Washington D.C.

Matt, Camarae, and I took our first family trip together recently. I thought that I would share with all of you the fun things that we did. First of all, we drove out to Maryland, crazy people is probably what you are all thinking with the price of gas and with a baby that is under a year old. Well the driving went really well both ways actually and the price of gas was cheaper than flying. Matt and I were surprised at how well Camarae actually did in the car. On the way there we drove all the way only stopping for gas and a couple of times to feed and change Camarae. So for being in the car for approx. 18 hours she did really well. Then on our way home we stopped at my cousin Rebecca and her husband Brad's house in Louisville, Kentucky, and spent the night and Sunday day with them (thanks Becca and Brad). Which their house was the halfway spot in driving back home so Camarae did not have to be in the car for the whole 18 hours again. Anyway, onto what we did in Maryland.

We arrived at Matt's dad's house on Saturday and stayed with them(his dad Mike, Step-mom Becky, and half brother Greg) until Monday morning. While we were there we rode four-wheelers, hot guns, went to the beach at the Naval base, and had crabs for dinner. Matt was so excited for the crabs and loved being able to have them. I was planning on eating them but once I saw them on the table the mix of the smell and the sight I didn't want to try crabbing myself. Matt did give me some of his crab meat to try which was o.k. and Becky made me a crab cake which I thought was good. Mentally I didn't like the thought of tearing apart the crab to get the meat to eat. Probably sounds weird to some of you who love crabbing. We had a fun time with the Porter side of the family and they enjoyed meeting and spending time with Camarae.

On Monday we headed up to Alexandria, Virginia, where Matt's grandma Ketch lives (she is Matt's mom's mom). Once there we and kind of settled we headed to the metro to go to the Mall in D.C. We spent the afternoon in the Mall area at the Botanical Gardens, the Native American Museum, and the Air and Space Museum. After these activities we headed back to the Metro to go home to put Camarae to bed. While we were out it started raining so we hung out in the Air and Space Museum to wait out the heavy rain. There were a lot of neat items in there maybe next time we will spend a little more time in there and hopefully less people in there. At the botanical gardens we found this one plant that is called the sensitive plant were when you touch the plant it reacts to your touch. I've included the video of it, enjoy!



On Tuesday we headed back into the Mall area. This time we went to the Smithsonian, Natural History Museum, the Zoo, and walked up to the Washington Monument, WWII memorial, and to the reflection pool between the memorial and the Lincoln Monument. We decided not to go all the way up to the Lincoln Monument because they had the short path blocked off for the fourth and we didn't have that much time left before going back to the Metro for the evening. When we got back to Grandma Ketch's house we were all exhausted and glad to be back to the house. It felt like a long day walking around the Mall area and at the zoo. Camarae seemed to like the activities that we were doing but would have preferred having her afternoon nap in her bed and not in her stroller. She is not one to fall asleep too easily in her stroller or in the car she prefers her bed.

On Wednesday we hung out at the house to relax and then in the evening Matt and I were able to go to a session at the D.C. temple while grandma stayed at home with Camarae. We put her to bed before we left to make it easier for grandma. We enjoyed our night at the temple thanks grandma for watching Camarae for us.

Thursday we headed to Ocean City to spend the day at the beach. The water was still cold so we didn't end up getting in the ocean. Just put our feet in for a little bit. It was windy while we were there so we kept Camarae wrapped in her towel to keep her warm. She liked the birds that kept walking around us and the sounds of the ocean waves crashing into shore. She did not care for the cold water though. We walked a ways on the boardwalk and found some huge kites that were flying above the beach by the boardwalk.

Friday we also stayed home to relax and in the evening Matt and I went to the Mall to enjoy the Fourth of July fireworks that were set off by the reflection pool infront of the Lincoln Monument. We sat on the lawn by the Washington Monument and enjoyed the spectacular fireworks show. It was raining a little bit during the fireworks so we sat underneath our umbrella and watched the show. After the fireworks were over we walked to the White House before getting back on the Metro to head back to Alexandria. The "back" of the White House was blocked off that evening so the only side of the White House that we got to see was the "front". It was still pretty neat to see the White House even if it was the side that you usually do not see in pictures or on t.v. Next time we go out there we want to do a White House tour. Since it was the Fourth of July the Metro was packed with people. At one point you couldn't even move the train was so packed. Matt took a picture of our packed train it was crazy how many people were on it. The conductor at the next stop even told passengers that there would not be anybody able to board because it was so full but he still had to make the stop to see if anybody would be getting off at the stop. I was glad that it was only that squished for two stops for us which was still about 10 minutes on the train.

We had a great first family vacation and hope to do it again sometime in the future. Thank you to all of the family members who let us spend time with them and let us stay at their homes.

Next week Camarae and I are off to Utah. This time the trip will be taken by plane. I can't wait to see family that is out there it will be busy but a fun time.