Apple Pickin'

It was a dark and dreary day...but we braved the apple orchard anyway!

If you grew up or have lived in Eastern Nebraska, you know that a proper autumn is not complete without a trip to Nebraska City to pick up a couple pecks of apples, apple butter, apple cider, apple fritters...I was so excited to finally take Nora to do some apple picking. I love making memories as a family!

There and back again.

Yeah, so we're crazy.

On Thursday morning, our plane flew out of Omaha at 6:20 am and we made our way to visit Thang's parents in Erie, PA. So thankful we have a good sleeper who woke up bright-eyed at 5 am on Thursday morning and slept or watched curiously out the window of the plane for most of our journey. We got to Erie about 3 pm, only to wake up Friday morning to take a road trip to DC to visit Thang's brother - about an 8-hour drive. With a 1 year old.

Yes, again, we are crazy.

I sat in the backseat with her singing every kid's song I knew - itsy-bitsy spider, pat-a-cake, played peek-a-boo 500 times and realized after 6 hours that if I laid my head back with my eyes closed, Nora would follow suit and fell asleep for a 2 hour nap. Phew.

We spent Saturday hitting a few spots on the mall in DC. Thang and I have both been there several times before, so we decided we would ONLY spend a few hours there hitting a couple museums and the new WWII Memorial. Of course, a FEW hours turned into 6. We toured some exhibits at the Natural History and American History museums and made it to the memorial at the heat of the day.

Waiting for the Metro with friends Hoang, Khanh and Thang's brother, Thien.

Catching some zzzzz's while Mommy and Daddy check out the Ruby slippers at the American History museum. 20 minutes was all she slept the entire day!

Hot and sweaty family pic in front of the Washington monument.

Big smooch from Ba at the World War II Memorial after a dip in the pool (hence the wet pants). The memorial was definitely worth the trip - beautifully and poignantly done.

Saturday night our hosts took us all out for Korean food - mommy and Nora tried Kimchi for the first time, very yummy! Sunday we picked up Vietnamese pastries and drove the 8 hours back to Erie. Again, Nora was way more patient than I would ever expect from a 1 year old - in fact, I think Mommy was getting more antsy and whiny than she was! : )

We are now in Erie and staying put until we return to Omaha next week. Hoping the weather will be warm enough to spend some time at the beach along Lake Erie, do some fishing, take a bike ride and relax...