Summer Update #1

In May, we kicked off the summer a tad early by taking a family trip to Washington, D.C. to visit with my sister's family before they would move to the other side of the world in August. I had never been anywhere on the East Coast, so I was very much looking forward to the experience. Part of the plan for this trip was to leave the girls with their Aunt, Uncle, and cousins for a few days while Rachelle and I would sneak up to Philadelphia and New York City. Our extremely enjoyable and memorable Washington D.C. experience can be summarized by the following events:

D.C. Temple - Just 20-25 minutes from where my sister's family lived we were able to attend the LDS temple in Washington D.C. It is a gorgeous edifice and we enjoyed being able to go with Mandi and Justin while Grandma and Papa watched the kids.

National Zoo with Family - The cool thing is that Zoo admission is free. The uncool thing is that parking at the Zoo cost $20. Another cool thing is that I was able to meet up with my cousin Leah whom I hadn't seen in several years. The weather was pretty humid, but not too hot. We finished the day at the Cheesecake Factory where Grandma and Papa treated us all to dinner.

Holocaust Museum - Even if you tell yourself you're not going to get emotional, even though you are already educated on the atrocities that occurred during the Holocaust, it is physically impossible not to be impressed and emotionally impacted by the personalization of this Museum. I was ill-prepared for how much this experience would affect me. I have the hardest time understanding how not just a couple of individuals, but an entire organized culture could have been so devoid of human decency to comply with the mandates of nazism.

Arlington Cemetery - Another more spiritual experience than I anticipated. The view from atop the Arlington House is stunning. The story behind the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was something of which I was not entirely aware. I am certainly grateful for all those who have laid down their lives in defense of the freedoms, conveniences, and luxuries my family enjoys today.

Pentagon 9/11 Memorial - A fitting tribute to those whose lives were taken at the Pentagon on 9/11/01. Often the attack on the Pentagon gets overshadowed by the tradgedy at the WTC. It was kind of a surreal feeling being on the site of the disaster that day.

Music Recital - My nephew Ethan and niece Emma participated in a church musical recital. Both performed very well and appeared very at ease in their elements. Another child played 'The Imperial March' on the piano. Brooklyn, who had been obsessed with Star Wars at the time, got very excited when she heard the music, but quickly became confused. She leaned in and whispered, "I didn't know you could play bad guy music at church!"

Monuments and War Memorials - It was a sunny but crisp morning when we ventured onto Capitol Mall and visited the Monuments and Memorials. It was exciting for me to be amidst all the history associated with these structures. The girls did amazingly well, and Brooklyn even humored her dad by listening to the high level history lessons he provided along the way. In fact, it was Brooklyn's idea to pose for a photo in front of the Lincoln Memorial holding a penny between her fingers. There were times, however, when Addison was just spent. She wouldn't throw a tantrum or meltdown in anyway, but she would simply stop dead in her tracks and just lay down, as if to say 'stick a fork in me'. We have several photos of her doing this at different locales on different days.

Smithsonian - The Natural History Museum was a big hit with Brooklyn. I was nervous she would be bored within a couple of minutes, but she really enjoyed it, as did I. Animals (dead or alive) and Dinosaurs (preferably dead) - a fail safe recipe for child entertainment. We have yet to see the 2nd Night at the Museum movie, but Brooklyn is chomping at the bit for us to take her.

Capitol Building - The building was under some construction and being prepped for Memorial Day coming up I suppose, so we weren't able to get too close. It was towards the end of our site seeing day anyway, so the girls had had just about enough at this point. They were troopers, though, allowing us to take some fun photos with the historical building in the background.

Dinner with Cousins - We were able to meet up with Rachelle's cousins Brad and Dustin Hinton who live in D.C. When Brad suggested the place to eat he said, "I'm not sure if you'd be interested, but there's a steakhouse/sports bar that has half price burgers on Monday nights." Not sure if I'd be interested? It's apparent that Brad and I have some catching up to do. The dinner was very enjoyable as we ate outside on the restaurant's balcony and caught up on each other's lives.

Hanging out with family - A huge thanks to Mandi and Justin for hosting our family for 9 days and for dealing with our children on their own for 3 of those 9. We enjoyed playing Ticket to Ride, competing on the Wii, eating chocolate chip cookies (that weren't for eating), riding the Metro, and swimming with the kids. The cousins had a great time together too! It's weird knowing that they are some 18+ time zones away now, especially when you consider Dodger home games START at 1pm the NEXT day in Fiji. Thanks, guys!