We spent our first day of spring break at Dollywood. Klara hadn’t been since she was a baby so she was excited! We had a ton of fun. You can’t go wrong with good food, rollercoasters, and cinnamon bread.

That night we finished packing. The next morning we drove to Maryland to visit my aunt. It was a 6 hour drive but we stopped a few times for snacks, dance breaks, and to fill up with gas.

We made it to her house around 2 o’clock. My aunt welcomed us with BBQ, turkey, and ham for sandwich rolls, chips and a fruit tray. That night we went to our first NBA game! The game was in Washington, D.C. at the Capitol One Arena. We wore Wizard shirts but cheered for both teams. Being this close to Giannis was the best part of the entire trip! We rode the metro to and from the arena and it was such a cool experience.

The next day we went to the Smithsonian Zoo. It was so much fun! Klara’s favorite exhibit was seeing all of the frogs. The rest of us loved the pandas and watching the orangutans walking and swinging across the O-Line.

That afternoon we went to Looney’s Pub for dinner. Their chicken tacos were delicious. I tried some of Klara’s macaroni and cheese and it was 10/10.

On Thursday we spent the day in Washington, D.C. I crossed so many things off of my bucket list that day! We saw The White House, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the U.S. Capitol and so much more. It was such a beautiful day and I am so thankful we were able to experience so many historical landmarks with our kiddos.

We visited the Smithsonian Museums and there was so much to take in.

By the time we made it back to the metro we were all exhausted and ready to sit down in AC. Klara was asleep on my shoulder in less than ten minutes.

My aunt took us to one of their favorite local restaurants, Ledo Pizza, and their Philly Cheesesteak was delicious.

The next day we went to Arundel Mills in Hanover and saw the new Mario movie. Koby and Klara are both big Mario fans so they were ecstatic! It was the coolest movie theater I’ve ever seen. My aunt and I got so comfortable that we fell asleep. After the movie we spent the rest of the day walking around the mall shopping.

On our way back to the house we stopped for Mexican food. Chicken tacos are the way to my heart.

The next morning my aunt got bagels from Panera and we packed up our things. On our way home we stopped by Dutch Pantry. We were so excited to come across this place. We got sandwiches for the road and it was by far the best club sandwich I have ever had! Their macaroni salad was superb. We got some Amish peanut butter and a loaf of their sourdough bread to take home for lunch the next day.

If I’m honest, I love our dogs just as much as I love our kids. Leaving them, especially Ranger, for more than a few hours WRECKS ME. I cried for hours the night we dropped them off before we went out of town and cried happy tears when we stopped to pick them up on our way home.

We had the best spring break. Having slow mornings with a good cup of coffee surrounded by my favorite people and memories I won’t forget anytime soon was just what my heart needed. The sweetest puppy, the bed head, my aunts breakfast, and our kids having the best time with their favorite cousin was good for the soul.