Americana Trip to Philly and DC

It isn't the best timing to be going on a vacation.  We just closed on a house and are in the middle of packing and figuring out where Berke is going to go to school, etc. etc.  etc.  Lots going on, so in typical Gentry fashion we decided to add a little more stress as the cherry on the top!

We had this vacation planned for a very long time,  the plan to drive to DC for the 5 days my BFF Julia would be there for her sister's graduation.  We both had baby girls (2 months apart) and they needed to meet and it had been nearly 2 years since our last visit (way way too long). 

So off we went, road trip style.  Berke has never been any place in a car over 4 hours and Viv has only gone about 2 hours, so we were not sure how it was going to go.  I charged the ipads, bought new twistable crayons and sketch books for both kids, packed snacks and books and hoped that would be enough to get the kids through.

We left Tuesday after work in hopes that driving through the night would be helpful as the kids would sleep the whole way.  Yeah, nope, they sure slept for about 30-50 minutes the entire trip.  They may not have slept, but they were very good.  They watched movies on the Ipad once it got dark, we listened to a book on tape and Vivi played with her Baby Leap Pad Gram Taft got her for Christmas.

We woke up in Phili the next morning and decided to explore the city before driving the rest of the leg to DC.  We had a lovely time and had no idea how much Philly had to offer.  We saw the historic Liberty Bell, visited Betsy Ross' home, visited the US Mint and saw how coin is made, and visited Independence Hall.  

Independence Hall was my favorite, it was amazing to be in such a historic place where the documents were formed that govern our country.  It was really humbling to be there.  

We then finished our drive to Washington D.C. and met up with Julia and her family in the Air B&B we rented right in the city.  It was so great to see my BFF again, I  always have SO much fun with her and we just laugh about anything and everything.  She is the BEST!  

We snuck out our first night in town and saw Mr. Lincoln in his monument; I have always wanted to see him at night and it was quite stunning.

The next day we were up and ready to take on DC...until we realized our 6 year old came down with Sever's Disease (a painful bone disorder that results from inflammation of the growth plate in the heal), which is less than ideal when you plan to walk 5-10 miles for the next 4 days.  We also soon found out that our 17 month old wanted to walk the entire city and was not about to be confined to a stroller.  So 6 yo went in stroller and 17 mo old came out.  Let the chasing, running, pushing, whining begin.  

This pictures here is Lady Liberty, she is on top of the Capital Building, this is a replica to show how large and beautiful she is.  She's a total babe if you ask me!

We were told the Capital was having some "routine" repairs done that last happened 50 years ago (does this seem routine to you?)  So we didn't get any great pictures of the outside of the capital.

The kids were troopers in the Capital Building tour, but it was not fun or interesting for either of them.  We decided to head to the Air and Space Museum which was WAY more fun!  

We loved learning about the progression of the airplane and the planets and space.  Super cool stuff.

Berke loves Amelia, cause she was super cool in the movie "Night at The Museum 2" it was fascinating to learn about all she did before she disappeared.  A real feminist and smart cookie this one!

Viv just ran around being cute and waving and blowing kisses to everyone who tried to talk to her (everyone).  She is a real charmer, this one.

Next Day, the whole family got to see Mr. Lincoln.  I mean seriously, who doesn't love this man for his leadership, intellect and bravery?

Jed, Julia and Jolie with Vivi, Laci, Berkeley and Xian.

We visited the Korean War and World War II Memorials to honor and remember our grandfathers.

We then met up with Xian's childhood friend, David Plyer, who works at the Library of Congress and showed us around.  Talk about a jaw dropping building.  The architecture and art work were beautiful.

We finally made it over to the Museum of Natural History.  We saw a lot, but we needed MORE time there.  Dinosaurs, insects, rocks and gems and more!

Jolie and Vivi worked on playing with each other and become BFF's, which by the end TOTALLY occurred.  They are the CUTEST!

Day 3 included visiting the White House.

While Julia went to her sister, Amy's graduation ceremony, we took all the kids to Zoo to see the Panda's.  Baby Panda Bao Bao was so adorable.

Wow, three kids is why harder than two!  

This got old by day three when Vivi was screaming and kicking Berkeley to get off her stroller but he was unable to walk!  Oh joy!

We had a lovely and busy trip.  It was wonderful to see a city that has SO much to offer.  

The morning we left we met up with some Utah friends KT and Matt Steenblik for breakfast and then toured the Ford Theater where President Lincoln was shot.  It was great to meet up with so many people on our trip.

There were some hurdles but it was a lot of fun and we made some great memories.

The traffic was awful  on our drive home; we were lucky to stop in New Jersey to let the kids get some wiggles out at our friends the Churchill's and eat some dinner there. With 3 hours left on our journey Viv threw up all over and we had a 45 minute delay of cleaning that up.  The smell was still present during our drive home (ewww).  We finally made it home at midnight after leaving DC at 11:30 a.m.  What a long trip that was, the kids did mostly well.  

Good times, let the memories roll.....