DC Part II: Everything else

So here's the rest of the story from DC. We spent five days in DC including traveling days. Tj's parents, the boys and I all flew in together Saturday morning. Tj met us at the airport and the boys were absolutely thrilled to see Tj! (Just for the record I was too!) We then began the feat of trying to get all our luggage and two car seats and "the chariot" (aka double jogging stroller) to the car rental area and try and get a car. Now originally we were going to rent a minivan. It did not take long to realize that a minivan was not going to work. So we got one of the only Suburbans the rental company had. Once this was taken care of it was a piece of cake to get everyone and everything loaded up.


Here was our ride for the week. We all had a hard time getting over how spacious and nice it was. There were nine of us, including three car seats, and we all fit very comfortably. Maybe it was the time of year we went but parking wasn't that bad either. It was a bit of a hassle for Dad, but generally speaking it was really nice having the car to get around.
So we get the car and go to the hotel (we stayed outside of DC in the Springfield area). Dad got us all dropped off and then headed back to the airport to pick up Jenny (Tj's aunt), Baby Skywalker (aka Lukas- the boys just call him Baby Skywalker, thanks Pa!) and Gram. I think he took them down to the monuments, the rest of us had nap time. When we all woke up then we got ready for dinner and the birthday celebration. (See previous post.) It was a long late night. Little did we realize that it would be the first of many.

Sunday morning dawned and rather than racing to get everyone ready for church and then trying to hunt down said church and then wrestle two very jet lagged over-tired little boys in church we decided to head to the Washington Temple hoping to be able to walk around the temple grounds. When we got there we were pleasantly surprised that the visitor's center is open on Sunday. So we were able to still be uplifted and got to spend time doing some hands on activities with the boys about Jesus and the scriptures. There was one area that had a map of Jerusalem and when you pressed the picture of Jesus it gave a synopsis of what happened there and lit up the area on the map. Joel was very interested in this area and he and I stayed in that area listening to the part of Jesus dying on the cross again, again and again. It really made an impact on him. Then we went and walked around the temple. It was a little drizzly but it was really nice and by the time it was starting to sprinkle we were ready to load back up into the car.

The Girls with the temple in the back.
Me, Mom, Gram and Jenny.

Our family at the temple.

After the temple we went to Arlington Cemetery. It was very sobering and a really good experience to teach the boys about soldiers and patriotism. It really is amazing how often we take our freedoms for granted. I had never thought to explain what a soldier was to the boys or what they do. We took the train around the Cemetery and got to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

The Cemetery.
It is humbling to see a visual at the number
of people who have given the ultimate sacrifice
for the freedoms that we appreciate.

The guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

The boys with Nama and Pa.
The boys showing off their batman tats.
Nothing says patriotism like the dark knight, right?!

Sunday night we went on a night tour of all the monuments. I actually don't have any pictures from most of this trip (these are mostly from dad). So I will just say if you want a really great way to see the Monuments that is a little different try the night tour. It was really great (although I don't know if the other people on our tram thought it was so great as they were ALWAYS waiting for us to get back on). At each stop we got off and were able to walk around the Monument and spend some time there. It was really nice!

Monday Tj had to go back to work so we spent the day going to a few of the Museums. Most of the pictures I took at the Museums I have already posted because they were of the boys. We went to the American History Museum and the National History Museum. Both were really great and we weren't even able to see all the exhibits! I don't know how much time you'd need to see and do everything, but I do know that 2 days for sight seeing just doesn't cut it, especially with kids!

Tuesday was Tj's last day at work there in DC. We all went to pick him up. They had a ceremony for completing training and it was nice.

Tj and I, finally done with training!

Here is Tj's Gram.
I know everyone thinks they have the best
Grandma. But Gram is definitely in the running
for all-time best Grandma, ever! She is just the
sweetest and most genuinely nice person. We
love her and her amazing personality and sense of humor.

Tuesday night we went out to dinner at a really nice restaurant. We took the Metro in (our only time the whole time we were in DC) and got to walk around where Dad works when he's in DC. It was a nice night- until the ride home. Every trip has to have a little drama, right?! Well ours started on the Metro ride home when mom got sick. Thinking it was food poising we weren't THAT worried. Unfortunately, that meant that the rest of the night was torture for her (!!!) and spent making arrangements for flights to be changed ect. Tj, the boys and I still had to fly home on Wednesday. It was a long night for mom and dad. :(

Wednesday morning started early for dad. He began his first of three trips to the airport super early (I think like 4:30 am) and it was downhill from there. Luckily we all got to our planes without any major problems. By Thursday we determined that it was the stomach flu that mom had not food poising as Tj, Vance and eventually Joel all got the same thing at some point. Luckily we were all able to travel without dealing with it.

It was a really great trip. There were lots of laughs, memories made and more episodes of the Pink Panther told than I think one person should ever have to recite (thank you Jenny!).