My Perfect Day

After the twins and I got home late Saturday night (technically it was early Sunday morning since it was 1am), I didn't feel like getting up on Sunday morning to go to church. I was exhausted and didn't feel like socializing with people, and I just wanted to be home after spending my entire spring break away, and just knowing that I would have to return to work the next day made me just want to stay home and spend time alone with Josh. But despite these feelings, I went anyway... I wasn't in the happiest of moods to be there. After I took the sacrament, my crabbiness melted away, and I felt the spirit during the meeting and the speaker's message and I was glad I went. It helped that Amanda and Ryan came to church and sat by us, which was nice. Josh had gone out to dinner with the Berube's and John the previous night, but I was still en-route from DC, and wasn't able to, so I was glad for the chance to see and talk to them at church. 

Surprisingly, my day just got better and better after that. The weather was beautiful that afternoon, and I felt like a bear coming out after hibernation: I just wanted to be in the sun's glorious light and let my soul wake up. I set out the blue zero gravity chairs on the deck, and Josh and I laid in them for a couple of hours, soaking in the rays and taking a siesta. It felt like spring had finally arrived, and I could burst out of my seasonal shell of winter blues at last. 

Because it was nice out, the boys felt like playing some basketball, and they invited Josh to play with them. He had recently mowed the lawn for the first time while I was away that week (usually we mow it before now, but winter had stayed so late this year, that we had to wait for the snow to melt first!), and I loved the view. I opted to just lounge in my hammock chair in the yard, and listened/watched them play ball from a distance while I enjoyed the beauty around me. It felt so rewarding and fed my spirit even more. I had really missed my home while I was away!

Josh had really missed me while I was away, too, which was heavenly. He doesn't always reciprocate the feelings of longing for one another while we are separated, so when he does show them, it makes my heart feel so alive. Spending time with him that afternoon was exactly what I needed. He filled my cup to overflowing!

And just when I thought my day couldn't get more perfect, my friends came to visit! Amanda and Ryan came over and brought John with them, too! We ate snacks, talked, and played Jackbox TV games for a couple of hours. It was so fulfilling for me to spend quality time with them.

I know all of these things just sound like ordinary happenings, but for some reason, everything on this particular day felt heightened in my heart and soul. I felt so unbelievably happy. It was the happiest day I've had in a very long time, and was the most perfect day I've had all year. I had loved my trip with my boys to see my sister and visit the DC area, but being home was pure bliss, spending time with my husband, my family, and my friends was food for my soul, and being surrounded by the beauty of God's creations returning to life raised me to an extended state of elated joy. I experienced just a portion of  Heaven on Earth on the last day of March this year; even now I can still remember what it felt like and it makes my heart swell and my eyes tear up. I am so blessed!

Travel and Transportation

[The FIFTH and FINAL blog post of the trip I took back east with the twins over Spring Break]

Day 6 (Saturday March 30) was our final day of vacation, and it was spent traveling back home to Salmon, Idaho. Our flight didn't leave Washington DC until 1:00, so we slept in (which was nice!) and left Lisa's house about 10:30. We said goodbye to their dogs (they had 3: Amos--the big one, Jack--the older one, and Ricky--the small one that's their foster dog. The twins got along really well with Jack and Ricky; in fact, one day I walked in the front door to see both of the dogs laying on their backs while each of the twins was scratching their tummies! It was so funny! 

Quinn had just gotten a new bow/arrow set in the mail,

so he had the twins try them out with him that morning

while we were hanging out waiting to go. 

Jack and Ricky. Ricky looks like a mini Jack!

Lisa drove us to the DC airport. We followed several skiddy-wompus directions from the navigation system on her phone, but we finally made it! She accidentally drove us through some of her "old stomping grounds" on the way and pointed out stuff to us from her and Mack's past, so that was fun! It was so nice to stay with Lisa and Quinn that week. We enjoyed spending time with them, and being with them at their house was wonderful. I was so grateful for Lisa for taking time off work and being our gracious host and tour guide all week! I don't get to spend enough time with my older sister, and I was so grateful for this opportunity! Likewise, Jonah and Micah were glad to spend time with their cousin (they don't have many boy cousins their age). They absolutely loved hanging out with Quinn and enjoyed his lighthearted, comical nature. We were sad to say goodbye to them!

While we waited at the airport, we got some food at Five Guys and their fries were made with potatoes from St. Anthony, Idaho which I thought was cool. The flight from DCA to Dallas/Fort Worth was our first connection, and the flight was so full that they made us check in our bags because we were one of the last ones to load. We didn't have seats by each other, either. I was hoping to catch a glimpse out the window of the kite festival in DC on our way out, but no such luck. We arrived in Texas around 3:40, and our next connecting flight to Salt Lake City was at 4:30, so we had less than an hour to make it. The terminals were clear across the airport from each other, but thankfully they had a skyrail, so we jumped on that and had plenty of time to catch our flight. The next flight wasn't as crowded, so after we all loaded, the boys moved around so they had more space! Unfortunately, I wasn't as smart, and I stayed in my original seat that had a family right behind me with two little girls and super impatient parents. The girls were tired after being in Disney World all week, and apparently their parents were too: the girls were whiny, and the parents were both constantly snapping at them. It was my least favorite flight, and I was so happy to land in SLC. We got there around 6:15, and had to wait to pick up our luggage that was checked in that morning. Tabbi came to the airport and picked us up, which was so nice! She drove us to her house, we ate a quick dinner (thanks again, Tabbi!), and then started the drive home to Salmon. After a couple of gas stops, and a 5-hour energy drink, we finally made it safely home at about 1:00am!! I was SO glad to sleep in my own bed again!

Checking out the NCAA quarterfinals basketball game of 

Gonzaga vs. Texas Tech while we waited to get our luggage. 

One of the reasons I like to take my children on trips when they're freshmen (other than because I like to travel and their dad doesn't, so I'm happy to take my children with me instead!) is to have them experience various methods of transportation that they don't have exposure to where we live in Idaho. That way, when they're older and on their own, they'll already have an idea of what to do and how to navigate different modes of transportation when they encounter them. 

Even though we did a TON of walking on this trip, the twins were able to try a lot of new ways to travel. I was happy that we got to experience so many different of transportation on this particular vacation (even more than when I went with Ammon a few years prior):

Commercial Airliner

Shuttle Van

Light Rail

Uber car

City Bus

Motorized Rental Scooter

Commuter Train

Circulator Bus

Underground Metro

Skyrail

A-Z: Air & Space to Zoo

[Part FOUR of the trip I took with the twins back east over Spring Break]

Day 5 of the vacation (Friday, March 29) was our final day of sight-seeing. We headed for DC again that morning on the VRE (Virginia Railway Express) commuter train from Manassas. As we were waiting for the train to arrive, we were standing around on the platform talking to each other, and a gentleman came up and let us know that we were hanging out in the same area that loads for the "quiet" train (the one we'd rode on the previous morning), and I said "I know". He was implying that we needed to be quiet on the platform!! We were just in that area because there was a bench there, we had no intention of riding that train car again (although we didn't need to let the guy know that--we let him be uncomfortable for just a few more minutes). When the train came, we got on a different train car. Quinn was able to go to D.C. with us that day, which was fun for the twins to have him along because he's so fun and hilarious! 

We got off at the stop right before Union Station this time. When we first got there, Lisa got coffee and Quinn got breakfast, and the twins took turns riding around on some rentable scooters while we waited for them. Then we walked to the Air and Space Museum together. This is one of the most popular museums, so I wanted to get in line for it first thing in the morning before it got too busy in the afternoon. The museum didn't open until 10, and we were there about 30-40 minutes early, but it was the only museum we hadn't seen the previous day that we really wanted to see while we were in D.C. so I figured the wait was worth it. By the time the museum did open, there was a big line already! 

The museum was HUGE! One end of the museum was closed for renovations, and even with that, we still didn't make it to every room/display. We got tickets for the first showing at the planetarium, and wandered around looking at everything in the meantime. The planetarium was an awesome experience--the high-definition, 2-D video played overhead on the giant dome ceiling, and our seats reclined. The movie was about a half hour long, and was all about the stars. It was fascinating! I loved the experience--and wouldn't have even gone if Lisa hadn't recommended it!

This is a 1/4 scale model of the first hot air balloon

that humans flew in 1783 in Paris, France.

Our solar system scaled in size

Surprisingly, my favorite exhibit was about the Wright Brothers.

I found their whole story fascinating, and all their attempts to fly, despite

their failures was motivational. This was the successful Wright Flyer restored. 

The plane was so long, it filled the center of the room!

Touching the moonstone!

There were so many planes and rockets everywhere!

I used to be super interested in shuttle flight and outer space exploration, so

I made sure that we stopped by the NASA shuttle exhibit. 

This was an interactive digital contest that the boys

played while we were in the NASA exhibit. 

Quinn got a new shirt and hat before we left the Air & Space Museum.

The last time I was in D.C., I passed an area with food trucks. I'd told Lisa that I wanted lunch one day at the food trucks, but we never made it to the area that I saw them at before. We'd planned on eating lunch at the USDA building because it was near the Air & Space Museum, but when we arrived at the Air & Space Museum that morning, we'd surprisingly seen a whole street full of the food trucks across the street, and knew that's what our lunch plans would be. I was so happy it worked out this way! We canvased the long street for what we wanted, and everyone got their orders from multiple places, and we ate on the grass together. The variety of cultural representations in the food was awesome! I was really proud of the twins for trying new cuisines, too. Micah got food from a Honduran food truck, and Jonah got some Lebanese food! The wait for everyone was a little long, due to the amount of people, but the food was good, and resting our feet was nice!

Our next destination was the National Zoo, which was on the other end of town. We decided to take the underground Metro because we were right next to a stop, and there was a Metro station pretty close to the zoo as well. That was a new experience for the boys! We got on one line, but then had to get off, and make a connection on a different line. The giant underground tunnels are definitely something you don't see in Idaho!

When we got off at our stop at the zoo, the escalator ride to the top was SUPER long! I looked it up--it's the 3rd longest non-stop escalator in America and is 204 feet long!!

Only halfway to the top!

Looking down behind me at the halfway point

Fun Fact: All the monuments and Smithsonian museums are free of charge, as well as the National Zoo!! It was amazing that we got to see so much in two full days, and all of it was free. Also, while we were there, the circulator bus in DC was also free--they did a promotion during the month of March, which was nice for us since so many other things we tried to see on our trip were "closed" due to it being the "off-season"! The National Zoo was giant! Once again, part of it was closed due to construction renovations, but we were able to see everything else (although our feet were hating us by the time we were done!). Only 4 zoos in America have giant pandas at them, and this is one of them. A baby panda was born there several years ago, which is rare, so the pandas have been really popular there. In fact, they're still really popular; we got there when the pandas were eating, and there were so many people watching them, it was hard to get a good view of the pandas. However, my favorite animal to watch while we were there were the elephants. They have several of them! We watched them eat, do their daily check-up, and then we watched them outside mingle with each other, and we even saw one urinate (more like gushing!!). My favorite experience was watching/hearing the lions roar. It was unexpected, and I was grateful that we were walking by when it happened. They were so extremely loud that it shook your innards, and several of the small children around us cried because it scared them!! Another highlight was watching some river otters fight and roll around in the water with each other. We spent several hours at the zoo, and it was all very enjoyable (except when we were getting hungry and our feet were tired). I was glad for the outdoor experience, and that it was good weather for us. 

red panda

One of the giant pandas eating lunch

This is a display showing how much an elephant

poops and pees every day. They can urinate 40 gallons

at once--hence the gushing we witnessed!

I loved watching this elephant doing its daily check-up.

More elephant watching--we actually watched them 3 times: in the building, 

along the fence a little later, and from a bridge above before we left the zoo.

This gorilla got pretty close to the window I was at

Orangutans remind me of smaller versions of Harry the sasquatch in 

Harry and the Hendersons movie. 

It was cool watching the waterlife swimming in the tank!

I love snakes--but thankfully I've never come across a rattlesnake in real life!

I love that this lizard is like a lump on the log!

Hearing these two lions roar was a highlight!

In the Amazonia building, birds flew free! 

There were some giant fish I'd never seen before, and they were so bizarre!

This fish reminded me of an old man's face!

Lisa sent this photo of a sucker fish to Mack,

and he commented that it had a "butt" for a face!

That is one hairy spider! Tarantulas are so creepy, aren't they?!

Their different facial expressions make me laugh!

A giant beetle display made from real beetles!

Looks like a lonely beaver

More elephant viewing!

Who seems to be behind the cage now?!

These 2 river otters were fun to watch as they fought/played in the water.

We were totally beat by the time we left the zoo. We still had to walk about a mile back to the underground metro station, but at least this time it was all downhill! I loved looking at the cute homes along the way and all the flowers that were in bloom--the spring season there was several weeks ahead of ours!

We took the Metro back to Union station, got dinner downstairs at the food court again, and ate while we waited for the train ride to take us back to Manassas. We had walked over 9 miles that day--the most yet, and it felt good to sit! As we were riding the train back to Lisa's house, we could see that the cherry trees along the tidal basin were all in full bloom, just in time for the Cherry Blossom Festival the next day! Unfortunately (or fortunately, I guess) we were flying home the following day, and wouldn't be there to see the parade or the kites flying, but for a brief moment, we saw the trees before we went under a tunnel, and I was glad for that, because they were absolutely beautiful!