Kind of like the zoo, except for the dead part. . .

Cabelas
Oh, deer!

Lions, tigers and bears, oh my!

We took our little kids to the D.C. Area last weekend. Rachel spent a couple of days at Great Wolf Lodge with her friend Lauren. It seemed strange not having her with us. Paul's brother, John, was in Virginia for meetings and since we don't get to see him very often (he lives in England), we decided to meet him and our niece and nephew, Camille and Aaron, (who live in Baltimore) and also visit the temple. We had dinner together and then visited while the kids swam in the hotel pool.

The highlight of our trip for the kids was our stop on a whim at Cabela's on the way down. We have never been there before. They loved seeing the fish and animals. I was impressed by all the taxidermied (is that a word?) animals and the scenes they created with them. It kind of reminded me of the Bean Museum at BYU. The kids really liked walking through the aquarium as well. Spencer begged us to get a wooden gun that made a popping noise and I relented. We did make him pay for it himself. Seriously, this is a big deal for me. . . allowing a toy gun in my house. Of course, there were all kinds of accompanying rules with said gun possession being threatened. He has managed to comply with the rules so far. But on to the good news. . . it broke today while he and a friend were playing! It was a pretty sturdy toy but somehow the barrel broke when it was accidentally dropped on the ground by his friend. Now I don't have to worry about having a toy gun in the house. Unfortunately, now Spencer will once again begin his relentless pestering for me to get him a Nerf gun since he no longer has his irritating popping rifle anymore.

Paul and I loved having a chance to go to the temple, thanks to John who watched the kids for us while we were there. I am so grateful we can attend the temple and enter a haven where our challenges seem far away and the God's spirit dwells. Afterwards, we said goodbye to John and took the kids to the temple visitor's center. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and the hyacinths and daffodils were in bloom, making everything look and smell beautiful.

Gotta love the sun in your eyes, eh?

The sun was a bit bright!