Washington D.C. 2017

We came up with THE BEST idea this trip back east to make our time there even more worthwhile: driving up to Washington D.C.!

It's not that we don't love Charleston & Charlotte...but we get this *ONE* week a summer to travel; there's sooo much in the world we want to show the kids - not just the same old, same olds, anymore, esp. since they're such good travelers. I hadn't seen my life-longest BFF, Amy (our moms were pg together with us!) in 4 years, and the kids hadn't been to Washington D.C. in 9 years. (They were 3.5 & almost 2 - they only remember a few tiny things. :-D) Will's junior high class trip was to D.C. this summer, and he chose not to go, so that we could all go together & also get to stay with our friends. It was beyond wonderful to have my "other dad"/Amy's dad give the kids his classic D.C. sightseeing tour, and there were two monuments *I* hadn't seen before, either, which were awesome. Getting to show our kids some of the most important parts of our nation's history while getting quality time with precious BFFs who are truly family was perfection!!!

Ford's Theatre and the box where President Lincoln was shot:

President Will at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History:

Washington Monument:

Lunch at Top Chef Spike Mendelsohn's "We, the Pizza":

Touring Capitol Hill & repping Texas in Statuary Hall:

Day 2 - Vietnam Memorial:

Lincoln Memorial:

A little bit more time under the cover of Lincoln to avoid a 5-minute rain burst (before the most beautiful D.C. skies we'd ever seen!)

Korean War Memorial:

(This one & WWII are the two I hadn't seen in person before, and they were both incredible! We don't have any deep, personal family connections to the Korean War like we do to Vietnam & WWII, so I didn't anticipate being so moved by it. It was so incredibly powerful to walk up on this monument from the back to front - it felt like you were going out on patrol with these men. Stunning.)

National World War II Memorial - I had been waiting for this one for years!

Repping our birth states above: Will - Georgia, Amy's dad Jerry - SC, Amy & Susie - Virginia, my mom Anne - NC
And Annelise was adamant about repping Texas below:

We caught the Vice Presidential motorcade at the White House:

In front of the White House:

Arlington National Cemetery - changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier:

Navy funeral with caisson while we were there:

Annelise at JFK's eternal flame (powerful, since she did the Sixth Floor Museum with me in Dallas!)

This trip was such a blessing, and getting the time with Amy & family and having her kids connect with mine (Pokémon Go & PokéStops *all over* D.C.!!! :-D) was the absolute best. We're already thinking about where we can go together next year!