Mommy and Daddy’s trip up north!

Gabe was scheduled to head up to Philadelphia to take his PE boards at the end of August…another requirement for the ole’ medical students…anyways we were about to book his flight up there and on a whim we decided that the two of us would just make a little trip out of it and drive!  I called my Omi and Pop-Pop to see if they would be willing to come watch Maddie for a couple of days and of course they were over the moon excited to be able to spend some time with her.  So not only was I going to get to spend a lot of car time with my husband, but we had plans to go into Philadelphia for a few hours and on our way home we were going to stop in Washington D.C.!  I have never been, so I was so pumped!

Being ridiculously OCD (about certain things), I had this trip meticulously planned out-all hotels booked, things to do planned, train schedules just about memorized, and bags packed.  We left on Wednesday afternoon and right before we left we (stupidly) decided to update our GPS.  We then set out on the road only to discover that the maps had not loaded correctly-everything was completely wiped clean.  After countless attempts to get the GPS to start working (we used Starbucks, Microtel Inn, and a parking lot of a Super 8 wireless internet connection) and a call to Garmin customer service we finally were able to get our GPS working on day 3 of our trip!

We made it to Philadelphia late morning on Thursday, parked our car at the hotel, grabbed our backpack and ran to the train station to catch the train into the city.  We had fun exploring the streets of Philly.  We saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and Ben Franklin’s old neighborhood.  We also ate lunch at the Reading Terminal Market.  It was so neat and there was so much food everywhere!  Gabe had a Philly cheesesteak and I ate a pot roast sandwich from some really nice Amish people.  It rained most of the day, so I didn’t get my camera out too much.  But here are a few pictures that we captured---

 

 

Independence Hall

Grave of the Unknown Soldiers (of the Revolutionary War)

Room where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed

No big city is complete without China town

Old Library (I think?)

Betsy Ross’ House

Beautiful Cobblestone streets

Carpenter’s Hall

Liberty Bell

 

While Gabe was taking his test on Friday I stayed in the hotel until check-out glued to the TV watching Hurricane Irene’s every move.  The one time we are away a major hurricane was about to hit the northeast…and this only happens once in a decade, right?  Our plan was to be in Washington DC all day Saturday and Hurricane Irene was expected to make an impact with heavy rains and high winds in the late afternoon, so against our better judgment we headed down to DC on Friday night right after Gabe was finished with his test.  We hurried and made it DC on Friday night to see all the major monuments-Washington, Lincoln, Vietnam, Korean, and World War II.  There was definitely something special to see the Lincoln Memorial at night-we spent most of our time here and we even listened to a talk about our 16th president. 

 

 

After a long day we headed back to Bethesda (a suburb of DC) where our hotel was and got a good night sleep in preparation for a whirlwind of a day ahead of us…

Our plan was to walk through the monuments one more time so I could get daytime pictures of them first thing in the morning.  We decided to get off at a different station that was closer to the monuments in the “Froggy Bottom” neighborhood.  We started walking in the direction of the monuments (or what we thought was the direction of the monuments) and the whole time I was asking my dear husband “are we going the right way?” and all along he (the one with the map) kept assuring me that we were.  We passed through several hip DC neighborhoods and even saw several colleges a long the way.  After walking for nearly 30 minutes Gabe quickly took a look at the map and said “Oh My God we have been going in the wrong direction.”  Yep my boy scout, map-lovin’ husband took us due North about a mile in the WRONG DIRECTION! 

Nonetheless we FINALLY made it to the Lincoln Memorial right when the rain started.  Hurricane Irene was on its way…but I got the pictures of everything I wanted. We then headed to see the White House and to explore the Smithsonian Museums.  We saw the American History, Natural History Museums and visited the Archives where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution are held.  By the time we tried to go to the Air and Space Museum the winds had picked up and they started shutting the city down.  It was an insane day to say the least, but I can finally say I saw the nation’s capital.  I definitely want to return because there are many things that we didn’t get to see, including the Library of Congress, US Capitol, Arlington Cemetery, and countless museums and monuments. 

 

Vietnam War Memorial

Korean War Memorial

Lincoln Monument

World War II Memorial

The White House

The Boy Scout Monument

President Lincoln’s top hat he was wearing when he was shot

Dinosaurs-definitely my FAVE!

The Hope Diamond

Short visit to the Air and Space Museum before they closed everything down

 

After leaving D.C. we traveled to Richmond where we had a room booked for the night.  Thank goodness we had a reservation, because our hotel was turning people away who were from the coast trying to get a room for the night. We got a lot of rain and the winds definitely picked up by the time we checked in.  Gabe just about blew away trying to unload our things onto a cart. 

We had a fun little trip away, but we were so happy to be home with our little princess.  During all our travels we kept a picture of her on the dashboard so she was with us the whole time.  We never worried about her though, because she was with Omi.  I asked Omi one night how everything was going and Omi replied “me and Maddie are like two peas in a pod-we are having a great time!”.  Thank you Omi for taking great care of Maddie.  We love you so much!

Maddie cuddling with her Omi

Mommy and Daddy are HOME!

Where did June go?

We are winding down another month…hard to believe that June is almost come and gone just like that.  We have stayed super busy, so that is probably why it has gone by so fast!  Mom, Maddie, Natalie, Carter, and myself drove down to Georgetown on June 8th.  We enjoyed some fun in the sun at the pool for a few days.  We had lots of fun spending time with Omi and Pop-Pop, cousins, aunts, and uncles.  Daddy and Uncle Ryan drove down after work on Friday the 10th and stayed the weekend.  After lots of pool time and really good food all weekend, Gabe, Maddie, and I drove back home on Sunday.

I say we have stayed really busy, but I guess playing in our little backyard pool, tending to the vegetable garden (which is producing LOTS of cucumbers right now), going to the gym, running errands, and just doing the regular day-to-day activities keeps me and Maddie busy most days.  Maddie loves to be outside, so we spend most of the days outdoors playing in water and just running around.  Days just seem to fly by.  Speaking of the vegetable garden-when we got back from Georgetown my cucumbers had gone crazy!  We get on average about 1-2 cucumbers a day!  My banana pepper plant is starting to produce as well-I have enjoyed them on sandwiches the past couple of days.  I also have four tomato plants that have lots of tomatoes on them and should be ready soon.  The squash haven’t done too well-but I am hoping that zucchini, green peppers, and cantaloupe will do okay.  We will see…but regardless I have had so much fun watching my little garden grow!

 

We celebrated Father’s Day on the 19th by cooking breakfast, going to the mall (Gabe wanted to), and eating out at Fatz.  Maddie gave her Daddy a beautiful picture she pained all by herself.  She likes getting dirty, so she enjoyed playing in the paint.  This little girl sure is lucky to have a daddy like Gabe.  He is so attentive and spends so much time with her.  He just beams with pride when he is with her.   

On Father’s day, Maddie put on a new dress just for Daddy

We were in Alabama last week, which I talked about in the previous post.  Now that we are back, Gabe’s studying is in full-swing for his Step 2 Board exams at the end of July.  He is off from the hospital rotations for a month, but during this month he will spend his days at the local library.  Oh the joys of a medical student…oh well, Maddie and I will continue to stay busy and Mimi is home for the summer, so she is home, too!  I can’t believe that the fourth of July is next week!    Good-bye June…hello July!