Baseball Trip '07- Washington DC

We arrived in Washington DC around 5, got settled in and decided to walk around and check out our nation's capital. Our hotel was downtown toward the Capital side of the Mall, so we walked down to the Capital and the Supreme Court to take some pics, then we headed back and took a tour of the National Archives. We saw the Magna Carta, Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution, among other national treasures. Unfortunately, they didn't allow flash photography, so all the pics we took just look like tanned pieces of paper and you can't tell which one is which. The next day we had planned on going to the Smithsonian, which is somewhere I have wanted to visit since I was a child. But of course, when I actually get the chance to go to DC- it was CLOSED! It closed last summer and will remain closed until next summer for renovations. So we decided to go to the National Air & Space Museum, which is also ran by the Smithsonian Institute and it had about 100 pieces from the closed museum on display. The boys learned a lot and enjoyed all the airplanes and rockets hanging from the ceiling. There was also models of the Lunar Lander and the Space Station which were quite cool. I got to see Dorothy's Ruby Slippers, Kermit the Frog, George Washington's Military Uniform, Jackie Kennedy's Inaugural dress, a baseball signed by Babe Ruth, and other pieces of Americana that are on loan while their home is being remodeled, so at least it wasn't a total loss. After the museum, we went up in the Washington Monument and got to take in the whole city from 555 feet in the air. Our view from the top allowed us to plan our hike to the White House to take some pics and then we took the subway back to the hotel to get ready for the game. We used the subway quite a bit while we were in DC, including to and from the game, and the boys quickly became obsessed with this method of travel. The Nationals are getting a new stadium next season, which is a very good thing because RFK Stadium was not impressive at all. The only things that were cool were the mascots, the main mascot is an Eagle named Screech, but then they have four big headed presidents that also dance around and have a race in the middle of the game (see pic of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt). Unfortunately the Cardinals lost in the bottom of the 9th inning, 3-2, but at least this game was a nail biter and not a blowout. The following day we visited the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Wall, and the WWII Memorial, which has a beautiful fountain- I love fountains! It was about 100 degrees and we had to do a lot of walking, but we all made it through. We left DC later that afternoon and drove to Columbus, Ohio where we crashed for the night. The next morning was our final leg home and Alena and Dixie were very happy to see us when we got there. In all we crossed seven states and traveled over 1700 miles. We get to mark two more stadiums off our list, bringing our total to 13 (if you count both Busch Stadiums). All in all it was a good trip, not the most relaxing vacation we've ever taken, but it was an experience everyone will remember for a long time. I can't wait to see where we get to go next year!

Baseball Trip '07- Pittsburgh

This year we took the boys on our annual out of town trip to watch the Cardinals play. Neither of us was crazy about driving 1700 miles with two nine year olds, but we knew it would be a good learning experience for them. The first day we just spent driving from St. Louis to Pittsburgh, PA. Although we did stop for lunch at Wendy's, which was a welcomed treat since all the Wendy's in the St. Louis area have been closed for over a year! We stayed about 5 miles outside of Pittsburgh to save some money and it was definitely the right decision. We had a suite with a full kitchen, the hotel had free breakfast (not just continental either) and a free two-hour happy hour everynight- it was great and everyone was really nice! The hotel even took us to and from the baseball game, so we didn't have to pay for parking. At less than $100 per night it was definitely the bargain of the trip and with the exception of the fire alarm going off in the middle of that first night it was a pleasant experience. There was no fire, but of course the alarm was right outside our door, luckily the boys slept through it all, Brian wasn't so lucky. The next morning we toured PNC Park and got to go in the dugout and the pressbox and see the inner working of the Pittsburgh Pirates home. The ballpark is right on the Allegheny River and is a very pretty park. After we left we decided to go up one of Pittsburgh's historic inclines (130 years old historic) to get a better view of the city (see pic of the incline going up the hill and the overview shot of downtown Pittsburgh). After going back to the hotel for a quick swim and the free happy hour, we left for the game and watched the Cardinals lose 15-1 :(

The next morning we ate our free breakfast and hit the road on our way to Washington DC!

TO BE CONTINUED....................

Kiva Update

As I blogged about in a previous post, over the winter I donated money through Kiva to women starting or expanding businesses in developing countries. It was my little way of feeling as if I was making a difference to not only the entrepreneur, but her to family and in some cases the entire community. I loaned four women a total of $150 and I'm happy to report one of the women, Lidys Fajardo, has repaid her loan in full ahead of schedule. I took the $50 she repaid me and have since donated $25 each to two more women to help their businesses. I have added a Lenk's Link with my lender page so anyone who wants to can follow the progress of any or all of these women.

Another 1st Day of School--YIPPEE!

The boys' started fourth grade today (8/20) and other than the bus being over 30 minutes late (which is typical for the 1st day) everything else went smoothly and the boys enjoyed being back in class with all their friends. I'm also very excited to have my normal life back, it was so nice shopping today with only ONE child! Alena starts her first day of "school" tomorrow. Her babysitter is about to have another baby, so we decided it was a good time to put her in daycare. She still will only go two days a week (at least until I find a full-time job) and it will be good for her to get around kids her own age.

I finally downloaded the pics from our vacation today, but still need to go through them and organize. I promise I will post about our trip later this week. One reason I didn't get the vacation pics done today was that I started organizing my picture files, for example, I now only have one file entitled "First Day of School" and inside it are all the subfolders for each grade. It has made my "My Picture" File a lot less cluttered. Anyway, as I was condensing I pulled out similar pics from all the first days of school the boys have had and thought I would share them with everyone. So here are pictures from all their first days of school from Kindergarten through 4th grade. I can't believe how much they have grown up over the past few years!