Last couple pix from DC

I've got just a couple last fun pictures to send out to the universe from our DC trip...

National American History Museum - Julia Child's kitchen! If you haven't see Julie and Julia - get on it. Meryl Streep should have won that award!
C3PO! The original!
One of my favorite places we saw... the National Cathedral. I really like the Gothic style castles.
Ben wants me to get him this poster.
Ninja Turtles!
This picture is great. We had some serious rental car problems. Like breaking down on the freeway and then in Old Alexandria. Broke down. This picture accurately shows our confusion. Took 3 ish hours to get a tow truck to come down with a new car. Kinda ridiculous. Don't rent a jeep.
Finally Gettysburg. Very impressive and solemn monuments.
I already expressed that I felt like I didn't have enough understanding and appreciation for such a place. Would be nice to go back after I've taken some time to study some more about it first.

Monuments of Washington DC

There are a lot of monuments. Lots. I would suggest pick out a few that you really want to see, get a tour bus pass (NOT from the "Tourmobile" Company) and focus on those few. Just too many to see.
We chose to see the capital of course. Didn't go inside - the outside really is impressive enough. Can anyone tell me why there is a 19 foot statue of an Indian on our capital? Not that I have a problem with it - just want to know why?
(Ben is so good at one handed pictures...)


Another angle of the capital - Ben and Phyllis.



Above is the ceiling of the Library of Congress. A place that was not high on my list - but was on Ben's IF he could see the Gutenberg Bible. Which he did- and I found a display of hand written letters written between Washington, Jefferson and other founding fathers. That really was so neat. It's hard for me to picture these historic figures as real people some time - but when you are looking at their hand writing... it makes them kinda real!

Below is the WWII memorial. I thought it was really awesome and conveyed from the artist VICTORY!

Kim and Ben and FDR's Dog. Lincoln Memorial. Huge. Majestic. And a surprisingly reverent place for how many people were there.

FDR Memorial: "Freedom of Speech. Freedom of Worship. Freedom from Want. Freedom from Fear."
Very good.

Cherry Blossoms 2010

One of the major reasons Rick and Phyllis wanted to come to Washington D.C. during the first week of April was for the cherry blossoms! I wasn't sure how excited I was about it - because I've seen cherry blossoms before, but you add the blossoms, in large amounts, plus the beautiful buildings - really is a sight to see!

Lake, Jefferson, Cherry Blossoms, and phyllis pointing to something...


Here is the other thing about the Cherry Blossoms. For every little flower - there was a person there to see it. It was VERY VERY crowded. We asked around to the local tour people and they said this saturday was the busiest day of the year. It's defiantly a sight to see, but come prepared for the crowds.

For more about it - check out the National Cherry Blossom website.

Washington and Weddings

Pictures from Washington

Hail to the chief! This last weekend Ben's parents took us to Washington D.C. as a planned christmas present. It was such an experience! There is so much to see and do it's kind of overwhelming. I can appreciate the emotion and passion that has to go into building such structures, monuments, etc. There are many pictures to show and share for the next couple of days :)

Uncle Sam Wants YOU!

This is great. Ben has always wanted to be a part of or start up a riot. So we walked the reflecting pool where many other protests have occurred. Here Ben and Phyllis protesting the 1/2 hour wait at the tour bus stop. NO MORE WAIT! NO MORE WAIT! NO MORE WAIT!

We went out there the busiest saturday of the entire year! Saturday, Spring Break, and opening Cherry blossoms... SO many people. Which I really didn't mind (with the exception of the metro). This view is from the Lincoln monument. Pretty nice huh.
(Like a where's waldo... can you find ben?)

Just before we left was Shelby's wedding! Yeah! Sadie Sadie Married Ladie! I'm excited for Shelby and Steve to jump into married life after many years of courtship. :) Not the best pictures but a beautiful wedding, beautiful bride, beautiful food, :) Yeah!!

Very cute couple.