Measuring Up!

Let me just tell you that my kids are HUGE!!!

I am HUGE too, but because I control the blog, you won't see any of those pictures!! MMMMUUUUHHHHAAWWW

We spent a wonderful weekend in Washington DC last weekend at the end of Nate's spring break. We invaded some of our friends from Ridgecrest (Jason, Verity, Rhiannon and Wade Cushing) who are living in Virginia temporarily. They were so nice to let us invite ourselves to stay with them, but they got a couple of Costco pizzas out of the deal (well, by the time we found Costco--- we got lost-- made it back to their house, and ate half of the pizza ourselves, I should say that they got part of a luke warm pizza out of the deal). But they also got to beat us at Nate's new favorite game Fluxx. http://wunderland.com/LooneyLabs/Fluxx/Default.html
So it really was a win/win situation for everyone! Seriously, though, we want to thank the Cushings for giving us a comfortable bed, good breakfasts and a tour around Mount Vernon! And a special thanks to Rhiannon for tolerating Abby's, um, physical attention... you endured her well!

Here is Abby with Rhiannon and Wade!

The Cushings had school, work, church stuff on Friday, so we were on our own in DC. Once we figured out how to get to Arlington, we started there. Next we took the Metro to the "National Mall" where we saw the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Monument and the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. It is amazing to me the time, sweat and tears put into the memorials and monuments in Washington. It was awe inspiring. We ended our day on Friday at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. There were lots of things to see and learn about, but my favorite was the BLING!!!

Can you guess what that is? My next Christmas present? Birthday? Anniversary? NO! It's cursed, it is the Hope Diamond and it was spectacular!

Saturday, the Cushings took us to their favorite place-- Mount Vernon. It really was a neat place to visit. Mount Vernon was George Washington's home before, during and after he was President of the United States. It is beautiful, and I agree with Verity that the view of the Potomac is a sight to see. We enjoyed learning about George Washington and his home. We saw his final resting place, next to his wife Martha. We visited the museum on the site and watched an awesome movie about the revolutionary war. He was quite the leader. It was fun.

A little tidbit of trivia (in case it is a while before you get to DC). The house at Mount Vernon looks like it is built by brick or stone, but those are actually wood planks treated to look like brick. It was a very interesting process.

Reflections on the visit:
Visiting Washington DC and staying and getting reacquainted with friends made me realize how blessed I am to live in this country. No country is perfect, but being there with all the history, I know that this country was founded with divine help. There is no doubt in my mind that we have a great nation, with a good heart, filled with good people. Sometimes we lose our way, but we are strong, resilient, and hard working.

Arlington was our first stop, and my favorite. It really is humbling to look over the acres and acres of grave markers and realize that so many men and women gave their lives to protect freedoms around the world. Many people are buried there who didn't die in combat, but they did serve, and that means a lot. Arlington is one of the most sacred and peaceful places I have been too. I felt like I was walking in an outdoor temple of the Lord. His spirit was there, watching over that sacred site. The Tomb of the Unknowns was a sobering and humble spot, and watching the changing of the guards and a couple of army memorial ceremonies with taps being played put tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat.

Saturday as we were driving to Mount Vernon, a song came on the radio and I had to turn it up and listen. It was Trace Adkins' song, "Arlington". I found a video with beautiful stills that go with the song on youtube. I really love it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOih0MHNmZU

Here is the link to Arlington's website. Give it a look. There is a lot of history there that I didn't even realize:

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/historical_information/index.html

Now I know it has been a while since I posted, but hopefully the fact that I added a fancy side link to this books series I love (I even bought all three because I wanted to read them over and over and over, AND I'm contemplating driving 2.5 hours by myself with the girls to get them signed by the author next week), I put in video, pictures and links, and I'm even going to finish it off with some humor... hopefully you can appreciate all the love I've put into this post! And if you can't... you suck!

So with everything we saw and didn't see in Washington DC, I regret that I didn't get a picture of a couple of things.

• Monuments? NO!

• Famous People (We saw Dick Cheney being escorted from the White House with a BUTT LOAD of secret service and swat people)? NO!

• The Cushing's cute house? Yes, but that's not what I'm getting at.

The thing I keep dwelling on that I didn't get a picture of were some neighbors up the street from the Cushings who had Easter Blow Up Decorations in their front yard! I mean, I couldn't believe my eyes. It's bad enough I have to see Blow Up snow globes, Nativities and Homer Simpson Santa's at Christmas AND Halloween Blow Up Decorations, BUT Blow Up Chicks coming out of an Easter Egg IS TOO MUCH!!! STOP THE INSANITY PEOPLE! What will they think of next?

And that and other deep thoughts I leave you with (and a preposition at the end of a sentence)!