The Dison Family: Abuelita's Visit

We had so much fun when Dan's mom was here. We kept her very busy and took LOTS of pictures:

We went to Busch Gardens on a beautiful day and had a great time.

Posing in the Land of the Dragons

We also went to the children's museum for a special night when a new exhibit was opening. They had free Chick-Fil-A and face painting. Fun was had by all. :)

The new exhibit was The Wizard of Oz. The kids loved it. Unfortunately, it was only at the museum for about 6 weeks, so it's gone now. I'm glad that we were able to enjoy it while it lasted!

This was Jonah's "motorcycle", I had to pry him off of it when it was time to go. He didn't even notice the high heels. All he needed to have fun was a pair of handlebars.

Our little munchkins!

Bowling was the perfect rainy day activity.

Kevin and Elena worked hard on their Lego calendar.

Who knew that there was a cute little bakery and free petting zoo 10 minutes away? At least we know now!

After the petting zoo, we went out to eat. Look at those two!

Another day, another excursion. We visited the Adam Thoroughgood House. The grounds were beautiful, but, after touring Reynolda House and Biltmore, I'd have to say that the house was lacking.

Doumar's is a favorite! I have so many good memories at this place. It's just a perfect old school diner that hasn't changed a bit in decades. I went to Cookout across the street for barbeque a couple of weeks ago and felt like a total traitor.

The aquarium had an exhibit that was made entirely of objects found in the ocean and on the beach. It was very well done, but also very depressing.

An actual day at the beach. We went 2 or 3 times during Abuelita's stay. The kids were really into digging up sand crabs on this trip.

We took a big trip to Washington DC while she was in town. It was so much fun. We stopped at the LEGO store on the way there (there isn't one nearby).

Dan's favorite part of the trip was our visit to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum. It was a wonderful afternoon for sure. The kids had a lot of fun too.

Flying inside the observation tower

Another really great picture ruined by Dan making a silly face. Just kidding, Dan - I love all your faces.

Elena did really well in the simulator and she was able to land her plane successfully.

Kevin had fun too, but it was tricky to stay level.

So amazing. Dan felt exactly the same way I had felt when he saw the space shuttle up close and personal. I had been to this museum once before with my friend Whitney when Jonah was 3 months, but it was the first time for everyone else. It is such a cool place.

We spent the next two days at the Smithsonian museums in Washington DC. We were lucky enough to find awesome parking adjacent to our favorite museums both days. I had previously been super stressed about traffic and parking and both were fantastic. It was such a nice (and exhausting) weekend. We went to the Museum of the American Indian which was really great. The craftsmanship of the different works of art there was incredible and the kids loved the legends and stories on the 3rd floor.

I love this ceiling. All the details of this museum were so well planned out and artfully designed.

I had read online that this museum had a children's section, but I didn't realize that my kids would happily spend 2 hours in this one section of the museum and be fully engaged by dozens of different activities. It was pretty awesome and just right for Kevin and Elena's age groups. Jonah found plenty of interesting things to occupy himself too. Basket weaving and building an igloo were just two small parts of the kids' area.

We enjoyed the Museum of National History - especially their transportation section and seeing THE Star Spangled Banner.

We also went to the Museum of Natural History and there was so much to do and see (even in the Hall of the Dinosaurs is closed for the next several years).

The afternoon of our last day in DC, we went to the National Gallery of Art (a personal favorite of mine). We loved seeing Ginevra de' Benci by Leonardo da Vinci. It's the only da Vinci on public display in the US. And unlike the Mona Lisa, you can get up close enough to see the brushstrokes. It's beautiful. I'm sure I've seen it before, but this was my first time seeing it as an adult and I was in awe.

Kevin and Elena wanted to take pictures with some of their favorites. I have tried to pass onto to them some of my passion for art and I'm glad that they are interested so far.

Heading back to the car after a long day. Dan figured out a way to let all the kids have a break from all the walking, but it was definitely at his expense. It was so tough to push the stroller with all 3 of them in there.