Aubrey and Jack!

On Saturday, October 2, our cousins Aubrey and Jack came over for a fun sleep-over! The kids had such a great time together. They played outside, ate pizza and ice cream and watched movies. Then on Sunday morning, Aubrey and Jack came to church with us! It was BLAST Sunday at church, and all of the kids had a blast learning about Jesus, singing songs and playing games! We are so thankful that our cousins live nearby and that we will see them more often now!

Cub Scout Camping Trip

The weekend of September 17-19 was Pack 524's Fall Camp Out. Because we had just returned from a big trip, just Dad, Daniel and Benjamin went on the trip to Camp Raymond, which is 20 miles west of Flagstaff. Dad and the two oldest boys had a great time hiking, exploring, cooking, eating and sitting around the campfire together. They enjoyed spending the night in the tent, but were certainly thankful to be home in their beds again!

Coming Home! Virginia Trip Day 13

On Thursday, September 9, we headed to the Baltimore airport at 5am to catch our flight to Phoenix. We had a great trip, but we were all anxious to get home again!! Our flight landed in Milwaukee for about 30 minutes, and during that time, the boys were given a tour of the cockpit and allowed to "fly" the plane. First Officer Thomas answered all of our questions about the plane and flying. We found out that we were flying at 525 miles per hour and flew at an elevation of 40,000 feet! Our flight attendants were so sweet, two were even named Cherry! One of the Cherry's has two grandsons who are in Casa Vida with Daniel, Benjamin and Ethan! Grandpa Chet and Grandma Kathy met us at the airport with our van and we headed home and were unpacking and starting laundry by 2pm. What a great trip, what great memories!

Washington D.C., Virginia Trip Day 12

The final day of our vacation was spent in Washington D.C. The first thing on our agenda was a visit to the Institute for Justice Headquarters. Dad loved introducing his family to all of his east coast co-workers. From there, we decided instead of driving into D.C., we would take the metro instead. The boys loved riding the subway! We got off the Metro near the Smithsonian Natural History museum, so we decided to make that our first stop. We all loved looking at all the animals: dinosaurs, sea creatures and mammals. After that, we wanted to catch a tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. We walked right in as a tour was starting. We were able to watch the new, not-yet-released, $100 bills being made. Since the Washington Monument is so close to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, we thought it should be our next stop. We got there at 2:30pm and there were six tickets left for the 2:30pm tour! We took the elevator 55 stories up and were amazed at the views! Our last stop was the Smithsonian America History museum. We certainly want to go back and spend more time exploring this museum. It was really neat to see Abraham Lincoln's hat and Dorothy's ruby slippers! We caught the metro back to the IJ office where we picked up our car and drove back the Komer's house for dinner and an early bed time!

washington D.C., Virginia Trip Day 11

On Tuesday, September 7, we set out to introduce Washington D.C. to the boys! We drove into the District and parked at Union Station. We then walked over to the Senate office buildings to meet our tour guide for a 10am scheduled Capitol tour. Our tour guide, David, from Congressman Flake's office was fantastic. He showed us so many interesting things about the US Capitol, and was super nice to the boys! After visiting the Capitol, we headed over to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. After eating lunch in the food court, we explored every area of this amazing museum! We saw the original Wright Flyer and the Apollo 11 Module that was the first to land on the Moon! We were tired after the Air and Space Museum, but had just enough energy to head over to the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. We came away pretty convinced that not even Benjamin Gates could steal the Declaration of Independence in real life! Completely exhausted, we then headed back to our car to head back to the Komers to grill burgers and swim in the lake!

Heading to D.C., Virginia Trip Day 10

Early in the morning on Labor Day, September 6, we boarded a train headed north. We were sad to say goodbye to family in Virginia, but excited about the adventures that awaited us. We were met at the train station in Alexandria by Dick and Linda Komer. Dick is Tim's close friend and co-worker at IJ. They have worked for 9 years together on school choice issues. They took us back to their beautiful lake-front home in Falls Church, Virginia, where we were to spend the next three nights. We settled in and then boarded their pontoon boat and headed to the beach on the other side of the Lake Barcroft where we played games and ate lunch. Soon, we were back on the boat and the boys took turns riding behind the boat in a tube. Eventually, we made our way back to the Komer's house where the boys swam and canoed before we enjoyed a dinner of grilled beef tenderloin and hot dogs.