Cue next slide and Pray for death as I blabber about our vacation.
The vacation was a bit of a surprise- a last minute (month) thing we decided to do.
I didn't want to say anything about it so that she who must not be named didn't try and ruin it.
Tickets went on sale at Southwest, so Matt and I decided that for our Christmas gift to each other, we needed a "Sparkly."
I told him to surprise me and he decided on Washington DC.
Washington DC was at the top of my list of places I wanted to see in the whole world.
He knows me so well and oh, how he makes me feel so loved. I am lucky, lucky.
I think I need to smooch him RIGHT NOW just in case he forgot how much I love him.
Hang on....
Done-- now back to the vacation.
Our hotel was a block away from the White House.
How cool is that?
The freaking WHITE HOUSE.
After checking in, we headed right over.
It looks bigger on TV. :)
We saw Obama's Christmas tree and took a few pictures that didn't turn out well.
It was so super cool.
The next day we headed out to the Mall.
We visited the WWII Memorial. It was stunning.
The architecture of DC is very different from that of Chicago. It's still a big city but so much granite and marble. Chicago has a lot of brick. Clean open lines as opposed to Al Capone looking alleys.
Before the Wall, we passed the Korean War memorial, but I had skipped breakfast and was feeling crappy so Matt took the camera to check it out. The pictures are awesome, what a haunting memorial. I should have gone, but I was freezing and needed hot cocoa.
Another difference between the Windy City and DC is that there isn't jack crap to stop and eat or pee in DC along the way to places- at least not in the winter. Chicago has a Dunkin Donuts or McDonald's on every block.
The Lincoln memorial had bathrooms. Yay bathrooms!
When we walked into the main part, both Matt and I started to cry.
The scale and reverence of that place was overwhelming. The words of Lincoln were on the walls and the realization of all that he stood for struck us hard. It really hit us that his big issues wasn't so much slavery- which he felt was wrong but in unifying the states. He wanted slavery to end, but if it didn't- fine- he wasn't going to allow this nation to divide itself. Stand or fall, we were doing it together.
As a family who undergoes a tremendous amount of pressure to divide because evil dictators aren't happy after losing the right to rule us-- some of the ideals struck a different chord with me and I was reminded that if we do not keep working at being one united family (that doesn't include exes) that this family will fall. we have to find a way to make sure that we keep the connections together, the ties that define who were are as the Olson family united.
And I get that the Civil War had nothing to do with stepfamilies, but the idea of a house divided against itself was one I needed some fresh inspiration on.
The Lincoln Memorial was amazing. It was my favorite. It was this whole "Holy crap, we are really here. We are in Washington DC" experience.
After that we went to the Wall.
As you walk into the Memorial the wall gets taller and taller and you go lower into the ground. By the time you are at the center you cannot hear the traffic and it feels quiet and the weight of all of those men settles in.
So many brothers, so many sons, so many fathers.
Such loss.
When we saw Niel's name we again both started to full on bawl. We saw Bobby Shelton's name near his and it was impossible not to lose it. Niel died trying to save him.
Matt touched his name and the tears came on strong.
I love my mother in law so much, I feel such a connection with her, she is one of my best friends and also has been such a support to me. I have listened to the stories about her big brother and cried with her. As I stood there, I felt her presence with me and I cried. I cried for his son, I cried for his friends and for his mother and mostly, I cried for Maggie. His little sister who is still feeling the pain of this loss every single day.
We left the letter, Mom, and the pictures.
we told everyone who stopped to look about Niel and about the Bobs and about bobby Shelton. A vet spoke to us and chuckled at the pictures, noticing how fresh the clothing and hair was and how he could tell he was green by the pictures. We saw a nearby family trying to reach a name to do a rubbing and Matt went over to help them. Being freakishly tall is a gift, even if it sucks on airplanes.
We told them all about your big brother, Mom. We told them how you missed him. We left the picture and the letter at the wall and watched as people came by and read about your big brother as they walked by- how they put a face to that name. One woman read your letter and reached out and touched his name.
I left the Wall feeling like Niel would have been glad to see us there and glad to know you still think of him, and that he wants you to tell the happy stories from the time you guys were kids. Those stories need to be written down and he wants to be remembered for the happy days he was here on this Earth, even though they were cut short.
The rest of the trip involved a lot of being tired. It was a lot of walking.
We went to the Washington monument and the Holocaust Museum that first day. I think we were both too tired to get a ton out of either place. That night after dark we went back to the White house and checked out the national Christmas tree.
Way cool.
Day 2 it rained and we hit the Smithsonians. We went to the Museum of natural History and the Air and Space Museum.
We were in nerd heaven.
We saw the Hope Diamond, original Muppets, C-3PO and so many rockets and spaceships. We could have stayed all day at each place.
There were still half a dozen museums we never even got to.
The last place we checked out before our little trip was over was the National Archives. No pictures allowed, but we saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The originals. John Hancock signed and all. It was really neat but we were SO SO TIRED it overshadowed the experience. I just wanted to sit down.
By the next morning we were so tired and didn't know how we were even going to walk to the train depot to get back home.
DC was amazing.
My husband is amazing.
Things we learned for next time......
The memorials are incredible but it's a long walk.
The museums... you can't see them all in one trip but they kick all sorts of butt.
People in DC have two uniforms they wear. Either a black wool peacoat and scarf or they are out in shorty shorts jogging. Lots of joggers. Matt said they can run all they like but they are still ugly. we started to make mean jogger jokes. If you are a jogger and that offends you, feel better about yourself knowing that I'm fat.
The Las Vegas airport is a hellhole. Avoid it at all costs.
Bring Tylenol and a heating pad for your sore muscles and quit when you get too tired or you won't enjoy some of the cool things as much as you could.
CVS closes at 5pm on the weekends in downtown DC, so if you were hoping to grab some snacks for the hotel after a day of looking around, forget it.
If you leave your ex in charge of your house while you are away.......well, just don't do it. The house is back in shape but the kids are still on my crap list. The ex always has been there, so that's nothing new.
I promise this is the short version of our trip and I'll only do the one big post ( and possibly a dozen scrapbooking layouts in February when LOAD starts up again.) If you made it this far, I owe you a cookie.
