For the first time since the kids could get themselves out of bed, there was no early wake up. Everyone got up and ready before the kids opened their “stockings” and we exchanged a few gifts. Everyone was happy. We caught an Uber to RiseNY a three-part journey that lifts and connects you to New … More Day 16 – Christmas Day

We woke to another freezing cold New York day and headed out about 11ish to Whole Foods to get brunch. We walked through Bryant Park – it was so cold the fountain had frozen. I was surprised at how quiet it was for a supermarket on Xmas Eve. We ate and stocked up on a … More Day 15 – Xmas Shopping and Rockettes

We got up early and walked to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see the Rocky statute and do the run up the steps as is famous from the Rocky movie. The weather still wasn’t great but we got it done. We headed to Whole Foods for breakfast before catching an Uber to the train … More Day 14 – New York

We set off this morning to see the Liberty Bell. It was a 30-40 minute walk in the freezing cold. We walked past City Hall and Declaration House (where the Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson – it took him about 2 weeks to write the first draft). We arrived about 10 minutes … More Day 13 – Philadelphia – Liberty Bell, Shopping and Santa

We packed everything up this morning and left our bags at the hotel reception. We got an Uber to the Lincoln Memorial so the kids could collect their Junior Ranger badges since they had done all the work. They had to recite the Junior Ranger motto and were given their badges. It came to my … More Day 12 – Arlington and Philadelphia

This morning saw us arriving at the Air & Space Museum to a huge line even though we had timed entry tickets. But as soon as 10am hit and the Museum opened, the queue moved very quickly. The Museum is still in the process of being renovated and is only partly open (the remainder of … More Day 11 – Air & Space Museum, Georgetown and Christmas

We were given a reprieve from walking this morning and ordered an Uber to take us to the Holocaust Museum. It was freezing cold and Mark tried to get shelter in one of the nooks in the building but was quickly told off … I assume they’re worried about you leaving a bomb of something … More Day 10 – Museums

We had a lazy start to the day watching the World Cup Football final (until the end of regular play) before heading down to Union Station to Pret (an old favorite from London days) for lunch. It was super expensive though – cost us US$80 for a sandwich and drink for everyone. But it was … More Day 9 – Washington – Natural History and NFL

This morning we walked down to the National Mall and down to the Washington Monument where we took the elevator up to the top – 50 floors up. The structure is made entirely of marble, granite and blue gneiss. It is the world’s tallest stone structure and was built to commemorate George Washington. There are … More Day 8 – Washington DC Monuments and Alexandria

This morning we packed up and headed to Whole Foods for breakfast. Austin is the home of Whole Foods and we went to their flagship store. It was massive and with so many options – I would love to have that as my regular store. After breakfast we had a quick stop at the Texas … More Day 7 – Travel Day

Leaving Texas I have a few observations… 1. It seems to be ok in Texas to text on your phone while driving so long as you put on your hazard lights (pretty confident it’s not actually legal – just common practice) 2. As TJ pointed out, the speed limit seemed to optional, both around town … More Some Observations About Texas

An early start this morning. We checked out of the house we were renting about 7ish and drove to Waco, about 1.5 hours south of Dallas. We had a reservation at Magnolia Table, a restaurant owned by Joanna and Chip Gains. They are a couple who renovate old homes in the Waco area on an … More Day 6 – Waco and Austin

Everyone woke excited about the rodeo tonight, but first we had a few museums to visit. First up was the Sixth Floor Museum which details the assassination of John F Kennedy. This is something I had really wanted to do and found it really interesting. The kids weren’t that excited about it to start with … More Day 5 – Dallas – JFK, Perot Museum and Rodeo

We woke to a thunder storm and tornado warning this morning (Turns out 7 people were injured and 2 tornado reports in the Dallas/Fort Worth area). Mark had booked me in to get a manicure. I had one before leaving but one of the nails lifted so I went and got it redone. When I … More Day 4 – Dallas – City and Grapevine

It was a slower start this morning, time for a bit of washing, work and chess. We then headed to Target to look for Xmas PJ’s, an adapter plug and general look around, but first a quick stop at Starbucks for coffees and frappuccinos. We had a quick bite to eat at the Starbucks attached … More Day 3 – Dallas – Shops, Vaccines and NBA

The process of sorting receipts and clothes to claim tax back and packing was finished this morning. Upon ensuring we had everything in the room, we checked out, said goodbye to our favourite bellmen, Jimmy and Brett and headed back to Chadstone mall to kill a few hours and have a feed. We had originally … More Home time

This morning once we got sorted we headed to the Melbourne Museum. First stop was the cafe for a bite to eat then we checked out the exhibits about the indigenous people, the special exhibition on the triceratops, insects and the local Melbourne section including seeing Phar Lap. Then it was time for The IMAX … More Museum, Eureka and Italian