Washington Trip!

Maile was in Washington D.C. working in the White House on an Internship over the summer. She was able to get us a tour of the White House so my sister Michelle took Taylyn for 3 days while we went to see all the sites. It was the first time we have ever left Taylyn overnight. I had a hard time with it (I know I am pathetic) but Taylyn actually did well and had fun playing with Taesi.

We flew all night and got their at 8:00 in the morning. We had breakfast and then we were off. We started at the Arlington Cemetery. What a overwhelming site of all those who have lost their lives in order to keep our country free. While their we say the changing of the guards as well.

I was smiling in the first picture and Cody informed me you can't take a picture smiling at the Cemetery so we had to take another one.Then we went to see one of the places Maile work at when the White House doesn't need her and had lunch. After that we walked all over the place and saw the White House and many other things,

If you look close my hand is under a lady who is probably only 4 feet tall and has a setup just outside the White where she is 24 hours a day 7 days a week since 1981 protesting different things. When she needs to leave she has someone else come and watch her signs. A little crazy!!

and after about an hour of walking we finally found the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. By then it hit how tired we were from being up all night (as you can see from the above picture of Cody on a bench in the museum) so we went back to the hotel to have a nap. After a couple of hours of much needed sleep we met up with Maile and went to a really nice restaurant that overlooked the city. It was delicious and the view was amazing. The pictures below were just some we took of things as we were walking.

The next day Rich hired a van to drive us around the city and show us all the sites. It is definitely the way to see everything in one day without having to absolutely exhaust yourself. The first stop was at the Union Station. Cody made us pose like the statues. Then he ran through all the pigeons like you see on TV. There were a lot of them.

Here is Tony, Linda and Rich relaxing in the van on our way to the next site.

Then it was off to see the Capital Building. I think it is such a pretty building. Here we are at the home where President Lincoln was shot.Here is Cody standing by the Lincoln Memorial.

This picture was taken at President Roosevelt's Memorial. It was one of my favorite sites to see. They had a different section for each term he served with his quotes all over the walls and many statues as well as waterfalls. I couldn't believe how many of his quotes were applicable today.
We stopped for lunch with our tour guide at a seafood place just outside of the old torpedo factory.

These pictures were taken just to get the Monument behind us. The sky was a perfect setting for the pictures.

This is at the top of the Monument.

One more shot with the Monument in the background.

These are the pictures from our White House Tour. We were only allowed to take pictures in certain places so I will explain what they are. This is outside the door that leads you into the East Wing where the President's Oval Office is.

This is outside the East Wing in the Rose Garden that you always hear about.

This picture is the outside of the oval office. The window is down the hall behind us.

These pictures are taken in the front of the White House. Yes we are inside the gates. It was such a cool experience. For only being there two full days we were able to see so much. Thank you Maile for giving us such an amazing experience!!