Washington DC

Forgive me for blogging out of order but I must catch up. As you might recall, we took a trip to Washington DC with my mom, dad, and brother in July. My mom had a nursing education conference there so we met them for what was supposed to be a fun filled, sight seeing, family trip. And it was still a good trip, it just wasn't as fun since my Grandma passed away in Utah while we were there and my mom went home early to take care of funeral plans. All the same, we are grateful for the trip and here are some highlights! (Oh and sorry for the tremendous amount of pictures, this blog is becoming a great scrapbook!)

Day 1
Checked into a very nice Marriott courtesy of my mom and the college

Day 2
Woke up early to get tickets for the Bureau of Printing and Engraving where they print the dollar
Crossing the National Mall(and attempting to smile in the blazing sun)on the way to...the Smithsonian CastleThe American History Museum where Ryan got a picture with his beloved Steven Colbert

Enjoyed the delightfully warm pool
And checked out some beautiful gardens

Day 3
Woken up at 4:30am with a phone call that Grandma had passed. We spent the next few hours helping my mom get a last minute flight back to Salt Lake. The rest of the day we spent swimming and at the Holocaust Museum
We saw some great architecture on the way



Day 4
The National Aquarium and The Natural History Museum
Air and Space Museum

One of our many rides on the MetroWe only took the Metro to and from our hotel. The rest of the time we walked. And walked and walked. Like when we walked from the Washington Monument to the Capitol. It didn't look that far until we were about half way and our feet were screaming :) Totally worth the view though, especially at sunset.

Then being the brave (or crazy) people that we are, we decided to walk all the way back and see the Lincoln Memorial. Again, very worth the walk. Besides, like they say, when in rome :) Our one lousy picture of the White House due to a nearly dead camera and the fact that the day before when we tried to get a picture during daylight, the police pushed everyone away from the White House. Not sure why...

Day 5
Packed up and headed home

I'm glad we had the chance to discover our Nation's capitol. We covered a lot of ground in the few days we were there but there is still so much we didn't see. Hopefully we get the chance to go back and show my mom around soon!