Skipping Town {Day #1}

I hope y'all had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend! We had a very eventful yet relaxing weekend. We spent Thanksgiving morning stacking wood and baking in the kitchen and enjoying our first fire in the fireplace. We spent the afternoon and evening with friends and it was a fun, low-key kind of day, just as Thanksgiving should be. We wanted to take advantage of a long weekend with no school and no work so we decided to skip town and head to Washington DC. Now, I have to say that I previously did not give DC a chance. As you might recall, Ry and I went back in January when interviewing out here for a quick day trip. My expectations were extremely high and we just did not give it a fair chance as we did not really get into the nitty gritty of DC and all the wonderful exhibits it has to offer. Hence, I was blown away at how much I enjoyed our time there this weekend. It was a most spiritual trip that we will not soon forget.

The weekend started with a little Thanksgiving miracle. All week the GPS had been missing. We knew we WOULD NOT SURVIVE our trip without it. We had searched and searched both cars multiple times, all over the house, EVERYWHERE and it was nowhere to be found. Well by Thursday night we had still not found it. The night was growing late and we were just baffled at where it could be. We finally all stopped what we were doing and Gretel said a prayer. We then proceeded to look around some more, and Ryan went back outside with the boys and a flashlight to check the cars one last time. Not even a minute had passed when they came back in the house hooping and hollering that they had found it! Ryan came in looking white as a ghost. Pierce had found the GPS in the console of Ryan's car, a place where they had searched twice before. It was just sitting there on top of his home teaching papers. Coincidence? NO WAY. This was an instant answer to our prayers. I was so thankful the kids got to witness what was without a doubt an answer to Gretel's sweet little prayer. We were all blown away, and Ryan was seriously spooked since he knew he had looked there so thoroughly TWICE. Once again we were reminded of the power of prayer and that the Lord is mindful of us and our needs.

It was a drizzly 3 hour drive to DC Friday morning. We listened to "7 Miracles that Saved America" on the way, a book/CD I would highly recommend. We also tossed in a little Christmas music for good measure. We went straight to the parking garage at the Reagan Building which is in a really good location, FYI.

We went to two Smithsonian museums--American History and Natural History. Friday was apparently meltdown day for Gretel, so that is all we accomplished. But believe me, we spent a lot of time there and it was not a day wasted. One of my very favorite things was seeing the actual Star Spangled Banner. What a perfect way to start out our trip. It's a good thing it's in a dark room because holding back the tears on this one is simply impossible. Especially with our national anthem playing in the background and the sound of bombs bursting in air. It makes me want to cry even now. The flag is HUGE. I was not expecting it to be so large. It was originally 30 x 42 ft and took 400 yards of fabric to make. It was originally raised over Fort McHenry on the morning of September 14, 1814, to signal American victory over the British in the Battle of Baltimore; the sight inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner”. It was truly a site to behold for us, I can imagine what it was for him. There was such a sacred, reverent feeling in the room, along with so many other places in Washington DC.

(This is from Google-part of the flag is missing now)

I also enjoyed, and was very humbled, by the different displays of all the wars in American history, such as World War II (I thought of you Dad!). The museum of Natural History was cool, but way too crowded! This was a tourist hot spot I think due to Night at the Museum, among other things. And the gem room where the Hope diamond is on display was a major gathering spot. Geesh people, it's just a diamond! Chill out! I really didn't think it was that spectacular. It was the other gems and stones there that blew us away. Every color you can think of. Can God's creations be any more amazing? We all loved the crocheted coral display. AWESOME! So beautiful with all its bright colors and it looked totally real from far away!

For those of you interested in visiting DC someday, we found a great family-friendly, affordable hotel that I would highly recommend when taking a trip to DC-Embassy Suites in Old Town Alexandria (love the old houses in this area!!). It's located right next to a Metro stop, there's an LDS church right down the road, and you get an awesome view of George Washington's Masonic Memorial right out your window. It's pretty when it's all lit up at night. Didn't get a picture, darn it. We got a family suite that sleeps 6 and the kids loved it! The kids loved the indoor pool and we swam both nights there. Friday night we had an incident with the fire alarms going off (Afton I thought of you as we stood outside in the freezing cold!) The hotel evacuated and unfortunately we didn't grab our coats. It was quite chilly outside as we all stood there huddling in our pajamas sharing Gwen's blanket she had brought with her. Apparently there was an accident with a lamp or something? I don't know. Fire trucks came and we eventually went back in once we found out it was nothing big.

So that was our exciting Day #1. Not a whole lot of sight-seeing yet, but that was what Day #2 was for. Stay tuned tomorrow!

(please excuse the bad picture quality--a lot of these had to be taken very quickly with all the people around and I was bummed I didn't get many good ones!)

We made it!

Dum Dum!

George Washington

Lunch break

Pierce felt bad for the trumpet guy so he went back and gave him a dollar.

Silly kids!

Movie and popcorn time back at the hotel

And nap time! It's amazing how a long drive and walking around two museums can wear you out!