Captain Rachael

So, for my Birthday I convinced my extended family that it was worth it to spend the money on a Duck Tour of Seattle. Lizzie and I had gone on one with her class and loved it. It was fun and the weather cleared up just for us! (Our Captain/Bus Driver gave the Birthday Girls the credit.) There is music and laughter and the people on the street dance for you and you learn all about Seattle. Brian was telling me yesterday how Fire Station #1 burned down and about the giant working man statue having the day off (Labor Day). (Sorry if I've ruined any punchlines for your future Duck tourers.) Because it was our birthday Renae and I took turns at the wheel while on Lake Union. The view was incredible! We had a delicious dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory afterwards, which is an old family tradition, and the whole evening was great. Renae was labled the "Fun Girl" which meant I was what? The pictures of me are terrible, but enjoy the rest of them.

Florida for Two

Jeffrey was in charge of the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Convention this year in Orlando, FL. I couldn't convince him to bring the kids but I did convince him to bring me. It was warm and beautiful, even in the rain, which only happened a few times during the trip. The Lazy River at the JW Marriott Resort was AWESOME, even in the rain, when only those of us used to rain dared swim. My breakfast buffet was worth every penny of the $30 I spent on it, though like much of the trip, it would've been better with someone to share it with. I sat by the pool for a few days, made a trip to the Orlando Temple by myself, shopped a little in downtown Disney and jumped into the warm Atlantic Ocean with my clothes on only to turn around and drive back soaking wet to get on the plane home (that's my new friend- who jumped in first- in the photo, not me, no pictures of me taken, thank goodness).

Brian's Easter Eggstravaganza

With Joe and Liz at General Conference in Utah, Brian had the Easter Bunny all to himself. Before they left we died some eggs and had some fun with Mom's and Dad's extended families (and Lizzie must have had some fun dressing him up as a rather odd bunny), but Easter morning Brian was the only egg hunter at our house. He had to get adventurous to get some of the eggs with the bigger kids unable to help. It took two tries, but on the second try he got the egg and Mom got the shot.

The Windy Washington Monument

Take a look at the flags. Have you ever seen flags flying like that? Apparently it is a pretty windy spot normally, but wow! We were so glad to get inside the monument mostly to get out of the wind and cold, but what a spectacular view and experience awaited us once we made it up to the top.
The Patomic River with the Jefferson Memorial on the little Island.


The White House.

The Capital Bldg and the National Mall with the Smithsonians on either side.

The Lincoln Memorial with the empty reflecting pool (it was being cleaned in preparation for the Cherry Blossom Festival) and Arlington National Cemetary on the left at the end of the bridge. The Washington Monument is between Jefferson's Memorial on one side and the White House on the other, then the Capital Bldg on one side and the Lincoln Memorial on the other side. Pretty cool layout Pierre L'Enfant (designer of the city).

Another Museum, really?

The Smithsonian, is really lots of buildings. We went to many of them. It'd take 7 months to see all the museums in DC if you only spent 1/2 a day in each. We didn't have that much time, but would've liked to spend that in many of them. Okay, there were a few that we rushed through and a few we just didn't care to walk to. but we did find the US Holocaust Memorial Museum humbling and powerful. I took a pledge to stop genocide and you can see it here and take your own. http://http//www.ushmm.org/genocide/take_action/action/pledge#/mypledges/67808

The art was beautiful in all of them, the Wright Bros plane was cool (Liz didn't think so apparently) and the spaceships amazing (they flew up there in tin foil??) and Postal Museum was awesome (loved the envelope floor tiles).The Price of Freedom, Americans At War exhibit was sad and inspiring as well. A few of us made it to the Ford Theater where Lincoln was shot and across the street to his death bed. We saw the gun that Lincoln was shot with. We saw Mary Todd Lincolns tiny waisted dresses along with the other dresses of the First Ladies. I like Helen Taft's beaded cream colored one. An exhibit called Voices from Aghhansitan shattered western media's images of the people of that proud and struggling nation. The Natural History museum was cool, but we were kind of tired of museums by then. You can see that Joe liked the outside of the Smithsonian castle and Lizzie skipped some of the exhibits and napped on a bench in the foyer.

Walking, and walking, and walking the Halls of Congress

We walked "the Halls of Congress" (all those long hallways where the offices are and the maze of underground tunnels that connect everything), but who are we kidding? We walked everywhere. We didn't keep good track, but it was at least 10 miles a day. Congressman Rick Larsen's staff assistant Ben led us on an incredible tour (walking backwards the whole time). He was great, answering questions about the architecture, the history, and the health bill all in one breath. And always with a great attitude. We tried to buy him lunch, but he wouldn't let us because it could be considered unethical, so we all bought our own food and ate at one of the cafeterias under the capital. My mother had brougt tulips and daffodils from the Skagit Valley to give to her congressmen and our Senators. (These we could give to the Congressmen's office because they came from the district, but the guards at the Senate building wouldn't let us bring them in, that is a whole other story.) We delivered them to District 2 (Larsen) and District 9 (Dave Reichert). Our timing was perfect for Reichert's office and thanks to staffer Quinton we got to meet him. Lizzie is a little embarrassed as he's pretending she wont let go of his hand (see Quinton laughing on the far right). We chatted a bit about the jobs bill as he was about to go vote no on it and enjoyed a tour of his office (lots of pictures of him with Republican leaders I don't like). Had a nice discussion with his staffer about being a RINO (Republican In Name Only) and his previous job working for the Obama campaign. Oh, and the picture of us looking at our feet is us standing on the star above where President George Washington's tomb was to be. Apparently it is lucky to do this. We didn't know that until after we all did, but no suprise, we're pretty lucky people.

Library of Congress, Washington DC

This place is so beautiful. Italian Renaissance everwhere. Marble like you wouldn't belive and the ceilings and floors were spectacular. The paintings, the mosaics, the moulding and carvings, columns and facades. I loved it.

Some of our favorite moments in DC

That's Lizzie touching the top of what she called, "The Giant Pencil" followed by a shot of her shaking her hurt finger, (ha, ha). Joe is standing in front of the FBI building. We recognized it from episodes of the show Bones. Below Joe is reaching out to grab the Washington Monument. He did a great job with the photos of him and Liz with the very tall obelisk. Which is about 555 ft tall. The Rotunda pictured below is also very tall. It was Amazing. Beautiful. Incredible. The painting of the Apotheosis of Washington in the center was pretty cool as well. And there was this painting that ran all around underneath those windows that were painted to look like sculptures. Very cool. But wait until you see the pictures of the Library of Congress.

Hearing Nancy Pelosi begin the day's work in the gallery of Congress and observing a moment of silence for the soldiers in harms way was a pretty neat moment of the first day in DC. The views from the Washington Monument were incredible and my mom had been trying for years to go up into it. Our food was memorable and unique and sometimes delicious and the people were friendly and kind, even in the Metro, well mostly anyway.