Last year we went down to the Smokey Mountains but this year we stayed a little closer to home and took the educational route. Washington DC is only about 5 hours away from us and we have friends that live close to the city. We had a great time! I will admit that parking is tough and the METRO is super expensive for a subway, but once you get on the Mall, the DC experience is fantastic.
Our ambitions we pretty toned down- Travis and I aimed for only a couple of spots on each of the 2 days we were there. This strategy made everything less stressful. It was hard to see all those big and beautiful museums and not even attempt to go inside (we did brave the air and space museum but it was super crowded and we only stayed about an hour), but it would have been a nightmare to try and drag them through the lines and crowds.
One of the reasons for the crowds was it is cherrry blossom season. Due to the cold weather, the trees were only in bud but we did get to see these beautiful Japanese magnolias in bloom. They looked like heaven after such a long winter!
When asked what their favorite thing about DC was, the kids all agreed that they loved playing in the reflecting pond at the national scuplture garden. Travis loved the Lincoln Memorial and although I loved it all, I think my favorite part was watching the kids crawl around on Albert Einstein…
And what about the baby? It turns out almost 5 months is a great time to travel with a baby! She was content in her stroller and loved all the sound and action. I admit I was pretty nervous about how she would fare, but she did really well inspite of the interuption in her routine.
We spent 2 days in DC and then traveled back up to Pennsylvania and went to Hershey Park. What a great park!
I can't handle roller coasters so I was happy to stroll the baby around while Travis and the "big" kids went on the rides. Hershey park is only open on the weekends right now and have special springtime rates. The weather was great and the crowds were pretty minimal.
Did you go anywhere for Spring break? Do you have any recommendations for next year? The kids are hoping we take a little trip each year and I am game! Hope you all are finally enjoying Springtime!
