"Oh Shenandoah, I long to see you . . . ."

The day after we visited Monticello was my birthday, April 23. We spent the day traveling back to Arlington, but the stops along the way made this one of the most memorable birthdays ever. Here is a list of my birthday events:

• Breakfast in bed, delivered by Neil, prepared by McDonald's, followed by present opening! (I got a Wii Fit and some books and other homemade tokens of love from the kids)
• Swimming in the hotel pool while Neil finished his meetings.
• A quick run through the beautiful University of Virginia campus--founded and designed by Thomas Jefferson.
• A very scenic drive and hike in Shenandoah National Park.
• Dinner at a pretty good Mexican restaurant in Orange, VA.
• A quick drive by the lovely Montpelier mansion, once owed by James and Dolley Madison.
• A poignant stop in the Wilderness battlefield. Site of a devastating loss of life during the Civil War.

Here are some pictures of Shenandoah National Park. Spring was not in full bloom like in the valley, but the bare trees had their own beauty and made it easier to spot other interesting things, like some very unique looking fungi.

I love this picture of Mark. This is a very small section of the famous Appalachian Trail.

Feliz Cumpleanos! A very happy birthday.

Monticello

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men. "

--Thomas Jefferson, the Sage of Monticello.

We spent about 5 hours at Monticello last week exploring Jefferson's amazing home and the innovative, very interesting visitors center exhibits. Neil had a work retreat in Charlottesville and we got to tag along!

"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

"The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. Our children see this, and learn to imitate it. . . ."

Jefferson was a genius in so many ways. We came to admire him and his innovations and writings. His major fault was slave ownership. It is hard to reconcile it with everything else we came to learn about him. He obviously had a hard time reconciling himself as well. One of the tour guides told me that it was too big for him to tackle. He was saving the freeing of the enslaved people for another generation.

"I cannot live without books."

I love this quote. I feel the same way. He owned about 10,000 books in his lifetime. He sold most of them to the government to start the Library of Congress. I am looking forward to seeing that library very soon!

There was a terrific "discovery room" for hands on experience with many of the things we saw in the house. This is Mark's own version of Monticello.

This is a representation of slave quarters. Jeffrey is making supper.

Metro Madness!!!

Hey! It's Hayley again!
Riding the metro is a way of life for many DC citizens and suburb residents. For us tourists, it's just a lot of fun! Believe me when I say it definitely beats the trains at the airport!

Anyway, here's a picture of Mom, Dad, and Mark on the metro!

This is Mara, me, and Emily. It's a picture of our reflection from a large glass divider. It wouldn't have worked unless that rather large man in the black suit had stepped in front of the glass. Here is the result!

There goes the metro! We're off to our next adventure.

This is the Union Station- the most famous of the metro stations. We got to go through it after visiting the capitol!

"I'm just a 'Bill' down on Capitol Hill"

Hi, this is Mara! :)
Yesterday, Saturday the 18, we got to tour the Capital Building.

This is the Capitol of the USA! Hayley is copying my idea of pointing at the building like I did!

This is the other side of the Capitol. This is the side that you see when the President was inaugurated.

Mark got a little tired and took a break. I don't blame him. That was a long walk!

I like this picture. Really pretty blossoms with the sun in the middle.

This is a funny picture. This sort of says what we like to do in our family. I'm taking a picture... (that's why I like to go out so much! To take pictures! :D) Mom's looking at the pretty blossoms, Mark is just sitting there staring into space, Emily's pointing something out to Dad, Jeff is showing Mom something and just being a little brother. Dad is looking in his guide book and looking for where he's going to drag us next!

These flowers are pretty... There is only one red flower!

Trees...

The top of the Rotunda of the Capitol Building. It is of George Washington. It looks like he is surrounded by angels. HALLELUJAH!!!!

Here are the boys by Brigham Young. Mark and Jeff's smiles are cute in this pic. (: SMILE! :)

There is the chandelier and Freedom in the corner.

More Pretty trees.

Jeffrey took this picture. We are sitting on the steps in front of the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

Mark and Jeff under an interesting tree.

Bureau of Engraving and Printing- the BEP

Hey Everyone!
Mom says it's my turn to do the blog. On Tuesday (April 14) we got to go to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for a tour. Dad had to wait in line early in the morning to get us tickets.


While we waited for our BEP tour, we hung out in a Smokey the Bear display in the lobby of the Yates building where Dad works. It was raining pretty hard!

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside of the BEP, but I got a picture of a huge stack of $10 bills that was displayed in the front. This stack contains 1 million dollars! Inside of the BEP, we got to see how they make bills and add things to make sure that no one can copy the bills. It was a lot of fun! Especially because we got to go souvenir shopping!

When it was time to walk back to the car, we had a long, cold walk in the rain. I think it was worth it, though! It was beautiful!

The Obamas' House

Thursday the kids and I walked around the White House. The South side is the most lovely with the large expanse of lawn and the gardens. I had never seen the North side before. I was surprised at how much closer the house is to the sidewalk and how much less crowded it was! There is a lovely park on that side as well.

This is the North side. Mara took this picture. I like it. There were a few anti-nuclear protestors on this side. Looked like they have been there for years. The sign says, "Ban all nuclear weapons, or have a nice dooms day."

This morning my dad called me and told me I was like a kid in a candy store. That is a perfect description of how I feel. I am still so incredibly happy to be here with my wonderful husband and children. A once in a lifetime opportunity!

Star Spangled Banner Wishes

Oh say, can you see? I didn't get a chance to share some of the places we went last week! One day I took the kids to the American History Museum followed by another visit to the Natural History Museum to see the Ocean exhibit. The Star Spangled Banner was most impressive. We had to stand in a queue (kind of like Disneyland without the thrill) that took us into a darkened room. The original Star Spangled Banner was reverently illuminated behind a large glass wall. In the line we had a chance to learn the history of the War of 1812 and Francis Scott Key's inspiration to write his famous poem. Afterward, Mara said, "I didn't know anything about the Star Spangled Banner! It was neat!" If that isn't payoff, I don't know what is!

Now these are some star struck little boys. Jeffrey said, "See! I told you C3P0 was real!" You can see that knowing look in his expression.

It was so fun to see the Ruby Slippers, Kermit the Frog, and Seinfield's "puffy shirt." A favorite exhibit was an old doll house. A woman had started collecting miniature doll house furnishings when she was a child and kept adding on for 50 years. It was a beautiful collection. My girls were inspired and want to start their own. I don't think we have the space. :)

This is a couple of days later. This was a day that didn't seem as fun to us, but looking at the pictures I think I could still call it a success. (Neil says the pictures are always better than the actual event.) Neil, our personal valet, dropped us off near the sculpture gardens and the plan was for us to walk through the gardens and to the Natural History Museum to look at the dinosaur exhibit. It was a muggy day and warmer than it has been. We over-dressed and the kids were melting in the first ten minutes. After making our way through the sculpture gardens and getting through security for the museum, we all felt a bit out of sorts and didn't really want to be there. It was extremely crowded because of spring break and the Cherry Blossom festival. Neil joined us after parking the van and biking back. We ditched the museum and walked to the Old Post Office to see if we could ride the elevator to the top of the tower. We got there just minutes too late for the last ride up. Oh well, not every day can be a picture of touring perfection.

Life imitating art.

Yoko Ono's "Wish Tree." It was filled with scraps of paper, receipts, anything you can think of to write on. Little wishes whispered to the tree. Mara wished for all the candy she could ever want. Jeff wished for a Star Wars toy. Emily wished for world peace.

Outside the Old Post Office we ran into Ben Franklin, himself!

This was a great find. On Saturday we went to the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria. It was very impressive and the Masonic signs and symbols were fascinating--especially to temple going Latter-day Saints. Very interesting. . . .

This is the fantastic view from the top of the Masonic tower.