The Vick's @ The Whitehouse '09

Here are The Vick's at the Whitehouse. It was rainy and cold. Not that you can tell by what eveyone is wearing. Tristen and I were the only ones who wore a jacket. It is very hard to get to the Whitehouse. You can't just pull up and hop out. Everything in DC was very confusing as to how to get to it. When we were at the Capital, we found a tour bus and we got on it and they can just pull up to everything. They have special privileges. We were sooooo glad to find them. There was a guy there with his little boy taking pics....... I was taking pics of my kids.......so we helped each other out and traded cameras and posed. It was actually really crowded. It isn't quite like you see it on TV. It wasn't what I expected at all. But now we can say that we have been to the Whitehouse. woo hoo!!!

SMITHSONIAN '09

During Spring Break this year we went to Gettysburg and DC. This is the Smithsonian Natual History museum. If you have seen the new Night of the Museum.....that is where we were. Me and the kids thought that was pretty cool. Anyways, they had all sorts of animals. They had huge dinosaurs all the way down to little butterflies. They had interactive exhibits also. The kids, mainly Brie, really enjoyed it. It was also free to get in, which was a big perk for us.

MEMORIAL DAY '09

On Memorial Day this year, my sister invited us over to swim. We were all too tired to cook, so we went to the Butcher Shop and ate. Then we went back to Gina's and swam. The kids had a really good time swimming. They were all splashing, jumping, doing flips, belly busting.....etc. Looked like lots of fun. Hate I had to miss out on it. Although I got a little more wet than planned.....lol.....I had an ear infection, so I didn't want to swim. Tommy was doing his thing in the house on e-bay. He did finally come out of the computer room and played spades with Adam. Sounded like they had fun. We had watermelon and cookies. Chris napped some, but he woke up and went out and swam a little while. Looks like he was having fun with all the kids. It is really nice and fun when we all get together.

BRIE ZOO SCHOOL TRIP '09

Well, this is my last year to go on a school zoo trip. 2nd grade is the last year to go now. So, I am glad that I was able to go with Brie. I rode down with Rebecca Patton. Then we split off with our classes and groups. I had Brie and 3 other girls from her class. They were good for me. They enjoyed seeing everything. It was like they have never been to the zoo. They were cute. They fed the birds, petted the sheep, talked to the birds, laughed at the monkeys, watched the penguins......and so on. I did happen to run into Spencer. I was hoping to see him. He seemed to have a good time, also. Then Rebecca and I met backup and took Matthew, Brie and Brody back to Gilmer. They were really quite on the way home. They must have been pooped. They also watched a movie, which kept them kinda quiet.

WILLY WONKA PLAY '09

On May 16,2009 our YM/YW group went to Longview to see the Willy Wonka play. We met at the church and all jumped in everyone's car. We went to Cici's pizza. The kids seemed to like that. They got all they could eat.....and they did. We made it a family night. Brie really enjoyed the play. She held her flowers and watched the whole thing. She never moved once it started. After it was over, She went around and got autographs and pics taken. She gave her flowers to one of the oompa loompas. Tristen gave it to one of the pretty girls. During the play, they are really close to you.....and they interact with you. Sara got a bag of candy from the candy man. Big Jimmy got quite a surprise. While Charlie was singing one of his songs, he sat in Big Jimmy's lap and put his arm around him. It was sooo funny. We had a really good time. It is a fun family activity. I hope to go and see some plays this summer.