Land of Mary

Todd here: Who hates uploading pictures to blogger? So here are the pictures of our trip in backwards order with some medium sized and some small (you'd think I'd learn by now).

Anyway about a month ago Lexi, Gavin and I flew out to Maryland to visit Lexi's brother Rob and his family. We were out there for a week and loved spending time with them. They were such good hosts. (To see day-by-day blog updates go back a few posts).

These are at a museum just outside the Naval Base Rob works at:

Gavin behind the controls inside the museum:
Rob told us all these cool things about the planes.
Working some controls:
This is at the beach inside the base. We were limited on our picture taking so this is the only one we got. We just have the memories of the sweet F-18s taking off!
DC day 2 Capitol:
Botanic Gardens, alone... :)
You'd think all that walking would shrink my belly down just a bit, uuugh!
Air and Space Museum:
Natural History Museum:
The bay about 2 minutes from Rob and Tina's house with really warm water and biting horseflies:
DC day 1 Jefferson Memorial at dusk:
This is standing behind the Lincoln Memorial watching the sunset:
Construction on the reflecting pond, not sure what they're doing.
Lincoln Memorial. Such an awesome site:
We got a lot of looks with our 3 strollers going everywhere: "There's a reason for the elevators" -Black guy (to us going down the escalator in front of him)
WWII Monument:
White House:
Washington Monument:
No routines for the babies at DC, so naps were taken whenever and in whatever position:
This is the restaurant where we met up with Lexi's cousin:
Outside the American History Museum. (C'mon Todd, suck it in at least for the pictures!):
"There's no place like home:"
On the metro:
The bay in the evening:
Walking to the bay. We loved all the greenery and catching fireflies:
Day 1 at Solomon's Island, a boardwalk with some shops and stuff:
That's the stroller we got from the church lost-and-found before it was taken to the D.I. It was cheap and old but lasted us the whole week full of metros, museums, DC and much more.

Such an awesome trip. We were glad we went. But our favorite parts were just hanging out at night and playing games after the kids went to bed. We're hoping Rob and Tina will move a little closer to home so we can see them more often, but were happy to hang with them and tour part of the East Coast along the way.

What do the following restaurants have in common?

-Red Robin

-Olive Garden

-Los Hermanos

-Pizza Pie Cafe

-Iggy's

-Tucanos

???

We get our moneys worth!

Lexi and I love going out to eat and these are some of our favorite places to eat. The reason is because you get a lot of food for your price. Let's go more in detail about each:

-Red Robin, all you can eat steak fries with the purchase of an entree. Their burgers are really good too. Someone once asked Lexi what her favorite part about Red Robin Burgers was, "The fries" she said. We always have them bring out the fries right after we order as if they're an appetizer. We also ask for BBQ sauce, Ranch, and Campfire sauce (BBQ mixed with Ranch). All for around $20 for 2. Every once in a while they have $5 burgers. They haven't done it for a while, probably because we would always go in and eat more than our share of $10 worth.

-Olive Garden, all you can eat salad AND bread sticks with entree. This always amazes us. When we compare this with, say, Pizza Factory where you may get one twisty bread thing, but you have to pay extra for a plate of salad. (Oh, and btw, it costs $1 for a side of Ranch there!!!!!) For the same price for an entree at Pizza Factory, you can get a similar one, along with all you can eat GOOD salad and and you can eat GOOD warm bread sticks. Amazing!

-Los Hermanos, no secret here. You sit down, you get all the chips and salsa you could eat during your entire visit. They're good too, but not very filling.

-Pizza Pie Cafe, all you can eat salad, pasta and pizza. For less than $7 you get a good salad bar, an okay pasta bar, and a good pizza bar. Oh, and great dessert pizza. All this for less than the price of an entree anywhere else.

-Iggy's, entrees come with really good and warm bread with a good dipping sauce. Their entrees aren't our favorite (still good stuff), but when you can bug the waiter to keep'em coming without adding to the bill, you can't complain.

-Tucanos, we only go here twice a year, once during February and once during April. You get a free buffet with the purchase of one during the month of your B-day. (You have to receive a voucher thing in the mail). We go during lunch time and pay around $16 for 2 buffets instead of the dinner price of about $25.

We really know how to beat the system, don't we?

Please comment with your restaurant recommendations, preferably ones where you get a lot for your money :)

While I'm on the topic of all you can eat, this evening Lexi and I went to Shakey's Pizza Parlor in American Fork. Its a new pizza buffet we heard about and wanted to check out. We knew it wouldn't be as good as Pizza Pie Cafe, but didn't think it would be this bad. Some of the reasons that we didn't like it compared to Pizza Pie Cafe include the following:

-only 3 choices of salad styles rather than choosing whatever toppings and dressings at PPC.

-only 2 choices for pasta rather than several kinds of pasta along with several kinds of toppings at PPC.

-Extremely Mediocre pizza. It's not often that I don't finish my first slice of pizza at a restaurant, but I had to with the Alfredo Pizza. The same thing happened with several other kinds.

-You have to ask one of the zit-faced teens behind the counter for a side of ranch for dipping. Uugh, at PPC they have little cups next to the ranch to serve yourself.

-Ok dessert pizza. I love the cookie dough pizza at PPC.

-I guess Shakey's has soup, but I didn't try it. It wasn't really the "theme" of the restaurant, and I know my restaurant themes!

Unfortunately all this has added a little to my....figure. So next time you see me, please don't ask when my baby is due :)

AZ/Ca Trip

Back before we went to Maryland Lexi and I went on a trip to Arizona and California. Being a teacher I have the summer off. For now, I'm not working during the summer, just relaxing. So we've decided to take advantage of this time and Gavin's age to go on our own family trips. This is the schedule of our summer:

-School got out end of May

-A week and a half later we went to St. George with my family for a week (See a previous post).

-A week and a half later we did our AZ/Ca trip (which I will give more details about later in this post)

-A week and a half later we got back from AZ/CA

-4 days later we left to Maryland for a week (Brief day-to-day were given during, a more detailed post will come after AZ/CA post)

-Now we have about 2 weeks before the Watson family reunion

-Then we'll have another 2 weeks before school starts

Not a bad summer! (And you always thought growing up as a student that the summer was for you)

Anyway, Lexi and I can't go an entire year without going to the beach. We also wanted to visit my brother Tim and his family in Arizona. So we thought we'd put it all in one trip, traveling when we wanted to, working around Gavin's schedule, etc.

We first we to Las Vegas. None of has had been there for a while and we figured we wouldn't have much of a chance to go for a while. We got there at around 4 p.m. and had the evening to spend there. It was just the right amount of time for an LDS couple to spend there without spending money on shows. Speaking of LDS couples, we probably saw about 5 other strollers there, which is not a lot compared to seeing tons walking around the Orem Mall. Ok, I'll finish with the boring details and get to the pics

No, we did not coordinate our shirts again, we are just always on the same wavelength when it comes to picking out traveling outfits.

It was a pretty good one time trip to Vegas. We're not planning on going back anytime soon.

We spent the night there and got up the next morning and headed out to Arizona to visit Tim & Shelbie. We loved spending time with them and their boys. Gavin especially loved the boys but still wasn't sure about walking, like them.

It wasn't too hot, just 116 degrees! We went to the Mesa Temple Visitor Center and walked around. We could barely stand the heat. We had to stop next to all the trees for shade and go back inside for air conditioning just after a few minutes of walking around outside.

The Stake YSA had a babysitting night, so we dropped the kids off with a bunch of strangers and when out for dinner and dessert.
It was necessary to take a dip in the pool
Dark Chocolate and White Chocolate. (Or Chocolate Milk and Skim Milk)
After only a few days in AZ (and they were short days, we wished we stayed longer after we left) we headed West for Southern California where my Grandparents live. The moment we stepped out of the car, we could feel the moist air of the OC and couldn't wait to get to the beach.

Gma and Gpa loved Gavin, and he loved them and exploring their house.
We did everything on Gavin's schedule. After his first nap we went to the beach. Then we came home and put him down for a nap and had gma listen for him while Lexi and I went to the spa. After his second nap we went out shopping or for dinner.

Feeding the ducks:

We left So Cal and went to St. George to spend the night there on our last leg of the trip. We loved doing Cafe Rio then Nelson's Custard and swimming in the evening. This was our first little family trip and it was a blast and a success. Many memories were made and we look forward to many more such trips.

Maryland day 6

Today we went to the naval base where Rob works. It was pretty amazing. There were planes everywhere that Rob knew all about and what tests were being done on them. I didn't take much pictures cause that would make us look suspicious.
We parked right next to the runway and watched a couple of planes take off. That was sweet. Then we drove to the water and stood on the sand.

For the 15th time I wished I was like my dad and always brought a handkerchief with me.
We drove around some more to the beginning of the runway where we saw the back side of some f-16s (or whatever they're called) take off. That was pretty cool, and loud. Then we saw a deer.
After we went just outside the base to the museum. Being here has brought me memories of when Lexi and I had been dating for about a month when she came out here. I'm not sure how I survived without her for a week but somehow managed. I wouldn't be able to do that now. Anyway when she was out here she took lots of pictures, posing for me and they became treasured memories forever imprinted in me (ok I'm starting to sound like a poet, a little weird). But I remembered those pics taken at the museum with her and knew exactly her pose and facial expression with the stuff in the background. So it was crazy seeing it all again but now being married and with our son this time.

It's been such a great week and we're sad to leave. Once again we hope all goes well with Gavin on the plane tomorrow. Thanks to Rob, Tina and family for being such good hosts and for all the memories (and for letting me drive your sweet car everywhere). We look forward to our next blog worthy adventure!

Maryland day 5

Yesterday we went to D.C. again. We first went to the archives. Pushing 3 strollers around all day is kind of annoying and gets us dirty looks, but sometimes we get right to the front of lines and that's just what happened here (but with more dirty looks) It was amazing seeing those documents. After we went across the street for lunch in the art park.



Next we went to the natural history museum.

Then we walked to the air and space museum. By then the sweat was pooring down my face so it was nice to get in the AC.

Next we checked out the botanic garden. It was actually pretty cool with lots of different kinds of plants and flowers. But it was even hotter and more humid in there.

We left and went across the street to the pond and statues in front of the Capitol.

The walk back to the metro was tiring and sweaty again. But we felt good having accomplished a lot.

We went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner which hit the spot. Today we plan on going to the base where Rob works.

Maryland day 4

Today we basically followed the same routine we do every Sunday. Go to church, take a nap, eat dinner and play games with family. We didn't go on a walk, but here's a pic of when we went on one the other day to the water.

This shows how green it is here. It's basically a huge forest with houses and roads scattered everwhere. This road is where Rob and Tina live. I think it's pretty cool and a nice change. Tomorrow we go to D.C. again!

Maryland day 3

Today we wanted to relax a little from a long day in D.C. yesterday and give the babies their routine naps. So we checked out the water. The actual beach is pretty far away but the bay is nice and close. Gavin loved sitting on the beach, fiddling with the sand and letting the water splash up on his feet.

The water was so warm. It reminded me of Costa Rica.



We're excited to relax a little more tomorrow (Sunday) and do what we do best, play games.