WASHINGTON D.C. VACATION

We just had a FABULOUS TRIP (in spite of the United States Government.)  We met my parents in Washington D.C. on Friday.  And we played hard until last night (when we returned home in time for the government to re-open.)

Here's a quick (yet photo heavy) review of our vacation:

Saturday we walked over 7 miles.  We saw ALL the monuments on the mall and the Union Station.

After looking at the Union Station, and the Library of Congress - we went to the Capitol.  It is an amazing building.  But the exciting thing?!  Glenn Beck was speaking out front.  We listened to him as he called for us to de-fund the GOP.  He talked about being good citizens and finding joy in serving our country.  We were super close to one of my mother and my favorite people!  And I even got a photo with Pat Grey, Glenn Beck's best friend and business partner.  Mom and I were sooooooooo excited!

After such an exciting morning we continued our trek around the Mall.  First we walked to Washington's Monument.  It was under construction so the pictures were not my favorite....

We had to break the law (civil disobedience) in order to get up to all of the different monuments and memorials.  It was exciting, a bit scary, and worth-while.  Here's proof of our civil disobedience:

Then we went to the Thomas Jefferson Monument.  There were two guards out front that would not allow us to enter, but we walked around the monument and took some pretty pics.

Then it was on to Franklin D. Roosevelt's monument.  I really don't think FDR was that great of a president.  He was probably sincere, but he had a lot of progressive quotes that I don't agree with.  And I really don't like the fact that he thought he was better than George Washington and served for 3 terms....  But his monument was striking and well created.

The quote above is an example of what "sounds" good but is not.  The fact is, we are not free from want or fear.  It is not a God-given right.  It is not in the constitution.  But it sounds nice.

After FDR, we saw Martin Luther King Jr.'s Monument.  Now he was a great man.  I don't like how the progressives are using his memory for their cause (I personally don't think he would like it either) but his monument was very inspirational.

The War Memorials were awesome (especially WWII and Vietnam.)  I am SOOOOOOOO grateful for the men and women who serve our country and are willing to sacrifice everything for our freedom.

The Lincoln Monument was by far the most sad to see.  It's hard to see this in the photo, but there is a line of policemen barricading us from going to the monument.  There was also TWO gates and mounted police.  There was a large protest outside the gates which we joined in.  My daughters were shocked at the anger and worried about the feelings of the police.  But the understood that we are given the right for free speech.  And the disagree with the way the President of the United States is handling conflict and the government shut-down.  Here are some interesting (and historical) pictures from our vacation:

Soooooooo.....

Sunday we went to Church.  Guess what?  Harry Reid was in our ward.  Mom was close enough to kick him, but she didn't.  (I would have.  I don't understand that  man and I don't like him at all.)

We also went to the Kennedy Center Sunday evening for a free concert.  It was a jazz/Spanish/Brazillian concert.  It was a lot of fun.  And the Kennedy Center is really cool.

Mom and I also found a 7-11 so we could get some coke icees!  YUM!!!!

Monday brought us to the Spy Museum where we all got new identities and had fun learning about espionage.  (I was Gretta Schmid, age 33 from Germany.  I was an astronomer in England on business for 4 days.)  We also got to see a James Bond exhibit.  Bond rocks!

Unfortunately, Ford's Theater was closed, but there was an interesting exhibit about Lincoln across the street.  This sculpture is made up of books about Lincoln.  It was very impressive and I loved the quote:

The rest of the exhibit definitely had an agenda and was rather disappointing.  There was a lot of propaganda and it was neat to show my daughters how much propaganda can be used to make one's image good or bad.  I was really rather disgusted by the progressives and their blatant indoctrination and use of Abraham Lincoln for their own purposes.

Tuesday was another beautiful day.  We decided to go to Arlington Cemetery.  It was fantastic.  And the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was almost spiritual.  It was neat.

And the view of DC from near Kennedy's eternal flame was gorgeous.  You could see the Washington Monument:

Then we journeyed to Mount Vernon.  It was incredible.  George Washington is my favorite president.  His property is beautiful and awe-inspiring.

Before we left for home on Tuesday, we made a quick trip to Maryland to see the temple.  It was sooooooooo worth it!

Was our trip worth it despite the government shutdown?  YES!  We had a fabulous time!  Thanks, Mil and Grandpa Mac!