the Jorgensens: Invasion of the Budges

The Budges decided to take their family vacation this year to Maryland! They stayed with us for 2 weeks and we had a blast. We didn't do too much that first weekend they were here. We made some air rockets and did some crafts with the kids. On Labor day we headed to a local beach. It was a nice day and the beach was not crowded. Despite the water being a tad cold and a few gusts of wind that almost blew our tent away, we had a lovely afternoon.
Tuesday we headed to Washington D.C. for the day. It was a little wet that day, but not wet enough to make it miserable. We stayed cool and avoided crowds by being out there on a not so pretty day. We walked by the Capitol building, the library and lots of other buildings. We visited the Air and Space museum and the Natural History museum. We rode the MARC train into the city and were also able to take a short ride on the Metro. The kids loved riding on the trains.
Wednesday the Budges headed up to Philadelphia for the day while Mina and I headed to do some arts and crafts. Mina created some beautiful paintings. They were supposed to use straws to blow paint around on some paper, but Mina was having trouble with that. So, I told her to use her hands. She got really excited, but wasn't sure she heard me correctly and asked, "you want me to use my hands?" She asked a couple of times before she actually did, but she was thrilled to be painting with her hands.
Thursday we didn't have big plans and hung out at the house until Dru got up. Once he was up, we all went to the bowling alley for dollar Thursdays. Everything is a dollar. Even the food! It was fun!
Friday, we headed back into D.C. We walked around the monuments and took some pictures. We also visited the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the National Archives. The sun was shining full force that day which made the city a bit more crowded and us a bit more hot. We were beat when we got home.
Saturday we went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. The kids got to go on pony rides, a really cool slide and we all got to watch a very entertaining juggling show. We also got to eat some very tasty, but very unhealthy food.
Sunday we stayed home and called all the grandparents for Grandparent's day. Monday we headed to Annopolis to eat at Chick and Ruth's. If you've every watched "Man vs. Food" you'll understand why. Stephane wanted to attempt the challenge of eating a pound hamburger and drink a 6 pound milkshake. He totally did it! Meagan attempted to drink a 6 pound milkshake herself, but couldn't quite do it. All of us, including the kids had fun drinking so much milkshake.
Tuesday was William's birthday. We went to Romp-n-Stomp, out to lunch and then the Budges took Mina with them to a petting farm in a town nearby. They all had so much fun. I was sad to have not gone with Mina, but I know she had so much fun with her cousin. I had to go to scouts that night, but when I got back we had birthday cake and sang to William.
Wednesday the Budges went to Mount Vernon and Arlington National Cemetery. I took my girls to arts and crafts again (by the way, Mina refers to it as 'arps and craps') where Mina got to use scissors for the first time. When the Budges got back we all went to dinner and came home to pack up. They left the next morning.
All in all, it was a wonderful visit and we wish it could have lasted longer. We made lots of treats to eat, made our favorite meals and watched a lot of the show, '24.' Meagan and I made bows and took some cute pictures of our kids.