So our family trip to Virginia was fun. We left OS on Sat morning (July 24) and went to Hamilton. We borrowed Mr. B's van. Ours is old and doesn't have air conditioning any more. Then we left Hamilton at 8pm with the girls in jammies and blankets. By the time we got to Niagara Falls they were asleep. I drove the first 4 hours and Bonzo drove for about 5 hours. We did have to stop for L once; she woke up and would not settle. We had a DVD player and kids movies. We also took some audiotapes to listen to. We took lots of treats and munchies. The drive was fine; we stayed on main interstates (Pennsylvania Turnpike). I guess there is a faster way to go, but because we were driving thru the night, we wanted to stay on the interstate so we would be sure that gas stations were open and there were rest stops if we needed them. We got to Vienna at about 6 am. We found Marc's house easily. We carried the kids in, and the 4 of us slept in a double bed (squished) for the next few hours. Even though Bonzo and I took turns driving, so the other could sleep, it was very difficult to sleep. We had to follow directions, as the route changes roads a few times.
Sunday morning (a few hours later), Marc and I took the girls to the grocery store to buy some cereal and milk (and stuff). We let Bonzo sleep a bit more. When Bonzo woke up, we all went to Target. We like that American store. 2 problems: we had taken the back seat out of the van for luggage (we had lots) so there was only 4 seats in it. With Marc with us, Bonzo had to sit in the back of the van (no seat) while Marc drove. The other problem is that P gets carsick and did on the way to the store. She always says, "Mom, I feel a bit home sick" That's when I know to grab any bag and place it under her face. She got a bit on her clothes, so when we got to Target, I ran in and bought her a dress to change into. Then we all went in for a look around. After that we had a nice lunch and went back to Marc's.
Monday: we went to the National Zoo in Washington D.C. We saw lots of animals including the Panda bears. It was hot and there was a lot of walking but the zoo is very nice.
Tuesday: we went to the Air and Space Museum. It is so big. We saw lots of planes and a space shuttle. We went to the IMAX and saw a cool movie about people who do extreme thrills like free falling and cliff jumping called "Adrenaline Rush: The Science Of Risk" It was kinda loud. But I nursed Lily and she was okay.
Went to the Rainforest Cafe for dinner and for dessert we had a big chocolate Volcano cake with sparklers.
Wednesday morning we packed up and headed to Williamsburg which was about 3 hours south. We got there at 11am and went straight to Busch Gardens. I had bought tickets at CAA at Canadian par. So it cost us $130 Canadian instead of $130 US (about $185 Canadian). Also: we found out that we could get second day tickets cheaper once we got there, so we planned on getting tickets for Friday when we left the park. It is a beautiful park with lots of great shows. But they have torrential rains and we got stuck in one at about 2pm. We sat under a covered bridge for about 30 minutes (with 50 other people). Once it started to let up, we headed to the front of the park to leave. We were soaked and we knew we could check into our hotel soon, so we thought we would go change. As I got to Guest Services I noticed a line for rain checks, so I got them. We got our hand stamped at the gate as we left. So we check into our hotel, got nice and dry - by then the sun was out, and when back to the park (hand stamp). We also had our rain check tickets that we used on Friday, so we really got 2 days for the price of one. Great considering that it would cost about $185 for us to go normally.
The park is really nice. I would definitely go there again. It doesn't have any Disney characters, but it is great for kids too. Had a Dragon land with a nice little water park for wee ones. It is European themed, so they have England, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Germany and France. It was very hot there.
There were some really good shows and P still talks about the Irish Thunder Dancers. The had a really cool 4-D show, where the movie is in 3-D but then when the actor (Christopher Lloyd) spits his drink out, they spray water on you. And when you see the rats run out in the movie, you can feel your seat moving, like the rats are running around you, that kinda stuff. Fun. The only thing is that I couldn't go on any of the roller coasters cause the kids are too little. It will be fun to go when they are bigger. It is also not as busy as Disney World. Easier to see more things when we don't have to wait in long lines. (Might be a bit more expensive than Disney overall).
The hotel was nice. Had a decent pool. Well it was a pool. Can't expect much for $99 a night. But the location was good. Close to everything, restaurants, malls, and attractions...
On Thursday we went to Colonial Williamsburg and walked around the village. They call it the world�s largest living museum. They hire hundreds of actors to play people from colonial times so that you can experience what it was like back then. They have horse and carriages going down the streets and stuff... It was neat but we didn't spend a lot of time there. It is very American. Thomas Jefferson and all that business. Nice to look at the old houses and churches and cobblestone roads.
For dinner we went to a Mongolian-Chinese-Japanese buffet. Ate sushi. Eww. Wished we had eaten Barbecue instead, but we let P pick and she loves Chinese.
Friday: we went back to Bush Gardens for the day and then at 8pm we headed back up to Vienna.
Saturday: we went into D.C. and to some of the Smithsonian Institutes. (The Air and Space and Zoo are also Smithsonian Inst) All of them have free admission. (Paid for by the American tax dollar). We went to the Natural History Museum. There was a bit of a line, but it wasn't too bad. Took 5 minutes since you have to go through metal detectors and security checks and all that. So we were actually on the bottom floor and we had a look around and then went up to the main floor where the rotunda is with the giant elephant and I saw tons of people coming in. Jeff said that was the main entrance and we had come in the back way. There was 2 huge ques that went down the walkway and around and down the street. I couldn't believe it. I was so glad we came in the back. So in that museum we saw dinosaur bones and giant squids and they also have a large jewelry collection there including the hope diamond. The hope diamond it is the most visited exhibit in a museum in the world! It is a 45 carat blue diamond, and they have tracked its owners back to kings and sultans, hundreds of years ago. It is supposed to be cursed! - really Indiana Jones kinda thing...
Oh, before that we went to a kinda mall, but they only had a few stores and many places to eat - like a giant food court. And we had to pass through security there too. Metal detectors and they go through your bags and everything. To eat!
Then we went to the American history museum down the street and saw Fonzies jacket and Archie Bunker's chair and stuff like that. Pretty boring for the kids.
We saw the Capitol Building and other American monuments. They were kinda cool. Just did a drive by...Also there are lots of homeless people in D.C. so I had to sort of explain that to P. She thought one guy was a statue cause he was sort of sitting-leaning sleeping against a building. She didn't think he was real. We didn't see George W. Perhaps he was out of town.
What else: went to Build-a-Bear where P got to make her own bear (Princess Love Bear) and blasted stuffing all over a Build-a-bear employee. Went to Bloomies, couldn't afford to buy anything there. When to Pottery Barn for Kids and bought a patchwork teddy bear for L. P got to ride in Marc's convertible so she was very happy about that.
We drove the same way back. Left Vienna at 8pm. I drove 4 hours then Bonzo switched and drove about 3 hours and then we switch before crossing the border. We never let Bonzo talk to the customs officer. We were the only ones crossing at 3am and they let us go straight through no problems. I drove the rest of the way and we got to Hamilton at about 4am. So much better time coming home. We slept at B's for a few hours and then drove to OS. (My mom had been house and dog sitting for us). So we were home Sunday evening and still had the holiday Monday off to wind down, unpack, do laundry, etc. Also: we heard that a few hours� later cars were lined up at the border crossing for hours. It was really a good idea to cross at 3am with the girls sleeping in the back.
So I would go again. A little difficult with the kids and the amount of driving. But over all we had fun.
(letter to Donna)
3:07 PM - Thursday, Oct. 07, 2004
Recent entries:
July 2013 - Wednesday, Jul. 24, 2013
8th Grade Graduation - Wednesday, Jul. 10, 2013
Virginia 2013 - Tuesday, Jul. 02, 2013
Double digits - Monday, May. 13, 2013
Spring? - Tuesday, May. 07, 2013
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