It's Monumental

One of my favorite things about Washington, DC is that it stands as a testament to all things American. You cannot visit this city without feeling a deep sense of patriotism and pride. There are so many things to see that cause me to reflect on how fortunate I am to live in this great nation and how grateful I am for all those who have done so much to bless my life.

Here are the highlights.....

Arlington National Cemetary. Always a sobering place. This is truly hallowed ground and it is so nice to see it revered as such.

Here is the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This is an

amazing thing to watch and proof that even the "ugliest of Americans" among us

can turn off their cell phones and not act like total asses. Now if we could just

get it to translate to every other social situation.

Not the greatest picture of the headstones at Arlington, but it's the best one I

had to represent how precisely they're laid out. It's amazing to look at this and realize

how many Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice.

The Eternal Flame at the Kennedy Graves.

The next big thing that we saw was the White House. Now, we didn't actually go in the White House, because I am not up for a two-hour wait in line, security checks, anal cavity checks, etc... to see some old dishes and a bunch of chairs I can't sit in. We went to the Visitor's Center (which incidentally is like two blocks away, thank you terrorists) and learned about the history of the house and it's famous inhabitants. Then we took a walk and got as close to it as we could.

Allie wants to make sure that everyone knows that she took this photo. Not too bad, eh?

Here are three of my most favorite people in the whole world. Again, Allie took this picture.

Now, I took this photo. I think Michelle Obama rocks! Yay for the White House Garden.

One funny story about the White House. As we were looking through the fence, talking about things, I see this Secret Service Agent running towards us from across the street, shouting "Get that kid." I turned around, and lo and behold, it was my Jack half-way up the fence and clearly on his way to hopping the fence. Needless to say, Jack was removed from the fence quickly and we were on our way back to the tour bus.

Next stop that day was the Jefferson Memorial. It can be so hard to get to this one because it is not easily accessible by car anymore (again, thank you terrorists) and it isn't close to any kind of public transportation stops. Fortunately for us, though, we made the last tour bus of the day and were able to check things out. One sidenote, this memorial seems to be under constant renovation. They might as well consider the scaffolding part of the display. Here are a few pictures of the Jefferson Memorial.

Erin & TJ himself

Great view of the monument from the front.

Like, I said, we made it to the Jefferson Memorial on the last tour bus of the day. So our next stops were walked to. It was a nice day, with decent weather as we walked along the Tidal Basin toward the FDR Memorial. Truly one of my favorites. It's great... the architecture, the story it tells and the lessons you can learn.

I can't begin to tell you how nervous this boy makes his grandmother. On this trip, there were too many times that I heard, "Jack, get down" to count. In all honesty, I don't worry about him that much any more. Mostly because I can nearly always guarantee that there is someone else there to do it, and because he really is very agile and nimble for a little guy.

Here is the whole group minus Dave & Holli

somewhere between Roosevelt's second and third terms.

After FDR, we walked past the site of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial being built and scheduled to open in August. We headed toward the Vietnam Memorial and the Lincoln Monument.

Here are my kids in front of good ol' Honest Abe.

Quite the beautiful picture of the monument at night,

especially when you consider it was taken with a cell phone.

Now because I was too busy watching the wee ones chase fireflies, I didn't get any pictures of the Vietnam Memorial this time, nor the Korean War Memorial, but these are spectacular.... especially at night.

The last two monuments that we visited were the Washington Monument and the World War II Memorial. The obelisk that is the Washington Monument is an icon. While you can go up inside of it, I hate crowds and lines, so I am perfectly content to look from a distance.

The last memorial we saw this time was the World War II Memorial. I think this is the one that gets me the most. I say that because I have done a lot of studying about World War II, and my Grandpa Homer fought in the Pacific Theatre during the war. Curiously enough, we visited on Father's Day, and this is the first time I have been back there since my Grandpa died in early 2010.

I have said many times that I completely underestimated my Grandpa's influence on my life. Growing up next door to him, I was very close with my Grandma and him and spent a great deal of time with them. Even into my married years and my years as a young mother, I really enjoyed talking with him. I have come to realize since he passed away, that I am who I am due in large part to his influence. There are so many character traits and lessons that he gave me and I am very grateful for who he was.

There was definitely a special spirit about the memorial that day, and I am and will forever be grateful to him and others like him who sacrificed so much for our country. I love you Grandpa!

I also have to say that it's no coincidence that Jack is in all of these pictures. My grandpa loved Jack, his first great-grandson and his little namesake. I am so grateful that they got to meet on earth.