Another full day in DC

Ok, we have mastered the Metrorail system- even Lara likes to swipe her own card. We started the day at the National Air and Space Museum then headed up to Capitol Hill. We spotted several ducks and duck babies in the reflecting pool- the kids were captivated. After some photos on the steps of the Capitol, we walked (and walked and walked) to Union Station for lunch. It looks like a pretty short distance on the National Park Service map, but it doesn't feel very short when you are walking in heat and humidity. There are trees everywhere here, and everywhere there are trees there are also squirrels. Now, I know that our children have seen squirrels at home. But here they are absolutely obsessed with the squirrels. And the squirrels here are extra jumpy- we saw one come straight off the ground when Eric startled it. Kelson is sure that one was throwing rocks at him when we were at Jamestown. Hmm, they're smart but I don't know if they're THAT smart.

We had an interesting experience at lunch. As we were finishing our burgers, a man who appeared to be homeless approached Troy and asked if he could have what we weren't going to eat. We told him to help himself, of course. He was very grateful and insisted on clearing our table for us. I couldn't help thinking about how much we have to be grateful for and the responsibility we have to help those less fortunate. It was a good opportunity to talk with the kids about King Benjamin and principles of charity.

After lunch, we went to the Museum of Natural History, where the highlight was a squirrel skeleton (obviously). We took a break for cold drinks and enjoyed watching two bus drivers who were apparently brothers (from New York it seems) try to hold a conversation with their Asian riders. Then we strolled down to the Washington Monument and over to the World War II Memorial. That memorial made me cry- I can't believe what that generation did to preserve our liberty. Now we're back at the hotel, resting and hoping our muscles won't be too sore for walking at the National Zoo tomorrow . . . :)

On vacation!

Ok, here are some things we've discovered so far:

1. Toll roads are a pain. We are always looking for quarters.

2. Seeing the DC temple from the freeway is awesome. Really. Usually all you can see is TREES everywhere, so seeing the temple was amazing.

3. Our kids are great- they're getting along well with each other and trying to be patient with us, especially when we got lost for two hours in the wrong state on Friday night. We ended up in what might be described as an "iffy" neighborhood and stopped for a quick and very sincere family prayer.

4. On a related note to #3, if someone offers you a rental GPS at the car rental place, RENT IT.

5.This whole area is so cool- we've made a lot of great memories so far and will be posting more soon!

Only 9 days to go. . .

We are SO excited! Only nine days until our big vacation!!! I can't believe we're finally getting so close. It feels like Christmastime where each day drags because you're anticipating and anticipating. I can't wait to take lots of cool pictures and videos and post them here. Hope everyone is having a great summer so far!

Skirts and P.E. Class

I think that sometimes I get too interested in reading everybody else's blog and forget to update my own. Maybe it's just that everyone else seems so much more interesting than I am. :) Anyway, today was a big day for me because I wore a skirt to work. Wow. I still can't believe I did it- I normally do all I can do to avoid skirts; they're just something to be endured once a week. But I am sitting here typing in a skirt and it's surprisingly comfortable. It's not hot enough here yet for my legs to be sticking together so I'm happy.
The kids and Troy have been out of school for a week now- I think they're pretty much ready to go back. :) Actually, they're having fun staying up late and riding their bikes all over the neighborhood (except for Kelson, he's not a "bike kid"). Troy found out that he'll be teaching P.E. along with history next year (yes, this is hilarious to me, too!) so he's planning his "lessons". But really- what is there to plan? Everybody knows the drill- put on your gym clothes and do some warm-ups followed by whatever sport is in season, then "shower" and back into your school clothes. It's not brain surgery. He says he's going to participate with the kids and he's looking forward to wearing sweats all day. I can't help but think of Mr. Johnson, who was my 7th grade history teacher/boys' gym teacher. I had him first period- that guy must have had seriously overworked sweat glands because even at 7:30 in the morning he had pit stains to his waist. I DO NOT want my darling husband to end up in this situation!!!