye". If there is a problem with your blog, you post a question in the forum. If your question is interesting, you may get the attention of a "Top Contributer". These are people that spend their time directing the helpless and clueless. They are not Google employees. Some have their own websites dedicated to answering questions about Google blogs! I picture them working in a cubicle at a computer during the day, and in the evening donning a homemade cape, cracking their knuckles, and sitting next to their three parallel computer screens and 5 cats...assuming their avatar name and saving the masses. IF you can get the attention of one of these utterly important moonlighters, they will either 1. Answer your question, or 2. "Elevate you to Gatsby". HUH????!!! Is this a good thing? Do I want to meet Gatsby? Answer, yes. Gatsby is a Google employee. They are elusive, and unsearchable. If your question is deemed interesting enough, they may take up your case and with a click of a button, restore your blog. BUT only if you can prove this blog belongs to you. Google "respects your privacy" so they don't ask any personal questions when you set up your email or blog. Thus proving that the blog belongs to you can be difficult. Even when I had the original email confirmation thank you for setting up your blog. The question thy use to prove email ownership is to name the most frequent contacts. This is a problem if, like me, you don't use the email EVER. In fact, Google solicited me to open the email in order to start my blog. That was the only time the email was used. So my answer was NONE. No frequent contacts. This was inadequate. In desperation, I volunteered to send picture ID matching the pictures on the blog or for any of the 5 authors of the blog to become administrators as we are all related and live in the same house! I was getting desperate as I learned through my hours in the forum that after 90 days, the blog is gone forever. Days were ticking off quickly as I waited and begged for help online. On Friday evening I got an email, "I will elevate your question to Gatsby, with the caution that it would take several days for him to get to it, if at all. I shouldn't expect an answer until the end of the following week. I never did hear from the "Great Gatsby", but I got the BEST call while in DC. Robyn called and said, I just looked and your blog is up and running! I was cautious, but immediately checked my cell, and there it was!! Oh, happy day!

Now I've learned the hard way. Back-up your blog! I was even afraid to post this complaining paragraph for fear that Gatsby was somehow monitoring and would take vengeance and delete me again....

So, the kids are back in the 21st century, and can hang up their pens and start typing again. I may, however have to take pictures of some of their handwritten posts and pictures, so cute.

Thanks for following our stories.

Rhonda

under water adventure

we went on a trip to the aquarium of the pacific...



the first thing we did there was go to a adventure room we had to figure out which teeth go to which shark.

I got them all right !

then we walked yo the shark touch pool.


there was one 7-8 foot long tiger shark that we got to touch ! it was really fun.


next we went to the seals. they where tanning them self's and one was playing with a ball.

then we went home....

OOFKA (Our ok Family Kayak Adventure)

It was a cool 9:00 Mission Bay Morning at the boat ramp. Little did I know, we would be seeing some unusual things...









The Behind of Sea World?









Bright Orange Sea Annenomes?









A Sea Hare?









Brown Pelicans (they were close to extinction a few years ago....)










Sea Lions playing King of The Hill?









Those were just a few of the HUGE amount of things that we saw on OOFKA adventure.

Blue Bayou

 Mom decided it was finally time for her to experience Disneyland's Blue Bayou restaurant.  You know, the tables that are eating as you board the Pirates of the Caribbean, "Dead Men Tell No Tale".  She said it was for Todd's birthday to make us feel better about her paying.  But we know it was just because she has been wanting to go there and knew it would be more fun with all of us there hamming it up. 

Huh?!

I actually said they were 50% more likely, she got it totally wrong.
Bye,
Braeley

Full of it.

Braeley quoted the other day something he claimed to have read somewhere, "Mom, did you know that in public schools kids are 25% more likely to be mean because they're not Christian?"  He may still be worried that I'll send him to our local public schools if he complains too much about homework. He had a productive morning though this morning, so it's unlikely that he'll find out this week.

The Tooth Fairy

Feeling sentimental tonight as we celebrated Robyn's birthday, had "church" with Wil and Bella lost her last baby tooth. I remember when Robyn believed in the tooth fairy---I want time to slow down. I am trying to savor the moments of each day but life interferes. So thankful for Robyn, Wil and Bella tonight.

Finality

Last tooth. I remember distinctly when the first came in. Yesterday, maybe?

No more tooth fairy.

No more sparkly dust around the room.

Just adolescence.

Then adulthood.

When did I become so old?

Ta-Mon-San by Braeley

The beach that we went to was not rocky. Our beach was super shallow you could walk out about a mile and only be up to your head. One time, me and Mom started going out on the rowboat that Mom had, but then Bella wanted to go out so she sat right in the middle, but then she thought it was too crowded so she JUMPED out. Then she pulled us everywhere. And one time when she was just walking she screamed and tried to jump in the boat again, but Mom wouldn't let her. She screamed because she fell in a sink hole and it felt like gooey mushy poo. Then Bella pulled us back to shore, and Mom got out. Bella then pulled me out and left me, so I had to jump out and stop her from going back in. I got my shirt soaked! I thought the whole thing was really fun.
The next day we went to the rocky beach. It was super fun! We caught 15 craw dads in about an hour. We caught them by scaring them out from rocks and chased them into a cup. Then we poured them into a bucket. Crawdads are like a mix between lobster and prawn. Mom kept bragging about how big her crawdads were when she was little! And then we set them free and went to MoFo's. MoFo's is a really super awesome pizza place! It was really cool because we could watch our pizzas being made. The person who was making the pizzas gave us a piece of dough to play with! The pizza tasted the best ever! We didn’t even have room for dessert! Then we left and went to the skipping stone beach. At the beach, Dad was teaching Bella how to skip a stone and I was skipping stones at the beach when I saw a dog coming. So, I trotted farther down the beach until I found the perfect rock. It was perfectly round and when I tried to skip it the wind blew it and messed it up. So now the perfect skipping stone was wasted!

It's Sunday morning but I can't play video games. We made oatmeal that morning I had maple. I only took a few a bites and wondered around the room and when I came back my oatmeal was in the trash! Someone ate my oatmeal and threw it in the trash! Who could do such a thing? Gaby?!

This morning we are going to look for crawdads hoping it wasn’t windy. But it was so windy that Mom and Gaby went to the restaurant and ordered food. When we got tired of skipping stones we came up to the restaurant and ordered smoothies. Then, we walked over to the wooden boat shop. One of dad's favorite places! Mom got boat envy of this beautiful grey boat with these great oars. It was so cool, but she didn’t get it. There was this awesome tube that was shaped like a shoe, it was called the toeshoe. When we went back to cave rock everything was going wrong! The rocks were too slippery, the waves were too strong, the water was too cold, there were too many people and we could not see crawdads! Finally, I started to row in the rowboat but I got too frustrated so mom came out to help me and then I got to do it. Unfortunately, I was wearing my clothes in the raft and waves came in and pounded me with water! I was totally soaked to the bone.
Then we went to Freshie's, a really good taco place. I got fish and chips. I went outside because I was bored and saw a giant pirate store- they had pirate monopoly! Then we went home and I met 2 new friends, Kyle and Michael. We played volleyball and then decided to play football. We all played really super good. I don't know why but Bella was upset and saying she didn’t do good? She actually played really well! After that we saw fireworks on the balcony of our hotel. The fireworks were totally awesome, extraordinary! Then I went to bed.
We packed up all our things in the car then went to rent a boat. We were going fast and then when we hit a wave we jumped and tried to time it so the boat went down when we were coming down so it made it extra high. It was super! Then, we went to San Francisco and in the car we finished reading " The Balloon Boy of San Francisco".

We got to Shonna and Dougs and Doug came outside and Kipper immediately bounded outside and leaped on me. Kipper is a cute little white dog who looks like he has a mustache! He likes to catch balls and then run off with them. We have to be careful with gum because if he smells mint he will chow down. He started to eat Gaby’s gummy vitamins but they didn’t taste minty so he didn’t eat them but left them scattered all over the room. When we got there Doug was ready for a party and he gave us milk and cookies for dinner! Kipper was like a warm water bottle on me and he slept with us all night.

The next day I woke up and the TV was on. I didn’t see daddy and I waited for him to get up. When mom came in I said “where’s dad?’ And she said “ I already took him to the airport”L.

First, we had to get up and ready and we winded our way into San Franciso. Then we parked in a horrible, horrible parking space and we had to walk from Pier one to Pier 33 which was about 3 miles! We went all the way to Pier 33 to get Alcatraz tickets for the next day. And then we took a cable car all the way over to Chinatown. The Cable car was really fun because they look like exactly in the movies but a little faster. At Chinatown there are shops everywhere and almost every shop we went to had fireworks! .First we went to a really cool tea shop! And, you know what I found out? That I don’t like expensive teas! I like cheap mint teas! I found that out when I tried a super expensive one—probably, $200.00 a pound. It was horrible! Then, we went to another store that has fireworks. This time we bought one of everything! Then, guess what we went to? A fortune cookie factory! It is way different than what you would expect! It was a tiny, little shop with only about 5 people. It is a pretty easy thing. There is a machine that pours fortune cookie batter into a little pan then a lid comes down on it and it goes into this little tunnel that has little flames jumping out all around it. When it comes out there little wheels on the side that go up a bar that makes it come open. Then someone takes out the almost cooked batter which turns crispy in a few seconds so you have to be real quick to take it off. It goes on a little stick and before she folds it she puts in a little piece of paper that would be your fortune!

Next, at home we did some of the fire works! It was fun! We saved about one of everything to do with dad!

Next morning, we had to get to the ferry building before noon or else we would miss Alcatraz! We made it just in time! I know one of the things about going to Alcatraz: You break the rules you go to prison you break the prison rules you go to Alcatraz! In 1962 three inmates tried to escape. It was famous! The battle went on for 3 days between the SWAT team and the convicts! You can still see the grenade holes made when they dropped grenades through the roof. On the record, no one has ever escaped from Alcatraz! We took a huge audio tour of Alcatraz. Before Alcatraz was a prison it was an army base for the U.S. Army. During the Civil War, it was a Union base on the west coast. On the way out of the prison we actually talked to a soldier. Then we went to a really good chocolate company that filled the chocolate with yummy flavors! The name was Ghirardelli! After a stop at the Ferry Building Market where I bought oatmeal we went home and went to bed!

This morning we ate cereal and toast. Then we packed the car and we went to the Exploratorium. It was so awesome! It was really cool! Inside there was even a song I knew! It was way better than the Fleet Museum! One of my favorite things was tricking Mom! I told her to put her fingers on two electric plates then I spun the wheel really fast so it generated electricity. It sent electricity through the plates and shocked Mom! Then we went to Golden Gate Park, ran to the end of the pier and Gabby started chasing us with the camera so we pretended she was an evil cyborg who wanted to eat our brains! Then we went to Ghirardelli and got really good pumpkin spice chocolate squares! We ate all of the them on the way to Monterey Bay.

We went to the aquarium the next day. It was the best aquarium in the world. It had jellyfish, crabs you could play with, and even a giant deep sea bass as tall as Dad! Here are some things I learned there:

1. Decorator crabs take tiny pieces of coral, seaweed and algea and stick them onto themselves so they are camouflaged.

2. If seahorses don't blend in they get eaten by GIANT FISH! There are three kinds of seahorses that I know of: the leafy sea dragon, the weedy sea dragon, and the pot-belly seahorse.

3. Bat rays feel like wet sponges. Their bellies look like faces.

4. The giant jellies that we caught on the Breanna were "Egg-yolk Jellies". The other small ones were "Crystal Jellies" and "Moon Jellies". The aquariums were shaped like a circle so the jellies can drift like they do in the wild.

5. Flatfish look like halibut.

6. Albatross never come to land until it's time to lay eggs. It also locks it's wings and can glide 3-4 days without resting. The wingspan is usually 6 feet!

After the aquarium, we went on a 4 person bike. It was super fun. We rode down to Fisherman's Wharf at the speed of light! We got samples to see which is the best clam chowder. My favorite was at Kokomo's. Then we rode back and turned in our bike.

Next we drove to Cambria, when it got dark, we were on this windy rode on the side of a cliff. Then we fell off the cliff... The End....Just kidding. We finally got to the Fogcatcher Inn. (I fell asleep so I didn't remember the rest). When we woke up we went on a walk on the boardwalk. I brought a little bit of Bella's bread. I stopped and put a little bread on my lap. A squirrel came out and got it! I kept putting pieces around and one jumped on my lap and got it!

On the way back home, we went to a yarn and button shop. When we were in there we asked if we should see the elephant seals. They said it was as cool as National Geographic. So we started going. It was 10 miles the other direction. We saw lots of pups probably 1-2 years old. When they move, they look like little inch worms.

Then we went home.

The End

My Great Tahoe Vacation

It seemed TO fast for my taste… So, I guess I’ll tell you all my story.

Our hotel (I think) was called Lakeshore Lodge. It was quaint. (Witch in other words means “small but nice.”) The lakeshore that was outside our window was sandy, warm, shallow, and had SINKHOLES! Although I’m embarrassed about it, I HATE sinkholes! Whenever I step in one, I scream! (There! I said it! J)

So, we drove up to North Shore (we were on South Shore.) When we got up there, there was a beach that was full of skipping rocks. After that, we ate ice cream at Bud’s Cable Car Ice Cream! I got Coconut Pineapple (Pina Colada) ice cream with pineapple sauce.

Then we went to Zephyr Cove and rented a motorboat and Braeley and I liked jumping when the boat jumped so it catapulted us into the air!

We also saw AWESOME fireworks on Labor Day! Even better than the Sea World, Disneyland, and the Redlands ones combined!

Our San Francisco Vacation- By Bella

When we got to Doug and Shauna’s house, Kipper and Doug came out to meet us. Kipper is the CUTEST thing! His curly white fur says “PET ME!!!” “PET Me!!!” He is a ball of energy waiting to be unleashed!!

Our first day in San Francisco was tiring! I liked the trolley and Cable Cars! So we ate Lunch ate Starbucks, Dinner at Rubio’s. I liked pier 39. (We walked a long way to get there.J) We went to Union Square. We had a nice conductor that put us on the right cable car after we paid for the wrong trolley.

So we also went to the ExplOratorium all day. But for lunch we went to an ok Italian place. Then we drove to Monterey Bay.

I have to tell you all 5 facts about Monterey Bay Aquarium.

1. The Horn Shark lays a spiral egg so the mom can burry it in the kelp.
2. Bycatching is when like fisherman catch sharks, lop off there fins then through them back.
3. BottomTrawling is when fishermen drag a net a long the oceanfloor. Ripping up coral reefs and killing fish.
4. Swell Sharks lay eggs that have little strings that help the momma tangle it in the kelp.
5. Don’t eat Orange Roughy

After that, we rented a Surrey (s-rr-y) to go to Fishermans Wharf. Gaby was Very funny (there were 2 handles in the front. The one on the DRIVERS side was real and the one on the passengers side was fake) so when she got freaked out she turned the wheel as fast as she could when she started screaming she got so freaked out, THAT'S when we figured out that she did NOT know that that steering wheel was fake! we started laughing out loud. HAHAHa!

When we got there, I got Clam Chowder (I ended up not eating it) in a Bread Bowl.

We tried a lot of samples of it and Brae didn't want to stop! After we returned the Currey, at the place where we rented it the song that was playing there was Water (by Brad Paisley!)

Then we drove along this very curvy road to Cambria, to Fog Catcher Inn and went to sleep.

The next day, (after we got our breakfast) Braeley and I knelt on our skateboards and rode up and down the parking lot because it was slanted. Then we went on the Boardwalk and climbed down to tide pools and saw a lot of things like a dead fish with crabs on it.

Then we went to see Elephant seals. We saw one old male who was molting!
The males can reach 16 feet!

The we drove to Mission San Louis Obispo. We saw sidewalk art (what name do YOU like better? Baccus or Dionysus?) Then we went inside the mission and got a new Lucky Pig! (Its OK Amber. :) )

Then it was a few hours until we got to eat dinner at Panera. Outside, I practiced Vaulting on the benches.

When we got home, we watched Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire (at 9:30 pm)

The End!

TA-MON-SAN

This is Braeley speak for Lake Tahoe, Monterey and San Francisco! It took 10 years for me to be able to return to TA as the Tahoe memories of my parents and all of us there were just too difficult to face. It was great to go back however. So much is exactly the same. Bella and Braeley loved it just as Michael, Rhonda and Marc did as children. We MUST all go back next summer! Ron should have been with us but he had too much work.
It was great to enjoy the hospitality of Shonna and Doug in Saratoga as we traveled back and forth into San Francisco for 3 days. Bella and Braeley enjoyed learning about Alcatraz. The weather was unusually sunny and the bridge was beautiful! There was a guy dressed up in a Civil War outfit as we were leaving Alcatraz Island who gave us a Civil War history lesson. Braeley said "Why do they call it a Civil War?" " War is NOT even civil!" Out of the mouths of babes! We experienced the sympathy of a very nice trolley car driver who led us ahead of the waiting crowd onto the RIGHT trolley. We also experienced Ghirardelli (twice)! I had to open yet another candy bar tonight in order to spell GHIRARDELLI.
After experiencing Monterey Bay aquarium which is a MUST we rode our bicycle built for four which Bella has already told you about to the Wharf---so much fun. However, we did not know that it would be an unwise decision to drive along highway 1 to Cambria in the fog and dark. SCARY! We do not need to do that again!
What a great summer! Bring on the next adventure! In the meantime I am going to put in my time at work........

Tahoe by Braeley

The beach that we went to was not rocky. Our hotel was bad too. Except that they served pastries and hot chocolate in the morning. Our beach was super shallow you could walk out about a mile and only be up to your head. One time, me and Mommy started going out on the rowboat that Mommy had, but then Bella wanted to go out so she sat right in the middle, but then she thought it was too crowded so she JUMPED out. Then she pulled us everywhere. And one time when she was just walking she screamed and tried to jump in the boat again, but Mom wouldn't let her. She screamed because she fell in a sink hole and it felt like gooey mushy poo. Then Bella pulled us back to shore, and Mom got out. Bella then pulled me out and left me, so I had to jump out and stop her from going back in. I got my shirt soaked! I thought the whole thing was really fun.
The next day we went to the rocky beach. It was super fun! We caught 15 craw dads in about an hour. We caught them by scaring them out from rocks and chased them into a cup. Then we poured them into a bucket. If the beach have waves it would be as clear as Tahoe! Crawdads are like a mix between lobster and prawn. Mom kept bragging about how big her craw dads were when she was little! And then we set them free and went to MoFo's. MoFo's is a really super awesome pizza place! It was really awesome because we could really watch our pizzas being made and the person who was making the pizzas gave us a piece of dough to play with! The pizza tasted the best ever! We didn't even have room for dessert! Then we left and went to the skipping stone beach. At the beach, Dad was teaching Bella how to skip a stone and I was skipping stones at the beach when I saw a dog coming. So, I ran away down farther down the beach then I found the perfect rock. It was perfectly round and when I tried to skip it the wind blew it and messed it up so now the perfect skipping stone was wasted!
It's Sunday morning but I can't play video games. We made oatmeal that morning I had maple. I only took a few a bites and wondered around the room and when I came back my oatmeal was in the trash! Someone ate my oatmeal and threw it in the trash! Who could do such a thing? Gaby?! This morning we are going to look for Craw dads hoping it wasn't windy but it was so Windy that Mommy and Gaby went to the restaurant and ordered food. When we got tired of skipping stones we came up to the restaurant and ordered smoothies. Then, we walked over to the wooden boat shop. One of dad's favorite places! Mom got boat envy of this beautiful grey boat with these great oars. It was so cool but she didn't get it. There was this awesome tube that was shaped like a shoe it was called the "Toe Shoe". When we went back to cave rock everything was going wrong? The rocks were too slippery, the waves were too strong, the water was too cold, there were too many people and we could not see crawdads so I kicked the water cause I was so angry. Finally, I started to row in the row boat but I got too frustrated so mom came out to help me and then I got to do it. Unfortunately, I was wearing my clothes in the raft and waves came in and pounded me with water and I was totally soaked to the bone. So I had to go naked in the car home!
Then we went to Freshie's, it was a really good taco place and I got fish and chips. I went outside because I was bored and saw a giant pirate store and they had pirate monopoly! Then we went home and I met 2 new friends, Kyle and Michael we played volley ball and then decided to play football. We all played really super good. I don't know why but Bella was crying and saying she didn't do good? After that we saw fireworks on the balcony of our hotel. The fireworks were totally awesome, extraordinary! Then I went to bed.
We packed up all our things in the car then went to rent a boat. We were going fast and then when we hit a wave we jumped and tried to time it so the boat went down when we were coming down so it made it extra high. It was super! Then, we went to San Francisco and in the car we finished reading " The Balloon Boy". THE END

When we got to Shonna and Doug's, Doug came outside and Kipper immediately came outside and jumped on me. Kipper is a cute little white dog who looks like he has a mustache! He likes to catch balls and then run off with them.We have to be careful with gum because if he smells mint he will chow down. He started to eat Gabby’s gummy vitamins but they didn't taste minty so he didn't eat them but left them scattered all over the room. When we got there Doug was ready for a party and he gave us milk and cookies for dinner! Kipper was like a warm water bottle on me and he slept with us all night. The next day I woke up and the TV was on and I didn’t see daddy and I waited for him to get up and when mom came I said “where’s dad?’ And she said “ I already took him to the airport”. First, we had to get up and ready and we winded our way into San Francisco and then we parked in a horrible, horrible parking space and we had to walk from Pier one to Pier 33 which was about 3 miles! We went all the way to Pier 33 to get Alcatraz tickets for the next day.And then we took a cable car all the way over to ChinaTown. The Cable car was really fun because they look like exactly in the movies but a little faster. At China Town there are shops everywhere and almost every shop we went to had fireworks! First we went to a really cool tea shop!And, you know what I found out?That I don’t like expensive teas! I like cheap mint teas! I found that out when I tried a super expensive one—probably, $200.00 a pound. It was horrible! Then, we went to another store that has fire works. This time we bought one of everything! Then, Guess what we went to? A fortune cookie factory! It is way different than what you would expect! It was a tiny, little shop with only about 5 people. It is a pretty easy thing. There is a machine that pours fortune cookie batter into a little pan then a lid comes down on it and it goes into this little tunnel that has little flames jumping out all around it. When it comes out there a little wheels on the side that go up a bar that makes it come open and then someone takes out the almost cooked batter which turns crispy in a few seconds so you have to be real quick to take it off. It goes on a little sick and before she folds it she puts in a little piece of paper that would be your fortune! Next, at home we did some of the fire works! It was fun! We saved about one of everything to do with dad! Next morning, we had to get to the ferry building before noon or else we would miss Alcatraz We made it just in time! I know one of the things about going to Alcatraz: You break the rules you go to prison you break the prison rules you go to Alcatraz. In 1962 three inmates tried to escape. It was famous. The battle went on for 3 days between the swat team and the convicts! You can still see the grenade holes made when they dropped granades through the roof. On the record, no ones ever escaped from Alcatraz! We took a huge audio tour of Alcatraz. Before Alcatraz was a prison it was an army base for the U.S. Army. During the Civil War, it was a Union base on the west coast. On the way out of the prison we actually talked to a soldier. Then we went to a really good chocolate company that filled the chocolate with yummy flavors! The name was Ghirardelli. After a stop at the Ferry Building Market where I bought oatmeal we went home and went to bed! This morning we ate cereal and toast then we packed the car and we went to the Exploratorium. It was so awesome! It was really cool! Inside there was even a song I knew! It was way better than the Museum. One of my favorite things was tricking mom! I told her to put her fingers on two electric plates then I spun the wheel really fast so it generated electricity and it sent electricity through the plates and shocked mom! Then we went to Golden Gate Park, ran to the end of the pier and Gabby started chasing us with the camera so we pretended she was an evil cyborg who wanted to eat our brains! Then we went to Ghirardelli and got really good pumpkin spice chocolate square!