Nauticus

While we were in VA we went to Nauticus. It was a very neat place! We saw tons of Naval history, sharks, crabs, different weather stations, and a huge ship. Unfortunately it started to storm while we were on the big ship so we had to go inside. Mason the mermaid
Ryley the mermaid
On the ship
The kids all loved these phones. The idea was to pick up the phone and listed to the speaker tell you about what you were looking at. However, the kids decided it was much more fun to talk to each other on the phone.
Not sure why all the kids wanted to stick their head in there, but they did!

Mason thought everything was super cool and told us on the way home that maybe he would like to be in the Navy.
Jodie was talking to Granny and telling here about all the fun she was having.
More phones
Jodie decided to be 2 this trip and this picture just sums up her attitude.
Trying to get the coal to move.

In a boat

Fish, Jodie loved the fish.
The kids loved the shark tank and played in it for awhile.

This was cool, it had arms that the kids could use to pick stuff up out of the sand.
This was one of the kids favorite parts of this museum. The water tank. You had to use barrier to make the water flow and you could rearrange them to make water falls, streams, etc. Then you could use a boat to see how fast/slow the water went.

Water fall and huge bridge

The mountains. I thought it would be neat to take landscape pictures and have my foot appear in every one of them. I think it would make a fun coffee table book.







Ryan planned out two different ways to drive the first day. One kept us on the main road the second one took us off the main road, but allowed us to see a really neat bridge. What we didn't know was that the bridge wasn't the only cool thing we would see. We just happened to pass this waterfall and luckily Ryan decided to turn around. It was amazing! We were able to walk up really close to it. The bridge was also very neat, and it allowed us to get out and stretch for a while!

Driving to VA

Before we left for our trip we had heard all the stories about driving with our children. People laughed when we told them we were going to drive and said "good luck with that". So we decided to leave MO at 4:00 am to get some of the driving out of the way while the kids were still asleep. However, the kids were so excited that they didn't fall back to sleep and instead looked around at everything while the sun was coming up. Right before we entered St. Louis, Jodie asked if we were there yet, which we laughed at. This was the only time anyone asked this question. Jodie did say multiple times that she was ready to go home, but was easily swayed with suckers, or toys. We did bring our computer so we could play movies for the kids if that was needed, however, it didn't work. Lucky for us the kids didn't seem to mind!

So here are some good time killers for the car...

books on cd (or in our case, downloaded from the library). The kids loved listening to the books and I bet it allowed us 5 or more hours of quiet in the car.

Snacks: all kinds of snacks, from sweet to salty. Including suckers. Even Ryan loved sucking on suckers (it kept us awake on the way home!).

Lots of things to color, and doodle on. I brought coloring books, blank maps, road scavenger hunts, and the license plate game. I also brought their magnetic drawing boards.

Small games, and other car activities including pipe cleaners. The kids loved the pipe cleaners and were entertained for a couple hours with them.

Last but not least rest stops. We stopped at several rest stops some of which were very nice, most were very clean, and all had grass to play in. It gave us a chance to stretch our legs, clean out the car, and go potty.

The only rest stop that had a playground. The kids loved playing.

Fourth of July

We decided to shoot off some small fireworks last weekend. Here is Mason throwing snap pops at Ryley (don't worry Ryley got him back!).
Here is Jodie with her "snapper tings". She loves throwing them on the ground and stepping on them!Mason was holding Jodie back while Ryan tried to light the snakes. Ugh snakes...they are so gross.
Ryan has to light all the fireworks because I won't! Luckily he doesn't seem to mind.
Awwww Ryley!
Mason and Ryley love sparklers, those of you who know me well, know that I am terrified of sparklers and won't go near them. So the fact that my children love them is slightly annoying ha ha.
For the fourth of July weekend we traveled to the lake. Ryan and the kids went to his parents house on Friday night, but of course there are no pictures :( I hear that they ate, played outside, and we great kids (must have been some one else's children, because this doesn't sound like mine at all). On Saturday we spent the day with my sister Erin at her in-laws home. There was great food, horse back riding, cooling off in the creek, an amazing fireworks display, and great friends/family to hang out with. A fun time was had by all!
Here are all the kids waiting to have a turn on the horse.
Ryan and Jodie talking to Gus.
Hannah and Ryley with Goose, I was very afraid that Ryley was going to try to smuggle Goose home with her.
Here is Hannah on the horse, she loved riding and kept asking to go again and again.
Mason and Ryley wanted to ride together on their first ride, but after that the fear was gone and they rode again by themselves.
Jodie wanted to ride so Hannah volunteered to ride with her.

Ryley and I drew a huge American flag on the drive way when we came home from the lake.
We had a great time seeing all our family and friends this weekend. The fireworks were amazing, the food was wonderful, and the company was great! Now we have to rest up and get ready for our vacation.