Monthly Archives: March 2011

Today was battlefield day and our start for home.  We got up, checked out of the hotel, and drove to Manassas to learn more about the second battle there.  From there we went and saw Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and the Wilderness Battlefield areas.  It is so fascinating to learn about all of these places and to think about what happened there.  We wanted to go down to Spotsylvania, but didn’t have the time.

The most interesting place we went was the visitor center and surrounding area of the Fredericksburg battle site.  We got in on a walking tour of the battlefield and our tour guide was amazing!  He was so animated and knowledgeable that you thought the battle just happened.  We got to go into a house that is still standing today which not many people get to go into.  It was riddled with bullet holes and the crazy thing is that a lady was living in the house throughout the entire battle and never got hurt, even though bullets were whizzing through her house all day.  😐  Kirstyn got to be the guide’s helper.  🙂

After seeing all the battlefields, we drove down through central Virginia and over the Shenandoah Mountains into the Shenandoah Valley.  It was a little foggy so we didn’t get to see much, but I can just imagine how beautiful this place is in the fall!  We drove up 81 through the valley and eventually stopped at Woodstock for the night.  Angela and I had recently read a book called “The Cross Gardener” that took place there.  We wanted to see the places talked about in the book.  Turns out that the author loved the area so much, he ended up moving his family from Utah to the Shenandoah valley and now lives there.

Angela got a sweet deal on a suite at the Hampton Inn in Woodstock!  We had plenty of space and the pool was great!  We swam and then ate and are now totally exhausted and are ready for bed!  Tomorrow we’re heading home and will get to sleep in our own beds finally!  🙂

Today was a GREAT day but also  VERY tiring!  We walked so much we thought we were going to die!  🙂  It was very fun though.  We drove downtown and parked way out in the free parking, a good walk from the Jefferson memorial.  We walked around the tidal basin and saw stuff we didn’t even know was there!  The cherry blossoms were out in full bloom and it was absolutely beautiful!

Although it was a little on the chilly side, it was a beautiful day and the walk was nice.  We came across the Roosevelt memorial which is to the west of the basin, between the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials.  We didn’t know it was there (although it probably has been for some time).  It’s usually not where we would go walking.  It is very large and points out highlights of his presidency, including the depression, etc.  We got some interesting pictures…

From there, we walked over to the World War II memorial and had an interesting time talking to the boys about what it stood for.  There was a high school band playing patriotic songs there and so we stopped to listen (and take a break for our tired feed)!  🙂  We then started making our way west, down the mall toward the Lincoln Memorial.  We split and some went to see the Korean War Memorial while the rest kept walking and we met at the Lincoln memorial.  Ben thought that was pretty cool!

The Viet Nam Memorial was next on our list of sites to see, and that is always a highlight.  It is so quiet and peaceful there and an awesome site to see all those names on the wall.  We explained to the boys what the names were and they hushed right up and were very reverent at that site.

We had to pick up the pace and get to the Washington Monument for our 1:30 tour and made it with a little time to spare (we were the first in line to go up).  This is the first time that any of us had gone up into the Washington Monument and it was very fascinating!  The day was pretty clear so you could see almost everything!

I couldn’t post all the pictures we took from up there but it was neat to see where everything was from up in the air.  I don’t think the kids realized how big the National Mall area was until they looked at it from up above!  They couldn’t believe how far we walked and still had to walk to see everything!  🙂

We then watched an Indian performance for the Cherry Blossom Festival before going over and taking a quick look at the Holocaust Museum.  We didn’t have time to see the whole thing, but the kids (especially the boys) were amazed at how sad the whole thing was.  They couldn’t believe that others would treat people like that.  We also saw a few sets of missionaries from the church walking around the mall enjoying the blossoms.  It must have been their P-Day.  🙂

By that time, we were starving, so we asked a security guard nearby where we could sit down and eat some food and he recommended the USDA cafeteria, so we walked over and ate there.  You would think that being the USDA, that the food in the cafeteria (which was gigantic, by the way) would be very healthy and calorie-conscious…  NOPE!  The food was very fattening not at all what we expected (greasy burgers and fries, etc.).  They did have some healthy stuff there, but there was plenty that was not.  🙂

We hurried and ate and then ran (literally) over to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for our tour on how they make money.  That was a highlight for Ben and Zach!  Everyone really loved it, but the boys thought it was the coolest thing on how the US prints all the money!  Just when we were there, we saw a few million dollars being printed ($1, $5, $10, $50, and $100 bills).  Ben wanted to stay longer but we couldn’t because the tour was over.  He wanted some of what was being printed and didn’t want to take no for an answer!  🙂

After the tour, it started sprinkling and it was later in the afternoon, so we started walking back to the car.  Angela took Ben back while the rest of us took a detour and they checked out the Jefferson Memorial.  By that time, all our feet were killing us!  We estimated we had walked about 5-6 miles or more.  Whew!  🙂

On the drive home, we took a wrong turn and it took us forever to get back to the right road to get back to the hotel.  We ate a quick dinner, went swimming, and now we are going to crash and sleep WELL!  What a great time we had in DC!  Tomorrow, we are going to see some battlefields and start making our way back west and home…

Today we decided to take it a bit easier and give our legs a rest.  This morning, we drove out to Manassas National Battlefield where the battles of Bull Run took place.  It wasn’t anything like Gettysburg, but the history around the place is pretty amazing.  The visitor center had a audio presentation that coincided with a large display with lights that showed where each part of the battle took place and what happened.  Ben LOVED this and didn’t want to do anything but watch the lights flicker and move around.  🙂  Zach’s favorite part (go figure) was the gift shop where he begged for everything in sight!  🙂

We took a walking tour of the site and learned a bunch of neat things about the battle itself.  I probably was more interested than anyone else…

It was a nice day but a little on the chilly side and it was windy so it felt colder than it actually was.  We had to bundle up.  About half-way through, Ben decided he had enough and took off running.  Angela caught him and then took him to the car to thaw out and get ready for lunch and our drive downtown to take a tour of the US Capitol.

The Capitol tour was the highlight of our trip so far!  Angela arranged VIP tickets through our Senator’s office there and we met the personal tour guide in the rotunda of the Capitol Visitor’s Center.  She was very nice and very knowledgeable (I’m sure from a bunch of practice)!  🙂  We walked all throughout the building and took way too many pictures to post here.  We saw the Speaker of the House offices, the Capitol rotunda (where they have state funerals, etc.), and the old chambers where Lincoln, John Quincy Adams, and many other famous legislators met.  They have markings on the floor where their desks were.

Angela loved every minute of it.  She is very interested in politics and I wouldn’t be surprised if she runs for some kind of office when the kids are grown up.  🙂

After the tour was over, we got tickets to go see the Senate and House Chambers.  Ben couldn’t go in so Angela went in to see the Senate chambers while I watched Ben, and then I went in and took a look and then brought the rest of the kids back out with me.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything going on in there and it was deathly quiet.  There were a few people in there, but no Senators and no debates.  We did see a couple of officials in there milling around and checking their facebook accounts (our tax dollars hard at work)!  🙂  We had to laugh!  Due to time constraints, we didn’t get to go in and see the House Chambers.  They were actually doing something in there.  Oh well, maybe some other time.

After the tour, we walked back to the car, drove back to the hotel, had dinner, went swimming, and are going to sleep VERY good tonight!  We have a HUGE walking day tomorrow (the rest of the National Mall, Holocaust Museum, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, etc.).

We had a GREAT day today!  After having a very satisfying, large breakfast, we drove downtown, found a place to park, and started all of our activities!  The first stop we made was to the National Archives.  It was really cool to go in there and see the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, and other founding documents of our country.  We also saw other things like an original Gutenburg Bible.  The Magna Carta is also there but unfortunately it was not on display today.

What a humbling experience to see the documents in person, read through the words written on the page, and see the signatures.  It is amazing to me every time I think of the sacrifices that our founding fathers made for us!  It also makes me sick to see how much some of what they originally thought for our country has been trampled under foot!  🙁  There’s no better place to live, however, and we are all VERY grateful for our freedoms!  🙂

We then walked over to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.  Zach really wanted to see the Hope Diamond so we indulged him!  🙂

We also saw a lot of other things like additional gems and stones, dinosaur bones, and stuffed animals.  🙂  The funny thing is that our Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago (we think) is better than this.  That said, we didn’t spend too much time in there.

We then decided to go to the Air and Space Museum.  On our way, we walked through the Museum of Art.  This was a beautiful building and we saw a lot of Rembrandt paintings along with many from the Impressionist Period.  I wish we could have taken more time here, but the boys really didn’t want to look at a bunch of art.  They wanted to get to the planes and rockets!  🙂

The Air and Space Museum was by far our favorite museum of all the buildings on the Smithsonian campus!  🙂  There was so much to do, see, touch, and experience!  The boys LOVED it and we had a hard time getting them from place to place in there!  Once they found something they could do (i.e. sit in a plane, touch a moon rock) they wanted to keep doing it over and over!  🙂

We saw a LOT of really cool things, like Lindburgh’s Spirit of St. Louis, the Wright Brother’s first plane they flew at Kitty Hawk, Amelia Earhart’s plane, the first command module from the moon  visit, Sputnik, and  much more.

We could have spent a few more hours (if not all day) in there, but we ran out of time and had to start making our way up to the Library of Congress for our tour.

Fortunately, we had some time and didn’t have to run to our tour.  We were able to walk a little slower (we’re not usually used to that), and enjoy the day.  Flowers were in bloom and the day, although a little on the cool side, was beautiful!  On our way up to the Library, there was a group filming a movie in front of the Capitol.  The girls went over to check it out and the director asked them if they wanted to be extras in it!  🙂  They were pretty excited and  so we hung around for awhile waiting until they were needed.

Unfortunately, as movie filming goes, things went slow and we had to leave for our tour before the girls were needed.   🙁  What a cool thing for them, though!

We really enjoyed our tour of the Library of Congress.  Our tour guide was really funny and had a huge amount of experience with the library.  He took us to a couple of the reading and discussion rooms that are normally reserved for members of Congress (we weren’t really supposed to be in there).  🙂  The building is beautiful and the architecture is amazing!

The one thing that we got to see that really excited Zach was the reading room that they showed in the movie “National Treasure 2.”  That was his highlight for the tour (unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures there)!

When we were done with our tour, we started our long walk back to the car.  We were all beat!  We drove back to Fairfax to the hotel, ate a quick dinner at Chili’s, and then the kids went swimming!  This is really why Ben and Zach wanted to be on the trip.  As long as they got to swim, they were happy!  🙂

We are now “officially” dead tired and will sleep great tonight!  I think we’re going to change things up a little bit tomorrow so we don’t have to walk as much.  Our feet need a rest!

Today we got up early and went to church in Rootstown, OH.  The ward was very small.  We added quite the number to it.  🙂   We ended up only staying for Sacrament Meeting, much to the chagrin of the Young Women’s President who thought we were a new move-in family and she just got 3 more girls in her group!  🙂  I think we would have increased their program by about a third!  🙂

We continued on driving through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and into Maryland for the rest of the day.  What was really cool is that since we went through there last time, they have upgraded the systems to accept our Illinois I-Pass to be accepted the whole way.  Not once did we have to stop and pay cash for tolls!  We were pretty happy about that!

At about 5 we arrived at the Washington DC temple.  We ate some food and then browsed around the visitor center.  The last time Kirstyn was there, she was about 2 and didn’t remember it.  Sarah and Brittany did, but everyone was still in awe at the site of the beautiful building!

After touring through the visitor’s center and walking around the temple grounds, we took a drive around the surrounding area for awhile.  We had an hour to kill before we attended a concert there at the visitor’s center from the Washington DC Area Mormon Orchestra.  We saw some really cool buildings (a whole complex to be exact) that at one time was a recuperation center for veterans of the WWII.  They are right next to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.  These buildings are now privately held and being sold in little pieces for people to purchase, remodel, and live in.  There was a full Japanese pagoda, a windmill, and all other kinds of crazy shaped and sized buildings.

We got back from our drive just in time to go to the visitor’s center and attend the orchestra concert.  The group was very good and we enjoyed it very much!  Brittany was on the edge of her seat loving every minute of it.  She really does enjoy playing the violin.  I think that it’s just the lack of wanting to practice that gets her discouraged sometimes!  🙂

After the concert, we drove to our hotel out in Fairfax, VA.  We were dead tired when we arrived.  We are very impressed with the hotel (Marriott Spring Hill Suites).  The accommodations are GREAT and there is plenty of room for us all.  The kids were very impressed!  They have never stayed in such a nice hotel and it was funny to see their reaction!  🙂

Today we left for our big spring break trip to Washington DC and Northern Virginia!  We have been planning on this for some time and wanted to do something like this before Sarah leaves the house to go to college at the end next summer!  😐

We left at about noon and drove to a small town just south of Cleveland (Streetsboro) and stopped for the night.  We were trying to find a church building so Angela and the girls could go and watch the Young Women broadcast but the building we contacted wasn’t showing it, so they ended up watching it via video on the internet from our hotel room.

While the girls were watching the broadcast, Angela, the boys and I went to find food.  We got a couple of pizzas and returned to the hotel.  When we pulled into the parking lot, the girls came running up to us in a panic!  There was a fire alarm in the building and they ran out into the parking lot as fast as they could and left the room key behind.  The fire department came and determined everything was OK.  Turns out it was just someone who burned their food in the microwave!  🙂  What’s funny, is that instead of going to the front desk  (what Kirstyn suggested they do) to ask what happened and if they could go back in, they just hung out in the parking lot until we got there.  They had no coats and were cold.  Maybe next time they’ll listen to Kirstyn!  🙂

Tomorrow we’ll be going to church around here somewhere and then driving on to DC.  More to come!

Today was dentist day!  All of us (except Kirstyn) herded over to the dentist for our semi-annual cleaning.  It was actually kind of funny watching our family “take over” the office!  Ben and Zach behaved VERY well while Angela and I got our teeth cleaned!  The kids go to a pediatric dentist that is in the same office and so we were split into two groups.  Sarah actually looked kind-of funny sitting in the little kid dentist chairs!  🙂  I think that this is her last time visiting that dentist.  Next time she’ll go with the grown-ups!

In the office, Zach is known as “Super Zachary” and all the folks there really love our boys.  They are always commenting on how cute they are!  🙂

We had great results today!  Not one cavity!!!  We were very happy about that!  I still am pretty ticked that our old dentist drilled on me when I don’t think I had any cavities!  🙁  The two he said I had that he wanted to drill, our new dentist hasn’t said anything about!  Oh well, life goes on and we all keep brushing!

When I came home from work today, Zach had been one busy boy!  He had taken part of a big cardboard box and created a laptop with it.  He even added Google to the screen!

It was really cute and he couldn’t wait to show it to me.  He said that he and Ben made it so they could be “cool” like their dad.  : -)  I thought that was so sweet!  He insisted that we take a bunch of pictures of him with his new creation.  Way to be creative, Zach!  🙂