Washington DC

Last weekend the kids had a 5 day weekend so Kyle took the time off work and we made the 9 hour drive to Washington DC. Why? Because Kyle and I have talked about going for a while now and we decided it would be fun, the kids have the time off, so why not?

It rained the first day we were in DC, but not bad enough to not get out and walk around. We went to some museums and got to tour the Capitol Building. Eddie is studying the government right now at school, so he asked if we could go see the buildings of all three branches of the government. We were actually able to take pictures for him to take to school of all three buildings and he loved it. We took tons of pictures of the National Monument and memorials. Of course, everyone does that, but it was so fun for our family to make the trek and have another adventure. We also visited Arlington National Cemetery. It was truly amazing to be there. I highly recommend going. It is sacred ground and just breathtaking to see all of the headstones. We were able to take some time to go to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and watch the guard. The guard walks 21 steps, faces the tomb for 21 seconds, turns for 21 seconds and then starts the process all over again. We were lucky enough to be there during the changing of the guards. It was truly inspiring.

The Capitol Building is under renovation right now to fix cracks.

Arlington National Cemetary - Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

National Monument

Korean War Memorial - Feeling all of the pictures etched into the wall.

Korean War Memorial

The beginning of the Vietnam Memorial Wall.

We also got to see the Washington DC temple on the way out of town. WOW! It is beautiful! In the visitor's center they have a 3D model of the temple with a wall missing and you can see the entire inside of the temple accurately. President Monson said it was time for people to see what was inside the temple, even in places that tours aren't given. It was really cool to look at, sorry, no pictures though. :(

It was such a good experience for our family. The older three kids really enjoyed the museums and monuments and we've already decided that we need to go back in a few years when Thomas is a little older and can appreciate it more. I can't wait for the time when we can go and enjoy more of the museums without a toddler running around and getting into things, but for now, I'm just grateful we got to have the experience that we did have this year.