Washington D.C.

I was able to go on a great trip with my mother, Karee, Matt, Ryton, Kevin, Paige and Brennen. We flew out to Washington DC on Valentine's Day and stayed through the following Monday. It was great! The first day we had a tour of the Capitol Building. What a beautiful building and what history. I definitely need to brush up on the history of my country. We then went and walked through the Library of Congress, the Museum of Natural History and quickly ran to the National Monument. The next day we got up early because we had scheduled a tour of the White House. It was amazing to actually walk through some of the rooms of the White House and try to imagine all of the great people who had been in those same rooms. I do have to say that I thought there would be more to the tour. It was more a walk through by yourself and if you have questions you can ask. It would have been great to just have someone walk with you and tell about every detail within each room, but it was still amazing. We then ran to the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. WOW! You walk into this large circular room where the lights are dimmed, to help preserve the documents, and glass cases on the outer edges. When I finally got up to the case with the Declaration of Independence I was just in awe of what was before me. It was the actual document! It was sad to see how faded it was. The only thing I could pick out was John Hancock's signature and it was very faint as well. But to think of the power within this document. As I continued on I then found out that we wouldn't be able to view the Constitution. The cases it was to be displayed in were under construction and walled off. Very disappointing. Then the Bill of Rights. Another awesome experience! We then went back to the National Monument to see if we could get tickets to go to the top. But they were all sold out.

We took some fun pictures and then walked towards the Lincoln Memorial.

(Ryton, who is only 3 1/2 months did so well, but there were some times that Karee just had to throw the blanket over herself to feed the little guy.) :)

The closer you get to this memorial, the more it takes your breath away. It was one of my favorite sites to see.

We then went and saw the Vietnam Memorial and again...very moving! I am so proud of my country!

The next day we got up and went to Arlington National Cemetary. As we walked to towards the entrance you could feel the reverence and peace of this place. We went to John F. Kennedy's grave first. Again, what an awesome experience to stand there at his final resting place with his wife and two young children on either side of him and the eternal flame burning. Nearby we walked to Robert F. Kennedy's grave, which is very simple with a white cross to mark it. We then continued onto the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We made it just a few moments before the changing of the guard. I tried videoing it with my camera I will try and post a small portion of the ceremony. Very impressive!

We then split up and the girls went to the Holocaust Memorial Museum while the boys went to the Air and Space Museum. We then met up later with the boys.

The day we flew out we quickly ran to the Museum of Art. Just not enough time to get everything in. You could seriously spend a complete day in each museum.

We had a wonderful time together! I am so impressed with D.C. The people were so nice to us. We definitely couldn't hide the fact that we were out of towners. We did finally get the Metro system down thanks to a brother and brother in law who knew what they were doing...most of the time. :) I great trip! Thanks Mom and family! Oh, and a big, big THANKS to my wonderful husband who took a day off work and stayed home with the kiddos so that I could go. I am definitely spoiled!