Vaca!

We recently took a trip to our nation's capital (that's Washington D.C. folks).  It was our first real, out of state, multi-night vacation since Keane has been born.  Sure, we have visited family and been gone over night a few times, but this was a real vacation, and it was awesome.

Andrew's mom, VaLynn, had been visiting us in Columbus and since she flew standby with a Buddy Pass, we decided she should drive with us out to D.C. for a day and fly home from there, so that's what she did!

People told us when we moved to Columbus that traveling across the country with a newborn was "crazy".  Actually, it went just fine.  He slept the entire way!  I counter that traveling anywhere further than an hour away with a 10+ month old is "crazy".  A trip that should have taken between 6 and 7 hours took over 9 hours.  We stopped at LEAST 4 times, possibly 5, I can't remember.  It was its own kind of fun, however.

 Not the Washington Monument you are used to seeing?  All that scaffolding takes away from the grandeur of the building, but it is nonetheless beautiful.

 The boys just outside of the Lincoln Memorial.  It's so serene inside the memorial, one of our favorites.

 We stopped by and said hello to Mr. and Mrs. Obama, and Keane was our navigator.  As you can see, he is very handy with a map.  Ok, but F'reals, the next day we were coming out of the Holocaust Museum and all the sudden crazy sirens are going off, about 10 black Denalis come screeching down the road and pull into some secret entrance to the Department of Agriculture building.  Turns out, dun dun dun, it was The First Lady herself, she had a meeting there.  So there you have it, we are famous.

  As many of you know, Washington D.C. has a series of Smithsonian Museums which are free to the public. That's good because I like free things!  Many of you also know that I struggle to enjoy culturally uplifting things, of which include museums.  Luckily for me, Keane was getting pretty fussy by mid afternoon on day one, so while Andrew and VaLynn went into the Museum of Natural History, Keane and I found a spot on the grass in the sun to sit and play.
The next day after VaLynn caught her plane back to Utah, we took the metro back to The National Mall.  We went to the Holocaust Museum (after which we personally met The First Lady as previously mentioned...), and then picnicked outside of the Jefferson Memorial.

 Keane is very good at sharing, especially if it is something he has already put in his mouth, chewed up, spit onto the ground and then picked up again.  He also enjoys pushing his own stroller, and making screeching monkey noises as loud as he can right in front of the sign that says "Quiet--Respect Please", interrupting the almost sacred reverence at the memorials.
      Later that afternoon we went to Arlington National Cemetery, one of my favorite places.  We lazily walked up the paths admiring the men and women who have served our country and given their lives to do so when we heard the chime of the clock signalling that it was 5 O'Clock p.m.  Part of the reason I wanted to go there was to see the Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier.  We started sprinting up the hill and made it, breathless, panting and sweaty, just as the guard on duty announced for everyone to be quiet for the ceremony.

Day 3, our last full day in the city, we went first up north to Silver Spring, MD, where the Mormon temple is.  We spent the late morning lounging on the grass, enjoying the beautiful weather, and feeling the special peace that is at the temple.  We went to the visitor's center, had snacks on the lawn and just enjoyed the time we had.

Sunday morning we got up and headed out.  We wanted to stop at Gettysburg on our way back to Columbus (Which is about an hour and a half north of D.C.)  We went and we were glad we did.  Although we didn't get to see everything, we got to see the soldier's Cemetery where Abraham Lincoln gave the famous Gettysburg Address.

We also went to the High Water Mark battleground which was sombering.

We had a marvelous trip.  We were glad to get home and sleep in our own beds, Keane especially, but since we are out here we hope to take advantage of all the cool things we are relatively close to!