Spring Break!

Spring Break was a getaway/staycation combination.  The first weekend of break, we drove to Richmond for a couple of days. We'd never been to Kings Dominion amusement park, and we spent 6 hours there on Saturday. 

It was a cold, very windy day, but we bundled up and had lots of fun!

Emma and Hallie found some cute new friends right away!

They had a Driving School ride where kids could drive small cars freely down "city" streets, complete with stop signs and traffic lights. Dan said it reminded him of a similar place called Safety Town when he was growing up on Long Island, NY.

This guy reminds me of someone, but I can't put my finger on it...

Oh yeah! Dan's twin!

All the rides for young kids are in a single location at Kings Dominion, so we spent the majority of our day in that area. It wasn't very crowded, so if there were lines at all, they were pretty short.

Emma saw the big swings and had to try them. Hallie was too short to get on this ride, and Dan and I get nauseous on the swings. Emma surprised us by riding it by herself!  She's on the right side of the photo, holding out her arms and closing her eyes so she could feel like she was flying! Brave girl!

The worker at this jeep ride measured Emma carefully and declared her too tall to ride it. Hallie wouldn't ride without Emma, so they were both disappointed. Since Emma was barely at the maximum height, we revisited the ride later when another person was working it. The second worker let them both right on! They were super happy, but it may have been Emma's last opportunity to ride this one!

After we'd ridden ALL the kids' rides, we took a stroll through the rest of Kings Dominion to see what else it had to offer. Even though they were worn out, the park had large rocks in the Jungle X-pedition area that the girls couldn't resist climbing and playing on. 

After all that activity, they had to stop and take a nap with Snoopy and Woodstock!

We stayed the night in a nearby hotel with an indoor pool, and the girls enjoyed swimming until bedtime.

The next morning, we visited the Children's Museum of Richmond.  It's a little smaller than our Portsmouth Children Museum, but it had different stations which kept the girls busy playing non-stop for over 3 hours.

There was a deli where they could pretend to be waitresses and prepare food while we sat at a booth on our "date". 

They could actually milk this cow! It had a rubber udder that squirted water into a sponge in the bucket below.

The girls both loved it and kept going back every time we passed the cow.

A dinosaur-themed play area

There was a craft station with an attendant who worked at a counter handing out craft supplies. The girls made toilet paper roll butterflies. Emma was done crafting after this, but Hallie was in heaven and stayed at least an hour longer!

There was a theater section with a puppet stage, a sound booth, and a large stage with dress up clothes and a vanity. Dan and I enjoyed several performances starring our favorite dancers.

They had an NBC news station with video cameras and a news anchor desk. Dan and Hallie were in the middle of reporting the top news stories, when they were unexpectedly visited by Emma the Dog! 

Emma and I gave the weather forecast. It's all a lie - it was actually cold and miserable outside.

The Children's Museum had an indoor carousel, and the girls enjoyed a ride on some interesting animals.

After our weekend in Richmond, we stayed home Monday-Thursday. Each set of grandparents offered to babysit the girls one day so I could go into the office.  Dan's parents' local library in Williamsburg had recently added interactive activities for kids, so Emma and Hallie checked it out with Grandpa and Grandma!

A Lego-building wall

A vet area with stuffed animals to heal. 

During his Spring Break weekdays at home, Dan accomplished a lot of work around the house and yard. He installed two ceiling fans, weeded the lawn, rearranged furniture, and cleaned up the garage.

By Friday, we were ready to hit the road again and drove to Washington DC for a few days.

Our first stop was the National Zoo.  It was bigger and had more animals than we expected, including some giant pandas!

There was only one playground area, but the girls of course made every statue and rock along the way into their personal jungle gym!

The elephants were really active, and one even did a dance for us!

The meerkats were active, too. One of them looked a little shifty, though.

One of our unexpected favorite exhibits was the small mammal house. They had a habitat with dozens of naked mole rats, which were fascinating to watch. Emma couldn't decide: cute or creepy?

Here's a close-up so you can decide for yourself:

Hopefully you don't see that in your sleep.

After our zoo day, we went to the National Building Museum to pick up my race packet and t-shirt for the Cherry Blossom 10-mile run that I was running that Sunday. 

Washington DC is such a beautiful city, and Hallie and Emma enjoyed seeing all the memorials and statues around the city.

On Saturday morning, Dan took us on a driving tour of the most famous monuments, and the girls and I hopped out the car for a few minutes to walk inside the Lincoln Memorial. There were no parking spots available, so Dan had to keep driving around until we were finished.

The view of the Washington Monument is spectacular from the Lincoln Memorial steps.

When I visited Washington DC as a child, this monument and Lincoln's statue were the most awe-inspiring and memorable.

We spent Saturday afternoon at the Museum of Natural History.  We all enjoyed the Mammal exhibits and spent the most time there, but we did a faster walkthrough of the rest of the museum.

The girls could look through a window underneath this prowling black panther exhibit. 

Our Hallie Bear posing with the bears

Dinosaurs!

Holy giant geode!

Hallie would like one of everything, please.

The famous Hope Diamond

On Saturday evening, we met my running buddy, Lori, and her family for dinner. 

Lori and I used to work together, and we would run on our lunch breaks. We worked up to running a 5k and then a half marathon together in Virginia. We signed up for the Cherry Blossom 10-mile race in 2020, but it was cancelled in both 2020 and 2021 because of COVID.  In the past year, Lori took a different job and moved to Wisconsin, but she traveled all the way back to Washington DC to run with me!

Our starting line was at the Washington Monument, which was super cool.

Lori with her daughter, Haleigh, and husband, Terry

The weather couldn't have been more perfect on race day, and we ran the 10 miles slowly and enjoyed the views of beautiful Washington DC.

We ran past all the major monuments, over Arlington Memorial Bridge toward Arlington National Cemetery, through tunnels, over several other bridges with pretty views, and down roads that were lined with cherry blossom trees. I loved every minute.

Stopping to take a photo with the gorgeous cherry blossoms

We finished the race, and I found my favorite people waiting for me. Apparently, the kids slept until 9am, and Dan had to rush to meet me at the finish line!

Lori and I with our biggest supporters. I'm so thankful we finally got to run this race together. It was a blast!