Day 6....home, peach shake, and Giant's

(From Thursday)

Today Natalie and I decided to stay in instead of going into DC or out anywhere. This morning I took Laura to the Metro and headed over to Panera to do some reading and to do some stuff on my computer. For the past three days I have been able to go to Starbucks or Panera to read my Bible and another book. It's good to set some time away in the early morning to do this. After I returned home, I took Bailey for a walk. Natalie woke up and got ready and we headed over to Chick-fil-a for free small chicken biscuits (apparently each say this week at a certain Chick-fil-a they are giving out certain free breakfast items) It was good :); plus, I bought this Peach Milkshake which was not bad. I had been told it was really sweet. Yes, it was sweet but not too sweet.

Later we just hung around the house. We did some cleaning: I cleaned some of the counters in the kitchen. I wanted to some cleaning for Mike and Laura; I mean we have been living in their house, eating their food, etc. so this was a way of giving something back :) Later in the afternoon Natalie and I drove to Giant's for some food for dinner (I took directions this time! I had taken directions for Chick-fil-a earlier was well. After that touring northern VA incident, I thought it good to have directions :)).

We came home from Giant's and a little later Natalie and I made dinner. We made a bacon and chicken cheese sauce to put on the pasta we cooked. Then for a vegetable I threw together some different veggies from Mike and Laura' freezer. I put broccoli, spinach, and cauliflower together with some cheese(of course!)

Later on I picked Laura up from the Metro station and we headed home to dig into our cheesy dinner.  It turned our to be ok.  The sauce was not as tasty as I would have liked.  However, we had brownies later on which were good.  After dinner Laura, Natalie, and I headed over to the community pool for a swim.  We only went into the pool for a little while.  After 8pm Laura headed to Ronald Reagan Airport to pick Mike up from his trip to LA.  We had the brownies when they returned. 

Day 5....DC and Donald's

(From Wednesday)

Natalie and I went into DC again for more museum bouncing. Yes, well, honestly that meant only two museums :P. This really is not a bad quota for a day though. I mean the Smithsonian museums are chalk full of displays, so two in a day is not bad, if not even too much. But our method of museum viewing was not as intensive as some. For example, we did not stop at all the displays in each museum and did not read every board and plaque with information on it.

We got into DC via the Metro and headed on over to the National Museum of American History. This museum basically captures any and everything from the establishment of the US as a nation all the way up to pop culture today in our great nation. It was fairly extensive, though it let me down. Back some years ago my family and I visited DC, and I think we came to this same museum. This last time though they did not have a display they had last time (unless I just missed it). It was a Star Trek phaser! (Geek? Yes! Awesome? Heck ya!) But not this time around, no phaser to be found. Though I must say that I did not search the whole museum, so I might have overlooked it :/ I went into the pop culture section and you would think it would have been there....nope. So ya, a disappointment, but we saw some other cool and crazy displays.

The thing is museums are full of so much rich knowledge and facts, yet they are very overwhelming with their extensive data and media displays. It would take at least a day or two to soak everything up from just one museum, though after a day I probably would have got bored of that museum. :/

After the American History Museum, Natalie and I traversed up and down DC roads to locate some nourishment. We finally found a McDonald's to fulfill our hunger. After devouring fries, a chicken sandwich, some chicken nuggets, and a Bacon Ranch salad, Natalie and I, with Strawberry shake and soft drink in hand, respectively, found our way to museum #2.

The second museum we went to is the National Air and Space Museum. (Yes, from my above comment you can imagine that this is probably my favorite museum.) The Air and Space Museum is full of planes, rockets, capsules, and crazy technology, which is cool! Let me tell you what. It was crazy, though, that there was a line coming out of the building to get in, it was free, but quite unusual for a museum to be so busy. But we got in fine and were able to see some cool things: a replica of Sputnik 1, different space capsules, multiple rockets, etc. :)

After that we took the Metro to the station near home and then drove home.

Later, I went back to the Metro station to pick Laura up and then went home to eat dinner. After we played mini golf near their house :) Laura won. :/ :)

Tomorrow Natalie and I are just going to stay home and hangout their.

Day 4...relative rescue

(From Tuesday)

6:35am....wake up and take a shower.

6:55am....take Mike and Laura to the Metro station.

This morning Mike was leaving for LA, but he just had to go to the Metro so the day started like any other.  I drove Mike and Laura to the Dunn Loring Metro station so that Natalie and I could have the truck for the day :).  I proceeded to Starbucks after depositing them at the station.  I grabbed a strawberry-banana smoothie and did some reading. It was good to just spend time doing that.  The smoothie was nothing amazing; I would definitely recommend the chocolate banana smoothie if you were going to buy a vivanno from Starbucks.  

I drove home and had some breakfast, watched some tv, and decided what to do for the day.  Well, I was thinking about going to a park of some sort, so I googled to see what I could find.  Natalie and I ended up visiting the Manassas National Battlefield Park.  This was, of course, after missing a turn on the beginning of the trip and having to turn around to get back on track.  Then we wanted to grab some lunch to take to the park.   So we explored our options and eventually found a Firehouse Subs, which is what we had wanted.  With lunch in hand we traversed back to the park and parked at the Visitor's Center.  I bought my pass and Natalie was free(!)  We drove (it's a big, big park) to a picnic area and gobbled down our subs.

After a filling lunch, we headed back over to the Visitor's Center where we began a one mile tour/walk with information along the way about the First Battle of Manassas.  There was some interesting information and lots of cannons (it was a battle after all).

Well by the time we left, it was about 3 o'clock.  This would have been fine.  I mean it should have only took us 30 minutes to get home.  We did need to stop by a supermarket, but that should not take too long.  After I would pick up Laura from the Metro station sometime after 4 o'clock.  This was the hypothetical situation and probably the best way to accomplish this.  Well, turns out that's all it was: hypothetical.  

We left the park in the right direction, though I was uncertain.  So, after turning around and turning around again (because I was originally correct) we headed towards home.  Everything would have been fine if we just went home.  However, we were going to a Super Giant (VA supermarket) for some food for dinner.  I did not remember where any of the Giants were so I went on a wild goose chase.  This took Natalie and I on a tour of norther VA (ok, that's a but of an exaggeration).  So, we finally found one that I had been too before.  Ok, that was not too bad.  The worst part was me trying to get home.  That's when we began our long drive to no where.  So, after much reluctance I contacted Laura for help(!)  After talking with her, one of her co-workers, and a friend, Natalie and I were finally able to get home (relative rescue!).

We picked Laura up from a Metro station and headed to McDonald's to pick up some dinner.  We did this because we did not want to take the time to make lasagna and Laura had a Bible Study to go to, so we went for some "fast" food.

Tomorrow Natalie and I are heading into DC again.

Day 3....day in DC, way too many people

(From Monday)

10:46am - Wake up.

12:17pm - Leave home for Metro.

12:45pm(ish) - Enter Metro and get off at Federal Triangle station.

Well, I ended up waking later so we (Natalie and I) did not get into DC until after noon.  We walked up to the Metro station and took the train to the Federal Triangle station.  Our goal for the day was to visit two of the Smithsonian Museums: the National Museum of Natural History and Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture.  Mission accomplished.  

We first went to the natural history museum.  There were a ton of animals from all over the world.  No, they were not real, but they were replicas or something.  There were live bugs, butterflies, etc. though.  There were some normal looking ones and ones you might be like, "That looks like a combo of two animals!"

After exploring the plethora of replicas, skeletons, and interesting nature-related facts, we checked out the Atrium Cafe.  It was an ok cafe.  They had soup, pizza, wraps, sandwiches, burgers, etc.  You know your basic cafeteria food, but they were all crazily priced.  Natalie and I got a total of two drinks, a slice of pizza, a beef wrap, and fries and it was about $26.  Insane!

From the natural history museum we went to an art museum.  We only went for a little while and checked out parts of a few exhibits.  There were some interesting pieces of art, especially in the folk art area.

Once we had perused some different pictures and portraits we headed towards the National Mall and eventually found a Starbucks :)  After we purchased our drinks, Natalie and I headed to the Mall and found some shade to sit in.  After 4pm some time, Natalie and I returned to the Federal Triangle station to head home.  We got back with only a little trouble and joined Mike and Laura outside the Dunn Loring station.

That evening we played Settlers (again).

Day 2....Count your blessings, count them...

Two (deer) by one (deer) by two (deer) by one (turtle) by one (prairie dog...thing) by one (deer) by one (deer).

Second day here in VA.  This morning we went to Mike and Laura's church, Covenant Life Church (Josh Harris is a pastor there, yes, the author :), ya I've mentioned this before).  It is a really great church.  It was interesting today they had two baptisms during the service.  Yes, in the sanctuary there is a small pool!  It was different, but good.

After church we drove over to a state park in Maryland (that's where Covenant Life is) to play some disc golf.  The course is made up of three loops of nine holes.  We only did two of the loops :) (27 holes is a lot!)  If you've never gone disc golfing, you should.  Today I did not do so well, but it was good exercise and a chance to try out a new course.

After disc golf we came home for some lunch and watching golf (ya, I know you're like, "Golf?  That's boring!").  It can be boring, but it's easier to like it when you're going for someone.  We watched that for a while, well some of us, and I got a few z's on the couch.  When I awoke we played Settlers (mentioned in previous post).  After we went to Olive Garden for dinner!  It was pretty good :)  We came home and Mike and Laura went to bed not long after; they have to wake up early!  Now watching some tv and on the computer.

Going into DC tomorrow with Natalie.

P.S. Oh, by the way, the beginning reference about counting your blessings and the animals refers to the wildlife we saw while disc golfing.  We first saw two deer.  Then another deer.  Thirdly, we saw a buck and a doe run/jump across a creek.  While searching for a missing disc, I located a turtle.   We think it might have been a snapping turtle, not sure.  Then we saw this prairie dog animal as we left the park.  As we were driving out some of us saw two more deer.  I missed them :( :/.

Day 1....crazy day

(From Saturday)

8:20....."Get out of the shower!   We got to go!" (not direct quote from family, but how they were probably feeling :P)

9:30.....bags checked in.

12:00........got into Dulles International Airport.

*times are estimated

Well that was the beginning of my day.  Natalie and I were off to visit and spend time with my brother and sister-in-love, Mike and Laura.  The day it not get off to a great start.  Turns out that my baggage, due to our late check in (because of me :/) did not make it on our flight.  After getting into DC, we had to go back to the airport to pick it up :( later that day.  Thankfully after we figured this out, Mike and Laura were close and picked us up pretty quickly from the airport.  We drove home and were greeted by Bailey (Mike and Laura's huge chocolate lab). Our afternoon then consisted of hanging out, eating, and playing a game called Settlers (interesting game :) ).  

Well, since it is the 4th of July we had to grill.  Mike had burgers and dogs.  But his burgers were not your everyday burgers.  They were stuffed with mozzarella cheese.  (your mouth is probably watering now :P)  The recipe was more or less a take off from a burger made on the Food Network's show "The Next Food Network Star".  They were good burgers (he did make some plain with cheese on top :)  and they were good as well).  We also had baked beans, pasta salad, and s'mores!

After dinner we headed out.  This is the time we picked up my luggage.  After calling AirTran twice during the day, we went back to Dulles and thank the Lord(!) my bag was there.  Whew, what a relief!  After, we headed to the Metro system.  From there, we boarded the Metro to go into DC.  We went to the National Mall where we watched fireworks with Laura's boss, Marissa,  and her husband, Rob, as well as two of their friends, Molly and Carlos.  It was really nice that Marissa had saved us some area on the Mall, because there were a ton of people!   It was crazy, but quite aweosme to be able to watch a fireworks show in DC between the Capitol and the Washington Monument!   We were on the Mall for awhile before the fire show so we played cards and talked.  At 9:20ish the fireworks started.  It was just amazing to be where we were.  The fireworks show came from behind the Washington monument!

On the way home it was crazy.  We took the Metro out of DC and the crowd was crazy.  Not even joking!  It was insane.  Oh, and on the way back to Mike and Laura's house I did a, yes just me :/, chinese fire drill!  Oh yes!  Haha...

What a day!