Friday, September 23, 2011

Wait....WHAT?!


Today is Ryan and Vanessa's last day of school, and then they're off for....4 weeks. Yep, that's right! They'll be home, underfoot, driving me crazy for 4 weeks. 4 weeks = 1 month.

Usually, it's only 3 weeks, but I guess in order for everyone to have the same amount of off-track days, they added to ours. I guess; I'm just speculating.

So now I'm trying to figure out how to keep the kids from killing each other. There's lots of stuff for them to do, but they always fall back on the good ol' sport of trying to annoy the heck out of each other. Fun times are a'coming, y'all!

I hope I can survive. ;-)

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Thoughts, musings, what have you...

History has always fascinated me, but I have to admit that I didn't pay that much attention in history class when I was in school. Sure, I paid enough attention to do well on the tests and whatnot, but retaining that info? Fat chance.

Which explains why I was so excited when Scott and I had the opportunity to spend a few days in Washington D.C. I think I mentioned before that the last time we'd been there had been eight or nine years ago, and back then, we'd explored on our own. Which meant we didn't get to see even half of what's there. So this time around, we took advantage of the tours that were available, which turned out to be the best decision for our legs and feet!

There were many tour buses available, but the one our hotel offered was at a discount, and who can say no to that, right? The fun thing about it was that the bus that took us around was an open-top double-decker bus; how cool is that?

Not only did the bus take us around the national mall, but it also took us out to Arlington Cemetery and the Pentagon, as well as the streets of Georgetown. There was so much to see and learn, but I think my favorite stop was the National Archives, where the original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution are displayed in the rotunda. Not only are these artifacts displayed, but the display also includes facts that I don't think you'd learn from a school textbook.

I think I learned more from just being there and exploring the display than when I was in school. Either that or I just wasn't listening, lol. Anyway, there was so much additional information that I didn't know, that it literally took my breath away!

I wish I could find the adequate words to describe this amazing trip that I had while in our nation's capitol, but even if I tried, I'd fail. So I will say this: if you haven't been to Washington D.C., I definitely recommend going there. No matter what you feel about politics, our government or even our country, go to Washington D.C. The history of our nation becomes more real when you have sites and monuments to help bring it to life for you.

Now I'm off to sort through the millions of pictures of our trip that somehow found its way onto my camera's memory card. ;-)

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Guess where I am!


In Washington D.C.! (The picture is from the Arlington House, overlooking Arlington Cemetery; I didn't want to make it too easy, lol!)

Big Poppa has been here for the last several days for a work conference and he asked that I join him for a few days! Yay for mini-vacations!

The last time we were here was about 8 or 9 years ago, and back then, a lot of the exhibits were closed for some reason or another. So I'm really excited to see what's new!

Stay tuned for pictures!