The Rest of the Week

Whew! Here's the wrapup for the rest of our Spring Break Vacation Extraordinnaire:

Thursday morning Mom made eggs over easy. No big deal? I guess not, but for me, I was back in gradeschool eating the 'lacey' whites and the yellow mashed with a fork oozing all over. mmmmm. I guess I should have remembered, though, that I am not in gradeschool anymore, and riding a train with oozy egg yellow in my stomach was not a good idea. On our way downtown, we hopped off at the Arlington Metro stop for a breath of fresh air and a walk to the restroom.

While the National Archives was on my list of places to visit, there was bound to be a blocks-long line, so we didn't even swing by. I'll save my peek at the Bill of Rights, Constitution, and Declaration of Independence for another day.

We did visit some of the Smithosonian museums. We started with the National Museum of Natural History. Split into pairs, we scattered to our favorite exhibits. Mom and I went to see the Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals, starting with the Hope Diamond and then thousands of gems and rocks. This is also the museum with the dinosaurs and many displays on the evolution of Earth. It was shocking the first time I saw monkeys referred to as "our closest cousins". My closest cousins live in Indianapolis (hi Trina and Mandy!). Next was the Castle, the original Smithsonian Institution Building. There's a great display of some sample items from all of the Museums, live feed from the Zoo's panda cam, and the crypt of founder James Smithson. Yes, Mom, he's really in there. Last was the National Air and Space Museum. I'm not so interested in planes (see this blog's travel category for a refresher), but over a hundred items from the American History Museum are on display here, while that one is closed for renovation. I really liked this exhibit and can't wait for the museum to reopen next summer. We didn't spend long here, because we were pretty tired. The later in the week, the earlier we were ready to go home. We stopped for dinner at the Silver Diner and had a quiet evening at home. Mom and Aly watched Over the Hedge.

Friday, we split up again. The boys went to the Firearms Museum and bowling while we went to the Potomac Mills Outlet Mall. Mom made dinner for Dad and the kids and Mike and I went out for Mexican food and a shopping trip to Kohl's. Movie night again ... one of my favorites from the early 90's, Sneakers. Saturday we did nothing. Really. Just stayed home and chilled. Mike went out for a while but Dad was sore from bowling and could barely walk the stairs. Movie this time was Enemy of the State.

Mom and Dad left pretty early this morning. I've spent most of the day lounging in the waterbed. I can't believe I have to work tomorrow. Bummer. It was a great vacation.