I'm finally getting caught up on our blog! I've been doing a lot of posting lately, so scroll through the older posts (at the bottom of the page) to see other recent posts. One of these days I will actually be caught up! :)

Sunday, December 2, 2012

(August): DC with my parents - Day 1

My parents came to visit while they were en route to Mexico - they are transitioning into retirement, and bought a home in Mexico a few years ago.  Since their shipment took several weeks to travel from Saudi Arabia to Mexico, they needed somewhere to hang out for five weeks.  We were happy to have them spend one of those weeks with us (and my Mom came back in October for another week)!  

My parents have never been to DC, so we spent the first day seeing all of the monuments.  We started at Arlington Cemetery and walked across the Potomac River to the Lincoln Memorial, down toward the Jefferson Memorial, the Roosevelt Memorial, the new Martin Luther King Memorial, and up toward the Washington Monument and then to the White House. I hadn't seen Arlington Cemetery or the Roosevelt or MLK Memorials, so it was fun to see something new.  At the end of the day we went in to the Old Post Office tower, which has some good views of the city.  In made the kids walk 5 miles that day, but they did fantastic! 

Forgive my millions of pictures!  I think DC is such a beautiful city, and my Mom takes great photos, so it was hard to narrow it down! :)

Riding the Metro into DC

Arlington Cemetery

Robert E. Lee's house is in the background


John F. Kennedy's famous quote, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country..."

View of the Lincoln Memorial from Arlington Cemetery

John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy's grave site

View of the Washington Monument

Taking a break

Lots of walking! :)

Walking toward the Lincoln Memorial

Jefferson Memorial

Crossing the Arlington Memorial Bridge

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Washington Monument with the Capitol in the background.  This is the first time I've seen the reflecting pool filled.  They've been doing renovations on it and it's been empty the whole time we've been here.

Lincoln Statue

Me and the girls at the Lincoln statue

Erin, taking a water break

Thank goodness for our navigators!

Martin Luther King Memorial

Jefferson Memorial.  I think this is such a beautiful building.  I can't wait to see it in the spring when the Cherry Blossoms are in bloom around the Tidal Basin

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."  - Franklin D. Roosevelt
This memorial was really beautiful.  It was a quiet, remote area with quotes and statues representing his legacy and time in office.

Taking a break

Jefferson Memorial

Me and my Dad, figuring out the map

Washington Monument

Capitol Dome

Back of the White House

My parents at the White House

The Treasury building is right next to the White House.  I think it's such a beautiful building!
I didn't realize this, but it is depicted on the back of the $10 bill. 
Front of the White House

The girls at Lafayette Square, in front of the White House

The Old Post Office Building  - such a beautiful building, both the inside and the outside

Views of DC from the Old Post Office Tower:





The Capitol Building

Riding the metro home after a full day of sightseeing

Oh ya, Isaac was there too!  Poor third child doesn't get enough attention! :(
He stayed in the stroller the whole time and did fantastic!  I'm training him well to be a good sight-see-er...hopefully it lasts! :)

3 comments:

amespj said...

Great memories of a great day together! Thanks for labeling the photos - of course I remember the places, but not all of the specific names (like the square in front of the White House).

amespj said...

I also enjoyed seeing Arlington Cemetery. Of course the quote by JFK is famous, but I didn't know the second part of it (as shown in the photo).

Kelli said...

Oh dang! I wish I had known you were going to Arlington. I would have had you lay some flowers on my best friend's grave for me. I really want to make it out there soon so I can go pay my respects to him.

So glad you got to spend time with your parents. Looks like you had a great time!