Big Al in the Big Apple

Alli and I went into New York one evening to see if we could win the Wicked lottery.  We put our names in a drawing to win 2 tickets for 26.50 each instead 200.00 each which is what full price tickets cost.  It was actually pretty exciting.  They only choose 12 names out of maybe 100-150 people.  When we didn’t win  we went to Shake Shack to make up for it.  It is the best burger place in the WORLD!  There are always long lines, but it is so worth the wait.

Then we went up to the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center)  That’s the Empire State building in the background. 

The next day we went into the city again and spent the whole day.  This is the infamous Zucotti Park where the Occupy Wall Street protests started.  We actually walked right through one.  I wanted to share my thoughts with them, but decided to hold my tongue instead.


We toured downtown a bit.  The blossoms were beautiful!



For lunch we ate on Mulberry St. right in the heart of Little Italy.  When you walk down the street, the Italian men at the restaurants try to get you to eat at their restaurants.  It’s pretty fun.


Mulberry street today.

Mulberry Street in the 1800’s. 

Before trying for the Wicked lottery again we stopped at Grand Central Station.  It really is amazing.  More like a ballroom than a train station.


We didn’t win the Wicked loterry-again- so we…. went to the Shake Shack!  And then we went to Central Park, Alli’s favorite place in NYC.  The Cherry blossoms were amazing!  We may have missed them in DC but we were just in time for NY!

We finally made it up to the reservoir and got a great view of the skyline.

Alli’s only happy memory of the subway.

Thanks for coming Alli!  Liberty still walks around saying Ayyi, Ayyi! 

Valley Forge

Alli wanted to see more of Philadelphia while she was here so we decided to take the kids to Valley Forge on the way.  Unfortunately by the time we got done with Valley Forge it was too late in the day to keep going to Philly.  Sorry Al.  The boys had lots of fun, though, exploring one more George Washington sight.

Those are supposed to be colonial hats.  It was windy and cold that day though, so they kept falling off.

Wood cabins built by the continental soldiers. 

We found a little squatter inhabiting the cabin. 

Look close and you can see the boys.  Just barely.

More cannons!!!  (Weapons and artillery of any kind are interesting.)

Washington’s Headquarters at Valley Forge

After Valley Forge we only had time for lunch before we headed home.  Libby really enjoyed her drink.

Quote from Levi during lunch, “Mom, can I have more food, Reagan at all my crumbs.”

The Capitol

After Mount Vernon we headed back to DC to see a few more things.  First was the capitol.  I wish we’d made it there in time to go in, but it was still quite a view from the outside.

The House of Representatives

As we walked around the capitol the boys were very impressed by the guards with really big guns.  Let’s hope everyone feels that way.

The sun came out!  And yes, it too was under construction-the capitol, not the sun.

The Supreme Court-Reagan’s favorite.  Go figure.  I walked around a bit to see the fountains out front and by the time I got back to the other side, Reagan was trying to hoist Cade up on his shoulders to see into the lower level of windows.  Luckily I caught them before they peeped in on the Chief Justice!  Reagan knows they are reviewing Obamacare right now and he has strong opinions he would not hesitate to share with the Justices.  (Yes, I’ve created a monster!)

Equal Justice Under the Law

The highlight of the trip for me was seeing the Declaration and Constitution.  I think this was the highlight  for the boys too.  Reagan got a real thrill out of reading and recognizing the words, We hold these truths and We the people.   He knows them now and was excited to read them with his own eyes.  We’ve seen them in books our whole lives, but to see the real yellowed and faded documents and to see the real signature of John Hancock and George Washington was awesome.  I’ll never forget it and I hope the boys don’t either. 

Mount Vernon

On Day Two of our trip we went to Mount Vernon.  After seeing it, all I can say is, no wonder George Washington never wanted to be in public life.  I wouldn’t want to leave this view either!

Smelling Lilacs on the grounds

An Original!  We have a copy up in our house.

I was listening to a historian recently talk about how all the founding fathers were great men in their own way.  Fallible, yes, but great men.  But George Washington stood head and shoulders above them all both literally and figuratively and they all knew it.  That’s why they chose him to lead over and over again.  It was wonderful to pay our respects to this great man.

Mr. Hymas Goes to Washington Part II

After the White House we walked down to the Lincoln Memorial by way of the World War II Memorial. It was hard to get a good shot, but this one is for Great Grandpa Hymas, our very own WWW II hero.

Here’s a fun little video of Liberty toddling around just for the Grandmas.

I was looking forward to the spectacular view down the mall from the Lincoln Memorial of the reflection pool, Washington Monument, and Capital. Unfortunately, this is the view I got to see.

Do you see a reflection? Neither did we. That’s because there WAS No reflection pool!
I was pretty bummed. It’s under construction and so we couldn’t even go up to it.
So here, let’s all enjoy what it’s really supposed to look like for a moment. Ahhh. That feels much better.

But the Lincoln Memorial itself did not disappoint.

Rock and Reagan are there on the grass.



Fun Fact-his thumb is as big as a football. And did I mention it has 56 steps?


(Rock didn’t bother to have Levi step out where we could see him. Such an amateur;)

We were, as you would expect, ready to drop by this point. And you have to admit it is quite miraculous that we got this far without any major incidents. So we headed back to the car by way of the new Martin Luther King Memorial. I loved this one.

You walk through a “cavern” to the front of the statue.

I LOVE this picture. Alli took it and it and it speaks volumes. Makes me weepy all over again.

Scooby doesn’t make me weepy, but they’re still cute.

That was the end of our first whirlwind day in D.C. We ate dinner that night at IHOP which has actually become a tradition when Alli comes to visit. We ate dinner with her at IHOP on the 4th of July and this time we at dinner with her at IHOP on Easter!

Stay tuned for Part III