Our 26th wedding anniversary - June 23

 This is not exactly how I would have imagined spending our 26th wedding anniversary.  Today, John, Abbey, Elijah and I started a long journey to upstate New York to spend Abbey's 3rd gotcha day anniversary with the girls and their families that our travel group.  I'm sure that 26 years ago we never would have imagined that we would be traveling with 2 toddlers.

Things started off pretty well-

We stopped to eat at a museum picnic area

And let them stretch their legs

We wanted to try to see Beth in DC. She called and told us she could only meet with us at a certain time for about 30 minutes. John had his heart set on going to Mt. Vernon, to pay homage to his beloved George! We get there, pay our $30 to get in and start toward the mansion.

When we get closer, we notice a huge line. We are behind a school group. They only take 20 people in at a time. We have one hour before we have to meet Beth. We text her, and think that she gets the message. Apparently not, because she calls later, and is livid as she waits out in the wilting heat for us to meet her! So much for seeing Beth. 

Elijah doesn't want me to take a picture of the Potomac River

Abbey enjoys running around

John and his old pal, George's, tomb

As we travel, we realize that we left Elijah's "lovey", (required for sleeping),at home. We must find a Wal Mart to get a new lovey. We do, and everything is ok in Elijah's world. 

We find a place to eat and set out to go to the National Mall to take the kids' picture. We get lost and end up somewhere in DC. Eventually John decides to turn off the GPS and navigate the old fashioned way. He finds a parking space with 8 minutes on the meter. Of course, neither of us has a quarter to extend the time, so we run and start to take their picture. In my haste,  I couldn't get a decent picture of both of them at the same time.

This one was pretty good of Elijah

And this one is good of Abbey

We rush back to the car and on to our hotel. Abbey, John and Elijah get to take a dip in the pool. Tomorrow we will set off for Philadelphia and the next leg of our trip. I'm sure the day will be full of more adventures.