I love to see the temple, a musical extravaganza

 We did end up going up to DC again today.  I spent the afternoon preparing a picnic while R took a long nap to rest up for the ordeal ahead.  Around 4 we headed out.  We were in his little car since mine still isn't running so the kids were squished in the back and had no electronics.  It went really well though.  I brought E's cub book and we all worked on a lot of his things.  He's almost ready to get his Bear badge.  One fun thing he got to study was tall tales.  We read several and the children enjoyed them.  I learned a lot too, there were lots I didn't know.

 I had packed some delicious rosemary chicken, tomato and lettuce sandwiches, carrots and dip, cranberry bars and we brought a big cooler with hot water for hot chocolate or apple cider.  Sadly the cooler tipped and the a lot of the water flooded the back of the car :(  We got to the temple and discovered the trunk was wet as was the floor in the back seat area. 
Anyway we recovered as best we could and took our picnic to a nice spot.  I think it turned out fine in the end.  The kids enjoyed themselves and it was peaceful and beautiful. 

After dinner we went over to the visitors center and enjoyed an extraordinary concert by Jessica and Katelyn Lyons.  They play both the piano and the violin magnificently and we enjoyed the concert very very much.

Then we drove home. Hannah had brought some string and they spent some time practice string tricks, like witches cradle, Jacob's ladder and teacup.  Finally everyone fell asleep.  We had everyone home and in bed before 10:30, which is really late for a school night but worthwhile.