Washington D.C.

Guy and I have been in Washington D.C. for 3 days now. It is so much fun! Our first day here we went to Arlington National Cemetary. That was so neat. It is such a reminder of all those who have fought for our country. I had seen pictures of the endless rows of gravemarkers, but they do not do justice. It was so much more awe inspiring to see them in person. My favorite part was watching the Changing of the Guards. The respect, the discipline, and the exactness were amazing! The peacefulness there was great and allowed us to be in our own thoughts and to reflect. It was a fun, interesting, and reflective place. We had a great time there.

After we left Arlington we took the metro to the white house. That was also very neat to see in person. There was a makeshift tent there with a couple of people who had set up camp there to protest nuclear weapons. There has been someone at that tent 24 hours a day since 1981. I didn't know whether to think - good for them for being there for so long for something they believed in - or - do they not have a life? It was interesting either way.

That was the end of the day for us, we went back to the hotel where Guy had to go to meetings, as for me, I went to the room and rested from all that walking!!!

Yesterday, Guy was in meetings all day, so I decided to take the metro to the National Mall to visit the Smithsonian. Another day of a lot of walking! It was a lot of fun. I first went to the American History Museum. That was great, I especially enjoyed seeing Old Glory that inspired the Star-Spangled Banner. I then went to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. That was informative, reflective, but most of all disturbing. It is something I will never forget. My favorite part of it was a section devoted to teaching children called "Daniel's Story". It shows the life of Daniel and how his life changed once Hitler came to power and follows his life from his nice home to the ghetto to the concentration camp. He lives. After the Holocaust Museum, I headed back up to the Smithsonian and went to the Natural History Museum. That was a lot of fun, and I wished I had my kids with me. The boys would have loved to see the dinosaur bones and the animals. I made sure to take pictures for them. Anyway, it was a long, but fun day. It felt great to be alone and do my own things at my own pace.

It has been great to have time by myself, although I really miss the kids. My parents are staying with the kids, so I'm not worried. Austin and Kaylee have been sick and throwing up and I do feel like I should be there for them. I also feel bad for my parents. It is not fun to have sick kids.