National Mall, D.C.

I just have to say, my kids are such troopers. It's so hot and humid (I can barely stand it) and they never have melt downs when we drag them all over the city so we can sight-see. Today we hit Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, the White House, and the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.

Gunpowder Falls State Park

It took us 2 weeks to figure out that there was a beach closer than Ocean City (2 1/2 hour drive). It's only a 15 minute drive. There were many tears shed when we had to go back to the hotel.
PS Grandpa E is not urinating in that picture, but we were laughing like he was.

Roy's Baltimore

The boys are all equipped if we get to make it to an Oriole's game. We took PBTB's parents to Roy's tonight for dinner. The 2 restaurants we've been to in Baltimore don't have kids' menus. They just bring them something from the kitchen (ie; noodles/quesadillas) as soon as you sit down....brilliant! For dessert Roy's brought them ice cream in a dish with their names wriiten in chocolate on a cookie shaped like a palm tree. Awesome!

Smithsonian National Zoo

PBTB's parents are coming on Wednesday, they want to spend most of their time in DC. I knew that we wouldn't make it to the Zoo (not at the top of the priority list), so we made a special trip today. I have this thing about taking pictures of the animals at the zoo....I don't see the point. And trying to get your kids to look at the camera instead of the animals is a joke. So, we're limited here. (PS; can you believe this zoo is free?!...just pay for parking.)

Pennsylvania Dutch Country

Today we traveled to Dutch (actually supposed to be Deutsch, the Amish originate from Germany) Country. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. We didn't ride a buggy or visit a working farm. We went to Cherry Crest Adventure Farm instead. It rained (dumped) on us for the first half and we were just about to leave when it cleared up. Good thing, because the most fun activities were closed until then. The highlights..."W" built a wooden train (with instruction), Giant Bounce Pillows, "Sand"box (filled with corn instead of sand), Giant Sling Shot, Steam Engine Train, & a Hay Chute Slide.

Inner Harbor

Today was PBTB's birthday. We celebrated by going to Baltimore's Inner Harbor and visiting Little Italy and the National Aquarium. It was lots of fun. The aquarium had a dolphin show that the boys were so excited about. Dinner was fabulous and then we bought PBTB a football sized eclair at an italian pastry shop for a birthday cake (eclairs are his favorite and I only had to wait in line 30 MINUTES!, geez)

Bel Air

I thought we found the "mother" of all playgrounds today. But, then I saw another similar one somewhere else (still, not as big). Then, I realized they might make fantastic playgrounds here because I don't think you can really play on the "grass" (if that's what you wanna call it). The heatwave is ceasing, hooray for that!

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