A day in Richmond

Right now it is 5:00 and we are back at the hotel. Chris took the boys to swim in the hotel pool and burn off some of their energy. We spent all day at the Virginia Science Museum. I was pleasantly surpised to see that our Daytona Beach Museum of Arts and Sciences pass got us in for free! In addition to all of the displays, we also saw an IMAX movie about the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. I even stayed awake for all of it, which is a real accomplishment for me!

For lunch, we had two poor choices: eat at the museum, which had overpriced food, not kid friendly, or eat at McDonald's, which was right next door. We chose poorly - McDonalds. We figured it would be fast (no), cheap (yes) and a treat for our kids (who never get to go.) A half hour after ordering, we finally had our food and were sitting down to eat. The boys all ordered plain cheeseburgers, which accounts for about 10 minutes of the wait. The other 20 is sheer ineptitude. I opened up my walnut/apple/yogurt, just as Alexander practically spit out his cheeseburger. You guessed it - it wasn't plain!! I got a new one, sat back down, only to discover that they forgot the caramel for the boys' apple dippers (leave it to McD's to make the healthy unhealty). When I got back from THAT trek to the counter, I found Alexander frowning while looking at his apples that were all over the floor. His explanation was that they "exploded" when he opened them. He ended up with one apple and plenty of caramel.

Otherwise, though, it was a nice day. I highly recommend the museum, especially for later elementary kids. Jonathan got a little bored until we found the trains - the museum is built in the old train depot and there are some old trains out in the yard.

When the boys are done swimming, we are returning to the Richmond Braves, courtesy of the family we met here at the hotel. Hopefully their son will have a good pitching night. Tomorrow we are leaving around 6:30 for home. I'm hoping to make it in just under 12 hours. As long as we get home for the opening ceremony of the Olympics, I'll be happy.