Home from Paradise! wink wink

It was hard to leave PARADISE...but I am home from

the lovely St. Regis Resort in Dana Point, CA.

It was a rough few days...relaxing on the beach, facials at the spa,

and shopping in my favorite little town of Laguna.

I am home to laundry, no groceries, and a kid home with Strep.

I am the luckiest girl on the planet.

DC last few Days of Fun

Day 3-
We packed the rental car and headed to Gettysburg.
It was the place Lincoln gave his famous speech Four Score and Seven Years ago...
All around we could see homes, graveyards, and artifacts from Civil War Times...
It truly was like stepping back into time.

For lunch we randomly pulled into a restaurant next to McDonald's.
It was called the Dobbin's House.
Little did we know, that this was one of the first stops of the underground railroad.
We ate downstairs in a candle lite tavern. 
Such an unplanned and unique experience.

Our next destination on vacation was Hershey, Pennsylvania.
We checked into the Hershey Lodge....
MMMMmmmmmm.

Chocolates awaited us in our room.

The sheets had Hershey Kisses embroidered on them.

It is a heavenly bed!

Even a bathroom wallpapered in Kisses...
Yes, the soap and the shampoo was chocolate flavor.

The town really did smell of chocolate.

The light posts were Hershey Kisses and the factory reminded Shane and I of Willie Wonka's.

It was connected on one side to a lush park with a stream that flowed into the factory.

The other side of the factory was an amusement park.

Up on the hill overlooking the factory was the elegant Hershey Hotel.

It has a chocolate spa!

We had to go check-it out!



Day 4-

We went to The Story of Hershey and The World of Chocolate.

Both are Delicious!

I would have to say The World of Chocolate was our favorite.

We went to a 4D-movie.

It shoot confetti on us, rained on us, smelled of chocolate, and played tricks on our eyes.

Next, was a factory tour on an amusement park like ride...

Then, time to get suited up to make our very own chocolate bar.

You start by designing your chocolate bar at a computer.

Then, you pull a lever and watch your creation come to life.

While your chocolate bar was in the cooler...

You need to design a wrapper for your candy.

Life is SWEET!

Our flight was the next morning,

so we headed back to DC to stay the night by the airport.

One finally stop was on our agenda...

Arlington Cemetery-

I wanted the kids to see (visually) all the people that had fought for our freedom.

It is a powerful sight.

While we were there, the last living WW1 veteran was buried.  It was a little tricky getting out of Arlington with the President and Vice President paying their respects.

We walked to the top of the hill to see where the Kennedy's were buried.

They have a beautiful view of DC.

We also took the kids to see the tomb of the unknown soldier.

It was time for the changing of the guard.

A perfect tribute and a wonderful way to end our stay in DC.



Thanks for joining us on our Spring Break Vacation....

Now back to reality and crafting fun!

DC-Day 2

We hit the ground running on our second day of travel--
The Smithsonian Museums were calling our name.

Our first stop was the Museum of American History

Here are a few of the highlights!

• Julia Child's Kitchen-I love how her husband drew on the pegboard where to place the pot back in it's spot.
• All the First Ladies of the White House dresses.  I couldn't take pictures because I couldn't stop looking at each one.  There was a film playing in the background interviewing many of the First Ladies and how they felt donating their gowns to the Smithsonian.  It was really something to see.
• The Star Spangle Banner Flag...no pictures allowed of it!  All I could say was WOW!
• Abraham Lincoln's Hat worn the night he was assassinated at the theater.
• And many more...from Michael Jackson's Hat to Kermit the Frog.

This place was full of surprises for me. 
I thought I was going to be bored!
Boy, was I wrong.

Day 2:
Second Smithsonian Museum
Natural History
( I went here in November with just Shane-
we had fun showing it to the kids)

• Hello Dum-dum from the movie "Night at the Museum 2".
• The center of the museum...the elephant
• We happened to be at the museum while the orchids were on display.  I took hundreds of photos and can I just say it, smelled like heaven in there.
• The Hope diamond worn by a dog!  I love it!
• Earrings worn by Marie Antoinette
• The earthquakes as the aftershocks were occurring in Japan.
• The great yarn sea...Little Miss H was in love with it too!

Are you exhausted yet?
One more museum to see today...
Air and Space Museum.

I was just worn out by now--
I am not sure I appreciated how cool this place was because I had seen too much.
My brain was done processing.

If you like planes and rockets then you will love this place.

• I saw the actual Spirit of St. Louis Plane
• Amelia Earhart's plane and goggles.
• The Wright Brother's plane and bicycle.
• Lots of space stuff

You thought you were done...
Ha, now for the 8 block hike to the hotel.

Let's take a little detour.
Do you see why?
Ford's Theatre on the right.
I wanted to see where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.