Kentucky Highlights
I got to Kentucky on Friday afternoon. Dad, Sarah, and Jackson picked me up from the airport.
Jackson sporting my sunglasses.
That night we relaxed and enjoyed some good homemade ice cream. On Saturday we went (Mom, Dad, Sarah, Jackson, and I) to the Cincinnati Museum Center. We walked around a few of the exhibits and Jackson enjoyed looking at the all the displays. Afterwards we saw an IMAX movie called Tornado Alley which followed the lives of several people as they chased tornados trying to get scientific information and video footage. One gentleman had a custom made vehicle called the TIV (Tornado Intercept Vehicle); his goal was to get video footage from inside a tornado. After the IMAX movie we went down to the basement of the museum center to the children’s museum. I think this was Jackson’s favorite part. He sat in cars and played in the enclosed area with lots of balls.
It was tricky convincing him it was time to go. After the Museum Center we headed into downtown Cincinnati to see the Cincinnati Reds play the Atlanta Braves.
Sarah stayed in the car in order to stay cool. We got there shortly after the game started. We enjoyed shaded seats and some good ball park food. 
Unfortunately it was around Jackson’s nap time so he wasn’t so thrilled with the festivities.
Mom and Jackson
We decided to leave in the 6th inning to make sure we got home at a decent hour and the Reds hadn’t scored while we were there (shortly after we left they apparently decided to start playing and ended up creaming the Braves by something like 9 runs). Leaving the ballpark guess what we saw? The TIV. It was on display right outside and Jackson thought it was pretty cool that we got to see it in person. Walking back toward the parking garage we had trouble finding the way we came. After getting turned around we found the outside entrance. Some people had just gotten in the elevator and said we’ve got room so we hopped on board. We sure wish we hadn’t.
The elevator doors closed and it moved a little bit then stopped. After waiting for a few minutes we realized it wasn’t going anywhere. So there were 14 of us in a metal box just below ground in 95 degree weather. We called 911 and alerted authorities. Thankfully the group we’d gotten on the elevator with had another family member right outside, so they were able to direct firefighters to our location. We ended up being the elevator for about 30 minutes. I think if we’d been in there any longer some of us would have had heat related illnesses. Thankfully Jackson was very well behaved in the elevator. Once the firefighters arrived they had to take the roof of the elevator off and they lifted the children out and then I got lifted out. Then they put in a ladder for the rest of the adults to climb out. In the end, we were very thankful that we were out of that elevator. As you can see from the picture and the gross sweat stains (which had been worse) on my shirt it was extremely hot inside the elevator. 
Look at his little cheeks, so red!
After the elevator incident we were all a little frazzled. We didn’t get home until about 10:30 that night and we all went straight to bed.
On Sunday we took it easy and enjoyed spending time together. On Monday, Jackson went to day camp, so Mom, Sarah and I took the opportunity to go get pedicures and run a couple errands. Then we picked up Jackson and went to lunch at Logan’s Roadhouse. On Monday night I went with Mom and Dad to Woodsong’s Old Time Radio Hour. It’s a live radio broadcast that airs from Lexington almost every Monday night to hundreds of radio stations across the world, including NPR. It was fun to be part of the audience. We watched two groups perform, the Midnight Twilighters and Blame Sally. I really enjoyed Blame Sally. They were a little more contemporary. On Tuesday Mom, Sarah, and I took Jackson to the pool. And boy did he have a lot of energy. We went down the slide and splashed around and had a great time. Afterward we had some good Mexican food then went home to relax. That afternoon my mom directed me in making blackberry jelly. It was a lot of fun. Sarah and I had picked two buckets that morning.
Check out that blackberry!
We got out the juicer and the canner and all the supplies and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.
Dad getting the juicer ready.
We used a few cups of juice, some sugar and a package of pectin and then put it through the canning process. We ended up with about 15 or so jars. Wednesday it was off to Virginia.
Virginia Highlights
Rebekah picked me up from the airport and then we may or may not have gone to four different Pier 1 Imports. That night we made a yummy dinner then went out for frozen yogurt, I got half watermelon, half mango and it was tasty. Thursday we dedicated to shopping. Since Rebekah just found out she’s going to have a baby boy we were on a mission to find some bargains. And we definitely did. First we hit up the nearby outlets, and then we stopped by a few stores and then went to the mall. Overall we ended up with about 12 items of clothing for an average of $3/each. Not bad for a day of shopping. On Friday Rebekah and I went to the Smithsonian National Zoo. We rode the metro (my first time ever!).
I thought the “Kiss and Ride” signs were so funny.
Bekah on the metro. 
Admission to the zoo was free which I thought was pretty cool. But it was very hot. But we got to see some cool animals. I think one of our favorites was Lucy the chimpanzee. Her enclosure was inside. She had two rooms that connected. When we walked up she was the corner of one of her rooms. She knew we were there because she kept giving us side glances. Bekah would wave at her whenever she glanced. Finally she got up and it looked like she was coming to the window to say hi, but then she swerved into her other room and grabbed a sheet and hid herself underneath it! 
She came back into her other room and then sat down concealed by her sheet; apparently she didn’t want to be disturbed. It was so funny. Then we read her placard and it seems she will frequently hide in her sheets. 
I wish I’d gotten a video of the whole interaction but alas, this picture will have to do. Here are some of the other animals we saw. 
Later that afternoon after picking up some lunch we met up with Stephen, my brother-in-law in Georgetown. We walked around a bit and then waited in line at Georgetown Cupcake.
After picking out a dozen beautiful little masterpieces we headed home. On Saturday we started out by visiting the farmers market in Alexandria and then decided it was too hot to do any more outdoor activities so we headed into downtown D.C. and went to the Museum of American History. I visited it when I was in middle school but it was a lot different than what I remembered but still very cool. We saw the First Lady dresses, the transportation exhibit, Julia Child’s kitchen and lots of other cool things. After the museum we went to China town to eat at a pizza place then stopped by the pentagon mall before calling it a day. That night Bekah and I relaxed and watched two girl movies, From Prada to Nada and Beastly. I don’t think either of these actual made it to theaters but sometimes it’s fun to watch silly movies, we enjoyed them very much. After church on Sunday we just relaxed until it was time for me to go. Overall a good vacation. It was hard to come home, but I was ready to see Caleb and get back into a routine.
Caleb also had a good time on his vacation, they saw a bear while hiking, and he got to play soccer with his family and other fun stuff. I don't have a lot of pictures because he didn't take any.
Caleb and Jared by the bear. 
Finally... :) Glad you had so much fun!
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