2013 Vacation- Day 3 and 4

Day 3 started out with breakfast at the hotel, then we loaded up on the hotel shuttle and headed to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum not far from our hotel.  We learned about our shuttle driver and his family.  I often wonder how many people really engage in conversation with those kinds of people that they are in such close proximety to (taxi, shuttle, bus drivers etc). 

We arrived at the museum with a short amount of time to kill before needing to head south on our journey.  There were many, many different kinds of space memorabillia hanging from the ceiling and all throughout the building.  Our first stop was waiting in line to get in one of the planes and the chidlren's story time.  I sat with a few of our little ones, which was nice to have something to occupy them for a short bit.  There was a story, then a little craft, then some fun play with an airplane.    

His take off was pretty wobbly.  I don't think he'll be a pilot when he grows up.  : )

Some of the children waiting their turn for the chance to try their hand at flying and landing a shuttle.

In their seats and getting all the instructions on what to do before take off.

It was a near perfect landing!  Good job!

Happy Birthday Eliyahna!

I think this shuttle was the best part of the museum.  It was incredible to see it up close.  Amazing brains that put something like that together.

While waiting for our shuttle driver, Phil took the time to tell a life lesson's story.  He is such a great story teller!  His stories are enjoyed by all of us!

After getting left a little late, we were back on the road to continue our vacation.  Next stop was in Littleton, NC to have dinner with a friend that Jonathon and I went to school with, Stacey (Gay) Simms.  Plans changed a little, so we met her at a house closer to the highway.  Thanks for dinner, Stacey!  We all enjoyed the visit, and the children enjoyed meeting her children. 

Looks like they all had fun doesn't it?

We made our stop at a hotel late that night.  Our next stop is a town where Phil spent some of his childhood years.  The plans were to have a picnic with friends at the park.  We stopped at a store to pick up some picnic food, and I had to take a picture of the vehicles.  See all the green stuff on the red truck?  That's pollen.  The vehicles, the road, everything was covered in green powder.  I've never seen anything like it.  After being at the park for a bit, my body started feeling it.  Achoo, Achoo, Achoo!  Glad Zeky was a little smarter and took an allergy pill first thing in the morning when we first noticed it all.     

We arrived at the park and spent the day playing, visiting, and relaxing in the sunshine.  What a great day!  One of the most relaxing days we had on the vacation.  The guys played some tennis and frisbee golf, while the ladies watched the children play on the play ground.  Everyone had a great time!  And we met up with one of Phil's friends from way back.  Good times!

A little baby snapping turtle the children found.

On this trip my children learned that they LOVE monkey bars.  Blistered hands were proof of that.

It's great to meet up with those you see once in a blue moon.

Next stop was to tour the town and find some of Phil's fondest spots where he told us of stories from his youth.  Yes, he was super excited about this, and it really was fun for us to share this with him.

This was the house he lived in and was about the age that Zeky is right now.  The house was empty and for sale, so he walked around quite a bit and looked in the windows.

Bonus of the day!  He found this cement pad that had his sister's and his initials with the date etched in it.  Those kinds of things are super priceless....as is his pose here.  : D

And since we're on a kick of pictures of Phil, I thought I would throw this one in.  I don't know when this picture took place, but it represents a great deal of our trip.   Jonathon must have Red Vines when he's on vacation.  We think it's crazy, but nonetheless, it makes him a happy traveler.

After all of the exciting memories relived by Phil, we headed on out.  Our plans were to go visit a couple other people in the Carolinas, but it was beginning to wear on us having to load and unload luggage at every hotel stop, so we decided to just keep moving and head to one of the main destinations, Savannah, Georgia.  It was a late night of traveling as we had quite a ways to drive to get there, but we made it go quickly with a movie for the kiddos, then most of them fell asleep (except for the cute one in the picture above), and then some amazing singing to get us the rest of the way there.  Was a fun evening of reliving our childhoods in visits to Phil's town and singing some of the oldies.  Great memories for all!

Arrived at hotel in Savannah.  Swimming pool to make the children happy, adjoining rooms so the littles could wonder back and forth, complimentary breakfast so we can eat before we head out sight seeing, and a laundry room, because with all these kiddos, there's always laundry to be done!  Definitely wasn't a vacation from having to do laundry.  But that's okay.