Our trip started out by flying to Washington DC and visiting Juston's sister Jami and her family. We had a great time! One day we went to Baltimore Maryland and saw all of these great big ships. We also saw an airplane show with the blue angels. Austin loved it. The blue angels were so fast that we saw the planes and then we heard them a couple of seconds later. They were flying so low to the ground that it felt like our insides were shaking as they went by. Now every time Austin even hears a plane he looks up in the sky to try and find it. Once he spots it, he squeals with excitement and points. Another day we went to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and got to see the discovery space shuttle. That was really neat for me because over the years my dad has worked on the discovery at work. While in DC we went to the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing... I was astonished at how much money the government actually prints every single day! I will admit... there was a temptation to think... I only would take a little bit of money, and no one would even notice! Unfortunately, there were cameras all over and I'm sure I would have been caught :) We also had the chance to go to many of the monuments. If anyone is thinking of going to DC, especially in the hot summer months, you have to go on a boat tour! We had spent a couple of days walking around to see everything, which is great to be able to read the signs and get up close to it. However, one of the last days we took this tour and got to see so many things! The best part of it was we were riding on this boat, instead of walking miles to see everything. Our guide was great as well, he had so many interesting facts that we didn't get when we were just walking around by ourselves. Overall we really enjoyed our time with Jami and her family!
When we left Jami's house we used the Megabus to get to my parent's house. We had never used this before, but it was so cheap! If you watch when you need to buy a bus ticket, you can get them for $1. However, we did have to take it from DC to NYC and we met up with Mindy and Curtis and then we all took the bus together and went to Binghamton. On our first bus it was a double decker, and we got the seats on the top very front row. Austin loved being able to look right down on the road and see everywhere we went.
We got to my parents house and were able to spend a couple of days there. Andrea graduated from high school, so we were able to see her graduate, which was great. I still can't believe Andrea has graduated!
It all began around Christmas time last year when Juston and my sister-in-law Kristine started discussing how us siblings are always talking about when we were younger and we would go to the beach, and the lake and just do all these really great things. They decided that they have been in the family for a couple of years and have never done these things, so they began to question if all the fun really did happen... SOO we started to plan. We all decided that the last week in June would be a good time to go to the beach, Mom and Mindy were out of school, and it is very hot at the beach then. My parents booked a place for us to stay at Sea Isle City, NJ, which happens to be the same beach we have always gone to when we were growing up. It was absolutely wonderful! My Grandma, Aunt Jan and Luke were all able to come and stay with us in the beach house. Grandma insisted that the house had to be on the beach, so we ended up having a beautiful view. Our time there seemed to fly by, we arrived Sunday evening with just enough time to see the sun set and get settled in. Everyday seemed to have a similar routine. We would wake up hang in the house for a little while, head outside, boogie board, come in for lunch, Austin would take a nap, then we'd head back out, boogie board some more, play in the sand, and come in for dinner. In the evenings we did different things every night, walked the boardwalk, went to Wildwood (it has some amusement rides and things), watched a movie, just hang out, and one night Kristine talked us all into going out and boogie board after the kids went to bed.... this was really fun, until of course I had to say so I wonder how close the sharks get at night... Which I do have to justify that is a great question. You would have no idea! Then everyone pretty much got freaked out and decided to only go in the water to their waist... But we got some great pictures! By the end of the trip Juston and I were feeling very nostalgic, as the car was packed Juston had to run to the beach to collect some sand, and I was very tearful in the car. It was a great time at the beach, but our trip wasn't over yet!
We were able to go to Philadelphia and stay with my Grandma and Aunt Jan and Luke. We went to the lake, which is a lake we've gone to for years. When we were younger it was just a lake with a few slides a rope swing,and a pool. Now they have lots of things for kids, floating toys in the water and a whole section devoted to kid fun! It was a blast. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures there :(
While in Philly we went downtown and were able to sight see. This was good because it was just a couple of days before the 4th of July and it was a great reminder of the things our forefathers did for us and the reason that our Nation was founded.
Then we headed home to NY. We were able to celebrate my Mom's birthday and spend some time with my other Grandma. Overall we had a really great trip!
