Quick Finish

I don't really feel like doing the detailed version of the trip that I planned to do. I'm sorry if anyone is disappointed. It's just been a week already, and time just keeps flying. Plus, most of the pictures were taken on our phones, and I'm still working on getting them OFF my phone...I still would like to document what we did each day, so I'll give a brief day by day description here:

Monday: The kids loved the Metro, and it was fun for me to see them have the experience. Overall I'd say we all navigated pretty well on the Metro with 8 children. First we stopped by to see the White House. Next we stood in line for 1 1/2 hours, in the rain, to see the National Archives, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I enjoyed seeing the actual documents (much more faded than the movie portrays). We did a very limited walk through of the National Art Gallery, mostly to use their cafeteria to eat our lunch, and then we went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

Tuesday: Up early again and off to see the Library of Congress. I must admit this was my biggest surprise. The building was AMAZING. The artistry and architecture were as beautiful as any building I've ever seen. I had no idea. After walking in a tunnel that connected to another building to find a cafeteria, we went to the Supreme Court Building, another impressive building. Next on the tour was the Capitol Building. Rick, Dallin, Dailie, Audri, Caleb and I took a tour while Kelly, Ed, Heidi, Sam and Eliza made their way to the Botanical Gardens. I have to tell something cool about the Capitol Building. Housed there are these statues, submitted by the states. Each state can submit as many as two statues, they must be marble or bronze, and the person depicted must be deceased. The statues were about 10-12 feet high, including the pedestal. They were in various places, some in the Visitor's Center, some in the rotunda, and some in the old House chambers. We were enjoying looking at them, and trying to find ones from states of significance to us (IL, IN, UT mostly). There were lots of people in the House chambers at the same time as us, so we weren't able to walk around and look, but at one point, I looked back, and there was one from Indiana!! Not only was the person from Indiana, but it was Lew Wallace who is from Crawfordsville, IN, my hometown. That was pretty cool to me. After the Capitol, we joined the others at the National Botanical Gardens. There were also AMAZING. Tropical trees, and flowers growing right there in the middle of D.C. (a greenhouse, of course). Next we went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Fun.

Wednesday: The "Walkabout". This was the day to take a walking tour of the monuments. We started at the Washington Monument, which we could not go up in because of the volume of people there at the same time as us. Next we walked to the WWII monument, where we stopped and ate our lunch on some nearby benches (we got a later start this day...). We walked on to the Lincoln Monument. I have to say that was a moving experience for me, to walk into that monument. Abraham Lincoln is an astounding person to me. I have enjoyed learning more about him, now that we live in the "Land of Lincoln", and I believe our nation owes much to this great leader. After the Lincoln monument we decided to do some serious hustling to make it to see the cherry blossoms and Jefferson Monument before making our appointment at the Ford's Theater. All 8 children were champs, spurred on by the promise of M&Ms!!! We booked it around the Tidal Basin, where we got to see the cherry trees in bloom, made a brief stop inside the Jefferson Monument, another great man (and one of Rick's favorites), and cruised it on over to the Metro station where we got on to head to Ford's Theater. There we enjoyed a nice tour of the renovated theater, complete with a much more detailed version of the day Lincoln was shot than I have ever heard. It was very interesting. We rounded off that day by eating at the Red Robin in Columbia, MD. YUM!!

Thursday: The beautiful weather was perfect for our day at the National Zoo. We saw the giant panda, eating bamboo, the otters swam right in front of us, and best of all the orangutans on the O-line. There is a tightrope like cable (only there's two of them) connecting towers between the Ape House and place named the Think Tank. Between 11-2, weather permitted, the orangs can move back and forth on the o-line at their leisure. It was so cool, and such good luck that we got to see them go all the way across. Definitely a highlight of the say at the zoo. Later in the day, Audri and I got to see the baby gorilla, just 3 months old. So adorable.

Friday: Thanks to Kelly's kindness, Rick, Dallin, Dailie and I were able to go in to the Washington D.C. temple with Ed Friday morning. He was going in for his regular shift, and we went along so the kids could do baptisms at the temple. It was Dailie's first time, and we were able to take some family names thanks to the speedy work of my parents, and the convenience of New Family Search. After the baptisms, Rick and I were able to do an endowment session while the kids joined Kelly and all the other kids at the Visitor's Center. Thanks, Kelly. The rest of the day we just hung out, packed up a little, and enjoyed the last of our time together. That night, Dallin and Dailie watched the kids, and the four adults went out to dinner. It was fun times. I wish we could hang out more often.

Saturday: Head 'em up, and move 'em out. We drove all the way home...

Thanks to Kelly and Ed, and kids who were GREAT hosts and tour guides. Besides the fact that they were tons of fun to be with. We loved our time with you!!! Let's do it again sometime!!