Trip to Virginia/DC

The Washington DC Temple, this picture doesn't do it justice. It is the most beautiful Temples that I have seen.

Scott awaiting our flight to Virgina, this was his 1st time flying. He looks to excited.

Took marshmallows for a snack, he found these bunched together and decided to be funny. Look no window next to him, his 1st flight so I request a window seat, and this is what he gets, a wall.

This was one of those breath taking moments of the trip, to see the Lincoln Monument, it gave me the chills to be so close to this.

The White House

The Smithosian Museum of Art, this is a Picasso painting.

Another Picasso, Scott looks so thrilled to be in this museum.

This is the Smithosian Museum of Natural History, the Gems, Stone and Minerals section

The whole necklace is covered in diamonds, I think the blue stone is a diamond as well.

A view from the second floor

Standing on the Mall looking at the Capitol, it was almost surreal.

Washington Monument

The Concord at the Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport.

The space Shuttle -Enterprise

The Pepsi plane I captured for Pepsi lovin' husband.

The back of the shuttle, those are huge

Standing down looking up at the Space Shuttle

The nose of the Shuttle

This is one huge aircraft

Scott and his military helipcopter

Scott and I had the chance to spend 9 full days in Virgina tending my 2 nieces and 2 nephews while my sister and her husband went on a Carribean Cruise. Their home is about 30 minutes from DC. We went into DC 3 days on the Metro, the first day was less then memorable, the experience of driving in a city I've never been, trying to figure out the Metro...and getting help from people in the East....not so great. They aren't the warm and fuzzy kind of people we have in the West. I had the 2 youngest children with us each time we went into DC. My niece is 3, I pushed her in her umberella stroller around DC. I for sure got my excerise each day with that task. We saw many sights, mainly focused on the Smithosian Museums, and sites around the Mall, we saw the Capitol from a distance. The Mall is longer than one would think, not a hop, skip and a jump. On Friday I forgot my camera, I left it in my purse back at my sister's...of course that is the day I needed it. We went to see the Lincoln Monument which was another surreal experience, I stood with reverence and awe looking at President Lincoln. It gave me goose bumps to see this part of history. We walked around from the Lincoln Monument to get a closer look of the White House, I didn't think we had gone far enough East. So we turned around and started heading South to the main side walk. As we were almost to the street I saw a militaryhelicopter flying toward us, flying right in front of the Washington Monument. I told Scott that President Obama was in the helicopter, it proceeded North to land on the White House lawn. There was a crowd of people surrounding a fence that was still a distance from the White House, we had the video camera and where able to capture all this excitement on Video. We didn't get to see President Obama exit the helicopter, but we knew he was in there, we saw plenty of Secret Service guarding the entrance of the White House. That pretty much was the icing on the cake for the week, I don't like President Obama, but respect the office which he holds. It was way cool to be able to be there for that. On Saturday I took all 5 kids and drove to the Washington DC Temple which is actually in Maryland. The GPS in my sister's van became my new best friend while I was there. What beautiful country in the East, the drive to the Temple had me going through a park, but it was more like driving through a forest than anything The Temple was so breath takingly beautiful, we went to the Visitor's Center and then walked around the Temple grounds. The Temple is nestled in forest area, tall trees everywhere. On the way back to Virginia I was heading the wrong direction on the Interstate, so when I was able to turn around and head back the right direction the Temple was in front of me, the view undescribable. The story is told that many car accidents happen in that area as people get distracted by the beauty of the Temple, it looks as if it is suspended in air. It was a trip that was exhausting, sometimes frustrating. full of adventure... but well worth it. Thanks to my sister and her husband for making this possible, it is and experience that Scott & I won't soon forget.