Farewell Parents!

Well, we had such a great time while mom and dad were here, as you've read. It's sad to see them go, but I'm sure it won't be long until we see them again.

On Monday a few of us got to do some sightseeing in DC. It's funny that I live about 2 miles outside the border of Washington, yet the only sightseeing we do is with out-of-towners. It's nice to get a little push to remind me of the great things I'm so close to and should visit more often. We started with a the Bureau of Engravings that was out of tickets for the day. We had a similar situation with KC's parents and his dad ended up staying in line for over and hour to make sure we made it in. This time we weren't so lucky. So we headed toward the Washington Monument, which was also out of tickets. What were we thinking getting there after 10:00 am. We still took our pictures, and were on our way to the Lincoln Memorial. It ended up to be a little bit of an experience besides the usual awe that comes with the massiveness, and inevitable humility you feel when you read the Gettysburg Address and think of what happened in our country. As we started up the numerous steps, the security guard began somewhat forcibly telling everyone to head out of the monument, down the steps, and onto the street. As the people were filing out, I noticed an officer with a dog sniffing the garbage can and other place on the monument. Dad found out there was a unattended sleeping bag somewhere so they were taking all precautions. It wasn't 10 minutes before they let us back in, so we ran up the steps like little kids trying to be the first in line, just to get pictures without anyone else in them. It was kind of fun. Then we were going to go to the Museum of American History, which was closed for renovations until 2008, so we went next door to the Museum of Natural History. I have only been to the one in New York, and I remember really liking it. This is probably my favorite museum in DC. We even saw an IMAX about Lions. It was so cool. I really would love to have see the one on Sharks that they played right before and after the Lions, but it will give us an excuse to go back. They also play Night at the Museum there on the weekends that I really want to see get a group together to see. We then had an appointment to tour the Capitol Building, which was guided by a Utah State University intern. I took a picture of this painting on the ceiling of the Rotunda. She told us a lot about it and I wish I could remember it all. You can read about it if you'd like. The art was so amazing in there.

Even though I have done most of these things many times before, it is aways a new experience with the different people that are with me and the different thoughts that come into my mind as I visit the amazing sites. I don't know that much about politics, and I embarrassingly don't know as much as I should about our nations history either. Living here has really helped me to know where I stand of these things and to strive to learn more. I hope I can take more advantage of this opportunity while I still can. We can't live in the tiny apartment forever. By the way, the last picture was only added because as we were taking the overdone pose of holding a building that was far away in your hand, I said loudly, "look, I'm holding up the White House", which should not be said around tourists or anywhere in DC. We chuckled for a few minutes about that.