D.C.

When I was in 8th grade, I saved up my money so I could go on the Washington D.C. field trip. I will never forget it. So, when an opportunity came for Todd to go to a conference in D.C., we thought it would be a great opportunity for the whole family. Plus I had two incentives: my brother Bryce, and my obsession with family history.

We went at the end of September. Now that Savannah is two, she has to have her own ticket. But that actually turned out to be nice, because she just sat in her car seat on the plane, and that was so much easier. (A trick about taking young kids on trips: make everything seem exciting. For example, it is super cool to have "car picnics," drink "airplane water," go on exploring walks, and let them buy postcards.) We left early in the morning, and had that afternoon to do stuff in the city. Because the car rental place was going to charge us an extra $60 to have two drivers, it was determined that I would do all the driving, as I would need the car while Todd was at his conference. This made it a rather anxious experience, if you know anything about D.C. traffic, and that it happens to be the most confusing city in the United States (okay, not a proven fact, but it must be pretty close to the top). After we got our car, some lunch, and checked in to the hotel, we made our way to the temple. It is gorgeous! And huge! Since we didn't know anyone in D.C., we took turns going in, while the other person stayed outside with Savannah. We were so glad that we went to the temple then, because it would have been difficult to make a trip out there on the other days. And it was the 2nd year anniversary of the day Savannah was sealed to our family.


After the temple on Tuesday, we went to Arlington National Cemetery. I really wanted Todd to see the changing of the guards, because that was something I remembered from 8th grade. It is a really simple, symbolic ceremony. And a great tribute to our country. On the way out, we saw a great picture of Washington Monument peeking through the trees of the cemetery. After the cemetery, we made our way to find dinner at Chakrah Cafe. Before we left for the trip, we bought a groupon for this little cafe. Despite it taking forever to find, it was a fun little stop, and one we wouldn't have found on our own otherwise.


Wednesday morning we headed into town. We had a full day of visiting the Museum of Natural History, touring the Capitol, visiting the National Archives, and CAFE RIO! Who would have guessed there was a Cafe Rio in D.C. Thanks to my brother, Bryce, for giving us that little tip! We also bought an ice cream bar from a street vendor, and did lots of walking. The weather was pretty ideal the whole time we were there, so that was a huge blessing!



Todd started his design conference on Thursday. And that was the designated family history day for Savannah and I. (Oh, sorry about all the long details...I just love family history). So, a little background: for about the last year I have been researching this one ancestor. We think we know who her parents are, but we can't find any actual records stating that in the affirmative. It seems as if I have explored every possible avenue. They lived in western Maryland, so I was excited to be in the Maryland area to have access to some possible newspaper records that you can't get online. For about the past month, I have been anxiously getting ready by searching for records that would be at the Library of Congress, the University of Maryland, or the Maryland State Archives. I found all the call numbers so that I wouldn't have to waste any time looking up the records there, since I knew I would have a toddler in tow. So, that morning we headed over to the Library of Congress. I had a little bag of activities for Savannah, including a friend's borrowed ipod and my list of call numbers. Well...it turned out the the resources that the Library of Congress was supposed to have had all been sent to the Maryland State Archives...So now what? He gave me a few people to call, but those avenues weren't very successful. I called the State Archives, and after telling her double checking that they had the records I wanted to see, I let her know that I was in D.C. and had a two year old with me. She suggested that I get a babysitter for the day. As that was not possible since we were there as visitors, she told me of the option to send in a records request through mail; of course, there would be a fee attached for each record I wanted them to find and copy. Well, this felt like maybe the good course of action to take, as it would probably cost about as much in time and money to get to the Maryland State Archives (in Annapolis). So, we decided to head up to the University of Maryland (but it took about twice as long to get there as it should have because I took the wrong way around the city). They had one record for me to look at. I found the record, and the microfilm machine, but no one to help me. Now, I had never used a microfilm machine before. So, I would just have to teach myself how to do it. I hadn't come all the way to the University of Maryland just to give up because I didn't know how to use a microfilm machine. Turns out...no luck there either. I did figure out how to use the machine, but that particular newspaper didn't have anything that was of value in my search. So, feeling quite dejected, and pretty depressed at the realization of just having wasting all that time (weeks) of preparing for this trip and money, we called Todd and, of course, he made us feel much better. And luckily, a little tender mercy was sent our way to help us feel better: IKEA! We ate lunch at Ikea, did a little shopping, got ice cream, and were ready for the rest of our day. (So, to get one record from the Maryland State Archives it costs $35. Since we came home, I actually found a few other avenues. One which is only $10 and one that is free. So, I am very grateful for those new opened roads. And the search continues!)


When Todd got finished with his conference that day, we geared up for a long walk. We drove out and parked at the Jefferson Memorial, and walked all around the memorials: Theodore Roosevelt, the new (and awesome) Martin Luther King, Jr., World War II, Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument (from a distance), and the Jefferson Memorial. We were then all very hungry and tired. We found our eating place for that night: "We The Pizza." And it was too funny that our bill came out to be $17.76.




Friday morning, Todd headed to his conference, and Savannah and I walked down to the farmer's market. Then we visited the American History Museum to see the exhibit with the first lady's dresses. We also saw an exhibit with THE Star Spangled Banner. I think that was my favorite thing of the week. We also went to the Air and Space Museum, and Savannah loved seeing all the planes. We ate lunch at McDonald's (this poor child ate chicken in nugget form for like three days straight). Then we walked up the street to the Botanical Garden. When Todd was done that afternoon, we ran back to the American History Museum (most museums close early) because I knew he would want to see that flag exhibit, too. Then we walked up to the White House and the National Portrait Gallery. That evening we went to "Good Stuff Eatery" for dinner.


Saturday morning Todd had a few more conference meetings. Savannah and I ran over to Ford's Theatre. After he was done, we visited the Library of Congress for a few minutes. Then we packed up and started the absolutely beautiful drive down to Lexington, Virginia through the Shenandoah Valley to meet up with Bryce at Southern Virginia University. I am so proud of him. He is working so hard, and doing good things at school. He had a soccer game that day, so that was fun to get to see him in uniform and play in the game. We went to dinner and ice cream afterwards.




Sunday we went to sacrament meeting with Bryce, then headed back to the airport. On the way out of Buena Vista, VA, there is this little tea pot house, which Todd successfully managed to get a picture of this one of a kind!
It was a great trip, and my favorite part was seeing my brother. Here's what I wrote in my journal on Monday, "Today was a nice, fairly stress-free, normal day. We all slept well. Savannah and I had a nice morning. We played soccer for a little while before breakfast. We did some chores, and went to the grocery. This afternoon we played some more. We had a nice time cooking dinner, and with Family Home Evening. So it was just nice to get back to regular." Funny how quickly we can get tired of regular, and how nice regular seems after we don't have it for a little while.

Thanks for reading!