Road trip out of Raleigh to visit with family

First leg of our moving road trip out of Raleigh was to DC. There we saw loads of Jeff's family and had a great time at his cousin's wedding. 

After DC, Jeff flew back to SLC and the kids and I began our road trip west. Next stop after DC was Ohio where we met up with my grandpa who is 92 years old.

Some interesting storm clouds. Really only experienced some rain. (Kyle took the pics, I was driving.)

My Aunt Theresa arranged for us to meet up with her and Grandpa for lunch together at Cracker Barrel. It was nice to catch up with them in a small setting since we so rarely get that opportunity and when we do, it's in a much larger group. 

After lunch, we spent the afternoon in Toledo at the Children's Museum which was pretty amazing. And our museum pass got us free entrance. Really a great, unique museum. 

Late afternoon, we headed toward Indy to see Kristin and her family. We had a wonderful day there together playing, walking through some woods, eating ice cream, grilling and just chilling. 

From Indy, we headed toward Chicago. We arrived in time to have lunch with Jeff's Grandma Edith. We had a nice afternoon together by the pool while the kids swam and we got to talk and catch up in person. 

From Grandma Edith's, we headed to Tommy's place to catch up with my family there. Jeff flew in that evening and met up with us for the final leg of our trip (flying to SLC). We had a great time chilling with my sisters and brothers and nieces and nephews and my mom came down from Wisconsin as well.
Emily and some of her girl cousins packed in a jeep. 

Trevor and Kyle were BFFs and always together. Trevor is the same age as Aaron, only a few weeks younger, so it was sweet to see Kyle and so sweetly brotherly with Trevor. 

Kyle's selfie at the pool

Cousin chili and ice cream dinner courtesy of Grandma

Baby Mia. This was our first time meeting our sweet little niece. 

Raleigh in the rearview

So a few weeks after moving out of our house, into a rental (gross AirBnB), many farewells, the kids finishing school it was time to hit the road. First stop was DC for a family wedding. This first leg of the road trip, Jeff drove with us, having flown back from SLC the night before. Goodbye Raleigh. It's been real. 

D.C.

The kid's school had the 5th grade trip up to DC earlier this month. Kyle and Emily did not go on that trip because we could not commit to it back when we had to because we didn't know if we'd still be here. Furthermore, after hearing their itinerary for the trip, it's best they didn't go! (They had to be at school by 5am on a Wednesday to bus up to DC, had what was left in the day to do the tours they had set, went to a hotel outside of DC to sleep and be up by 5am the next day, bus back into the city, tour all day, back to hotel late to sleep, up at 5am to tour for half a day and then bus back home, all in less than 3 days. Surely they covered A LOT of ground in that little time but that is some serious hustling!) 

So we went up as a family and had a leisurely great time and got to see the Cherry Blossoms in bloom. We spent time with Jeff's Aunt Barbara, his cousin Rachel and her family. We ate great food - Saku Ramen, had cupcakes, and visited more of DC's sites that we haven't yet seen.

First up was Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Appropriately, it was cold and raining out. Arlington is quite a site to behold. Amazing to see the cost freedom. And the Tomb of the Unknown is beautiful. Growing up, I was terrified of cemeteries. This is different. 

We then went to Saku Ramen to warm up with some delicious ramen that we discovered last time we were in town. It did not disappoint. On our walk to the train from there, we saw a cupcake shop and just had to stop. Because we wanted to. Because we could. 

On to the train (and the only picture I took there) (Jeff: do you have any to add?)

We headed toward the Mint which we had gotten tickets for a tour earlier in the AM. We were actually trying to get tickets to the Holocaust museum, but they were out within 20 minutes of opening and we arrived 25 minutes after opening. So the mint was next door and we were able to get tickets to see how money is printed. Pretty fascinating. Reasonably, no pictures allowed. 

We chilled outside and saw more of the Cherry Blossoms as it was now sunny and very warm out. Deciding where to go next, we went into the Holocaust museum which was next door to see the parts we were able to see without a ticket. While asking a question at the info desk, someone turned in tickets they were unable to use and we were able to see the rest of the museum. I don't really have many words. It stands as an incredible memorial to a horrific time in history. Very moving, very heartbreaking. And a part of history that should never be forgotten or repeated.

We closed the evening with dinner with family at a new restaurant nearby. 

The following day, we had one thing on our docket after our ambitious day before (though it wasn't intended to be so busy, just turned out that way based on where we were and tickets or lack thereof): the Spy Museum. The kids LOVED the Spy Museum. Kyle, Emily & Jeff did the special Spy Experience where they were part of solving a mystery (I think). Aaron and I grabbed some breakfast and went through the spy exhibits during that time. It's a great museum for kids of all ages because they have a scavenger hunt that keeps them engaged in the exhibits, decoding ciphers, looking for clues, etc. When Jeff, Kyle & Em were done with their experience, we went through the museum with them again. Next up was a nice slow lunch at a great Mediterranean restaurant a block away. We headed back to Barbara's house afterwards and played and relaxed. After a delicious Greek dinner with the family, we headed home to North Carolina so we could have Sunday to regroup before the kids went back to school and Jeff to Utah. 

Washington DC

This weekend we went to DC to visit family. We had a lot of fun exploring DC, eating delicious food, and enjoying family. 

We went to the National Zoo and saw the pandas getting popsicles. Jeff has an amazing video of the mama and baby panda getting their popsicles. 

Aaron loved hanging with his cousin. 

The kids loved hanging with their great-aunt. They loved helping make carrot cake, a honey tasting, and just being in her company. 

DC

After Kyle's tournament, we stopped over in DC to see some of our nation's capitol. There is so much to see and do there that we are seeing a little bit at a time as we are up there. We had planned to go to Mount Vernon with this trip, but our time was too limited for that when all was said and done with tennis match times. So we started at the Washington Monument and walked down to the Lincoln Memorial. Talk about spectacular. Walking between the two, we saw the WWII Memorial and Vietnam Memorial. Really a beautiful and moving walk. 

Washington Memorial

Washington Monument

Steps going up the Lincoln Memorial

Looking back at the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial

Reading the Lincoln's inauguration speech. 

Steps of the Lincoln Memorial

Selfie with the twins

Blondies selfie

Brownies selfie