addendum

This happens to me often: I write a blog, thinking it is so awesome, post it, and then I think of things afterwards that I should have said, but didn't. This also happens in real life. But that's another problem.

So, for your enjoyment, here are some anecdotes from my family's trip. In all it's glory. Uncut. 

1. At the mystery dinner, they had a pamphlet where you opened each tab when the next course was served.  It had clues and places to take notes and at the end it had a ticket that you detached and turned in with who you think dunnit. At the bottom of the ticket was a "why you think this person did it" section. My sister voted for the boy in the cast who had red hair. Sydney is also a red head so she wrote in the "why" section: "Because he is a ginger." Love that sister of mine.

my siblings being wild, as usual

2. At the Birds of Paradise exhibit at NatGeo, there is a "Dance Dance Evolution" game where the birds of paradise put on their dance moves with their colorful feathers and you follow the moves, competing with the other "bird" next to you. I competed against my mom and my brother and totally won. Fair and square with my own mad bird dancing skillz. But the rest of the trip, I couldn't hear the end of how I cheated at the bird dancing game. As if it's that big of a deal, guys. But, yes, I am the champion bird dancer, ok? 

Don't compare this to how humans really dance. I dare you.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/King_Bird_of_Paradise#p005wkk0

3. To reinforce how cold we were at Mount Vernon: My mom and I were waiting for our time to get into the house. And it was cold, so we walked in circles seeking refuge from the wind, at least. We snuck into exit of the house tour and stood in George's kitchen for about 30 minutes until it was time for our tour. It was an open kitchen, so we were squished against a wall away from the windows and doors. So pitiful. We simply hate being cold. 

The Ericksen's natural habitat.