First, we had a FANTASTIC TIME!!!! I missed Wyatt and Seth like crazy, but it was an amazing trip. Jerad was busy with work stuff most of the time, but he did get to join Reece and I at the end of the week for a little sight seeing and that was nice.
One of the great things about DC is that almost everything is in walking distance. We only drove to Mt. Vernon. We walked everywhere else. If we had gone to Arlington Cemetery then we would have driven there, but that would have been it for driving. Also, EVERYTHING is free. Every museum we went to was free. Again the only thing we paid for was Mt. Vernon and it was only $13.00. You can't get any better than that.
Two of the other guys from Dell brought their wives, so Reece and I got to hang out with April and Larissa and her daughter Elizabeth. They were sweet and fun to get to know.
Our Hotel
We stayed in the Willard Hotel (thanks to Dell). It was amazing. The Willard is an historic hotel; Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his "I Have a Dream" speech there, Julia Ward-Howe wrote "The Battle Hymn of Republic" there in 1861, and it was also the site of the Peace Convention in 1861 to try and stop the Civil War. It was located on Pennsylvania Avenue a block from the White House. We could not have asked for a better place to stay.
Reece outside the hotel on our first morning in DC
The squirrel that entertained Reece during breakfast outside the hotel that first morning
Reece playing in the window of our room. We looked out on the National Press Building.
Reece in the hotel lobby one morning when it was raining
The lobby was absolutely beautiful
The Smithsonian Natural History Museum
Man, this thing was ugly
The Hope Diamond
The White House
Reece is asleep and completely unaware of his surroundings
The front of the White House at Night
The Washington Monument
A view of the monument from the World War II Monument
The monument at night....We went out with the rest of the group from Dell on our second night there to see some of the monuments and when we were at the Washington Monument the guards came out and asked us if we wanted to go up. We said yes and they let us go up for free. It was great (despite my fear of heights). We got an amazing view of the city. My ears popped on the ride up the elevator and it got a little too warm, but we were so blessed to have that experience and I have no reason to complain.
On our last day there Jerad got this funny shot of me
The Lincoln MemorialA funny thing happened while we were at the Lincoln Memorial. A couple of buses arrived with about 50 mentally handicapped people (I would guess between the ages of 30-50 years old)--I'm not sure if that's the politically correct term and I don't want to offend anyone, so I'm sorry if I'm wrong. Well, inside the Lincoln Memorial there is an echo if you get very loud and one of the ladies (probably around 40 years old) started singing very loudly. It was so funny. She was signing "Crazy, Crazy for feeling so lonely...Crazy, Crazy for feeling so blue..." Several of the other people in the group were playing hide and seek behind the pillars, but a few of them came up to me and said that Reece was very cute. They were all really sweet.
A view of The Lincoln Memorial at night from inside the Washington Monument
The World War II MemorialI think this was probably my favorite memorial. It was huge and beautiful. My grandfather (my mom's dad) fought in World War II. He was in the 104th Infantry Division of the Army, the Timberwolves. 
This was a wall of stars and it said "Here We Mark the Price of Freedom"
Close Up of the Stars on the Wall
Night view of the memorial from the top of the Washington Monument
The Korean War Memorial
This memorial was also really great. The wall behind the statues is etched with images of soldiers from the war and it's very moving. My other grandfather (my dad's dad) fought in the Korean War.
The Vietnam War MemorialI don't know why, but I got very emotional at this memorial. I don't think I know anyone who served in this war (maybe I do and they've never mentioned it). I saw so many letters and flowers left at the wall and I was moved by how many people are still hurting over the people they lost in this war.
Mt. Vernon
Some interesting things I learned while at Mt. Vernon: George and Martha Washington never had children of their own. She was a widow and had two young children when they married. He was 6 ft 6 in tall and she was 4ft 11 in tall. He inherted Mt. Vernon from his older brother and built it into the huge mansion/working farm that it became. The year following his presidency they had over 600 guests stay with them for an average of 3-5 nights!! When he died, Martha closed up their bedroom on the 2nd floor and moved to a small bedroom on the third floor where she lived until her death two years later. Washington freed all his slaves in his will, but many stayed and worked as hired workers.
The museum on the grounds is amazing.
The front of the main house...we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but I will say that the walls were painted some of the most hideous colors I have ever seen. The tour guide said that was a sign of wealth. Also, the outside of the house looks like it is made of stone, but really it is wood that has been cut to look like stone and then painted with a paint and sand mixture to feel like stone because it was cheaper.
This is the kitchen which was separate from the house. The guide said it was separate because they worried about the kitchen catching fire and burning the house down.
George and Martha Washington's Tomb (He actually wrote the design for this in his will)
There were several different statues of Washington portraying him at different times in his life throughout the museum. This one depicts him at age 19 when he was a surveyor.
Becoming the 1st President (the only one ever elected Unanimously)
The National Archives
We had a great time at the National Archives. I remembered going here in high school, but I only remember seeing the Charters of Freedom (Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and The Constitution). I don't think we saw the rest of the museum that is there, but it was a lot of fun. Something happened the second time Reece and I went back with Jerad; we were standing in line and I noticed that family behind us had big blue buttons on their shirts that said Make A Wish Foundation. I could tell the the youngest boy with them looked like he was sick. I didn't say anything to them, but after a little while both the boys started playing with Reece, so we started talking to the family. We found out that they were there with the Make a Wish Foundation (I don't know what illness the little boy has) and his wish was to meet President Bush. They had private meeting with him that morning and got a private tour of the White House. He and his brother had one question for the President (he is in 2nd grade and his brother is in 5th grade). They wanted to know if there are really aliens. The President answered them by saying, "My daughter really wants to know that too." They were a really sweet family and I've prayed for them since we left.
Reece learned the art of being a model on this trip. He would stand up and say "Cheese" until you took his picture.
The Constitution. You couldn't use your flash on your camera in the Archives, so none of my pictures came out very well.
National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden
Typewriter Erasure
Bird in Flash
Reece loved this huge Spider
This fountain is in the center of the Sculpture Garden and Reece practiced his model posing skills in front of it
Reece thought this Thinking Rabbit was pretty cool too.
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
This was totally a "guy thing," but I think Jerad really enjoyed it. I won't attempt to tell you what everything is the following pictures because I have no idea (Jerad would know), but they were pretty cool.
Reece was laying in some kind of pretend spaceship bed
Jerad and Reece playing a game on the pretend spaceship
The Holocaust Museum
We also visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and I have a lot to write about that. I'm going to make it into a separate post. So, look for it later.
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