Summer Vacation ~Day 1~ D.C.Fireworks

 We started our trip on 4th of July morning and drove the 8 hours to Washington D.C.

The city was very busy and many roads were closed as we tried to guide our way through to get as close as we could.  We walked the 4 blocks to the Mall Area and our first stop was the Natural History Museum to see the Dinosaurs.  Aaron has been waiting since last year to see them again and he was in Heaven as we walked around.

 I forgot the camera in the car and it was a bit to far and way to hot out side to go get it so the pictures didn't come out very well, but I'm still glad that we were able to take some. The kids had a blast and it was nice to be inside out of the 102 heat.

 Our next stop was to the Air and Space Museum.  We were getting hungry so we sat down and had some dinner and cooled off before we walked around looking at all of the space ships and planes until they closed and kicked us back out into the heat.

 We still had over an hour to wait for the fireworks to start, so we all had some ice cream and ate it really quickly before it melted in our hands.

 The kids found a hand railing to slide down and that helped pass the time.

 We were about halfway between the Capital Building and The Washington Monument so as it got dark, both buildings lit up and they looked so cool!

 The Fireworks were done over the Monument and they were so beautiful!

They didn't really last that long but they sure were big and very pretty.  We all enjoyed our time and it was so cool to be in our Nations Capital for our country's Birthday!!!  It was way to hot and way to humid so getting back into the car was not really that fun but we found a place to change our clothes and settled in for our 11 hour car ride to Atlanta.

Soccer Camp

 This year all 3 of our kids were able to attend soccer camp together.

 Aaron only went half days but he came with lots of new things to teach me.

All the kids in the camp are put onto teams and play games all week and in the end one is the winner.  Zach was on team Nigeria and they came in 4th, Katie was on team Netherlands and they came in 2nd.  We had a good time making their shirts for the final day.  Aaron's team, Spain was the camp winner but being only a half day 6 year old he never played in a game but he was still given a certificate and he thought that was pretty cool.  It was a good week and they all learned a lot of cool tricks to practice over the summer to be ready to play in the fall.

Katies New Earrings

 Last summer Katie got her ears pierced but when we changed them her ears got infected and she wouldn't let us put the old ones back in. So now that school is out and she has met some goals we set for her she is ready to get her ears done again.

 We took her to the mall and she picked out a flower with her birthstone in it.

 She was very brave and didn't even move when the lady did each ear.

She did great and they look so good.  We are very proud of Katie, she has changed a lot over the last year and has made some really good improvements as well.  Nice Job Katie you look Great!!!