Washington D.C. Girls Trip!!!

Back in July, when we were all in Indiana for a family reunion, we decided it would be really fun to do just a girls trip to D.C. to visit Dan & Kelsey, who have lived there for about 4 years. We immediately went home, bought tickets (most of us using frequent flyer miles) and started planning our trip. It took a lot of coordination for me to make sure I had people able to watch my boys when Josh was working and to set up playdates to allow him study time. I also wanted to make sure I had everything in place so it could run smoothly. I had a great time, and Josh took amazing care of the boys. They loved spending the weekend with their dad. And I came home to a clean house. (Ok, he admitted to me his biggest failure was he left their toothbrushes at Melody's house so they hadn't brushed their teeth in a few days, haha). I realize this post doesn't fully capture their weekend without me, but basically, they had a sleepover at Grandma's, made cinnamon rolls, went to the zoo, went to a birthday party, went to the park, the Ninjago movie and Nolan's music class (not on the same day but the whole weekend).

1st Day: Holocaust Museum, National Cathedral, White House, Washington Monument, Renwick Art Museum, Teaism Restaurant, Pizza 

The Holocaust museum was amazing. Very sad but so important. I believe strongly that we shouldn't just say, sorry your story is too sad, it makes me uncomfortable, I'm going to ignore it. We can't ignore it.Their voices need to be heard. Empathy needs to be felt. That is how change happens, that is how you make sure this doesn't happen again! 

It was so inspiring to see that when good people worked together, they had a chance. Even Denmark as a country tried protecting their jews. There was a whole wall of names of people who had protected Jews and/or opposed Nazis. So inspiring. It made me ask myself if I would be brave enough to stand up for what's right even though it was very dangerous. 

Washington Monument

We went to Teaism for lunch. So good!

National Cathedral

The White House. We couldn't get too close because there was some kind of event going on.

2nd Day: Eastern Farmers Market, Arboretum, National Museum of Health & Medicine, D.C. Temple where my parents were married, Presidential memorials and Pentagon memorial. Good eats: Farmers market sourdough bread and cheese, and Indian food.

Abroretum. We had a picnic here from the yummy things we got at the Farmers Market.

The D.C. Temple

The Pentagon Memorial was amazing. I wish I could taken picture of all of the graves. They were shaped almost like planes headed towards the building or away. Towards mean people who died on the plane. Away meant people died who were working at the Pentagon. 

We got to see where Kelsey works! There was some fascinating history there, like the bullet that killed Lincoln or skulls from soldiers who died in wars.

Always a protest in D.C. Good for them!!

The presidential monuments were inspiring!

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. I loved the wall of his quotes. Such an amazing man!

Everyone else went to "Crumbs & Whiskers" to pet shelter kitties, and that is NOT my thing, so Dan and I went shopping and had an amazing time.

3rd Day: Paddle boating on Tidal Basin, Korean food, African-American Museum and sushi. 

The African American museum was amazing. It is pretty newly opened and Kelsey got special tickets. She had never been before this. There are 3 floors of history galleries. They take you through the history of slavery, segregation, and modern racism/prejudices. It was eye-opening. Kelsey came out of the gallery in tears. It is unimaginable to think of doing this to another human being. For so long. And still has residual effects. One of the plaques talked about the emotional cost of slavery and that cost is still getting paid today. There were many African-Americans viewing the exhibit with us and I wondered what they were thinking and how it made them feel. There were places where you could record your story, thoughts and feelings. 

Our last meal, we went to Sushi. My mom had never had sushi before! She loved it. 

It was an amazing trip. I felt very refreshed when I came home. I loved being reunited with my boys!