I don't have time to Blog!

I was fortunate enough to visit Washington D.C. this month for training. I decided to extend my training session a few extra days and turn it into a vacation as well. Jess flew out on the last day of my training and stayed the last 4 days with me. It was a much needed vacation for us both. Here are some highlights:

The United States Capitol (bigger than I expected)
This is one amazing building!

From Washington D.C

From Washington D.C

The White House (it looks so small! Seriously, from the front it looks tiny. Unfortunately, you have to have an appointment, which takes about 3-4 months minimum to get, in order to get around the backside to actually see how big this thing it) It is REALLY REALLY WHITE! I was amazed, I wonder how often they clean it…?

From Washington D.C

This is the reflecting pond outside the Lincoln Memorial. Yep, it’s empty. Unfortunately every year before the famed Cherry Blossom Festival they drain it and clean it. We were there 2 weeks before. Sucks, but gives us another reason to go back.

From Washington D.C

The Lincoln Memorial. This was so powerful. Lincoln was truly a great man, being in this monument was, well… monumental!

From Washington D.C

From Washington D.C

From Washington D.C

The view of the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial. This is a great view of the reflecting pool and I can’t even imagine how amazing this must look when it is full. What an inspiration!

From Washington D.C

I had no idea there was an observatory at the top of the Washington Monument. I also had no idea you had to get tickets in advance. They are nice enough to hand out the extra tickets first thing in the morning for those of us who failed to do their research.

Jess and I decided it would be worth it to head up to the top (and it was!) but that meant that we had to leave our hotel at 7:30 to get there by 8:00 so we could be in line for when they start handing out tickets at 9:00. Normally this would not have been a problem, but on this particular day… it rained. Then snowed. Then rained. Then rained some more. Did you ever see Winne the Pooh and the Blustery day? Ya, I expected to see Piglet and Pooh floating by in ‘hunny’ pots and on chairs. Also, it was REALLY cold.

From Washington D.C

A Great view of the Lincoln Memorial

From Washington D.C

The White House

From Washington D.C

The Capitol and National Mall (American History Museum is on the bottom left and the Natural History Museum is right next to it… they are MASSIVE)

From Washington D.C

The view as straight down as I can get it. The building shown is where we got out tickets.

From Washington D.C

Inside the American History Museum we saw so many things! I didn’t get pictures of a whole lot, but Jess has a ton. I will upload them as soon as possible.
The Hope Diamond

From Washington D.C

From Washington D.C

Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond (there is a hole in the center, I dubbed this the doughnut diamond)

From Washington D.C

From Washington D.C

We also saw the Ruby Slippers, Kermit the Frog, and Julia Child Kitchen (Yep, her REAL kitchen. They moved it piece by piece and used Polaroid photos to make sure everything was in the EXACT same place.

The most amazing thing we saw was original the Star Spangled Banner. It brought tears to my eyes and made me so proud to be an American, and even more proud of my dear husband who fought to make sure that flag never loses it’s meaning. The song was posted behind the flag and I couldn’t even bring myself to read the lyrics for fear of sobbing loud enough to bother other visitors. The flag is enormous. 30 feet tall by 32 feet long, and that is the tattered and torn version. The flag when it was new it was 30×42. This was by far the most amazing thing I saw (outside of Arlington). No pictures were allowed, so I do not have anything to show you, however click here and visit the Smithsonian Website.

There is a giant section on the Military History in the U.S. Jess has all those photo, so it will get it’s own post (hopefully in a few days)

The Natural History Museum:

The Elephant (as made famous in Night at the Museum)

From Washington D.C

For Ryan:

From Washington D.C

From Washington D.C

There is so much more to tell and so much more to show, but this blog is getting really long! I will make a part two with more from the American History Museum, my AMAZING birthday dinner and Jess riding a mechanical bull (yep, that makes you want to come back doesn’t it!)
TTFN!

I was very disappointed to wake up to 8-10 inches of snow. However, my little monkey was thrilled. She got up and looked out the window with me and started screaming “SNOW!! SNOWW! SNOOOOWWWWW! snOWing!!!” When I took her out to the car, she would put her hand into a pile of snow and pick up a bit and say Brrrr!

I knew at this point in time, it was a “snow day,” So back inside we went to get her snow boots and gear to take to Gaummie and Gumps house. We weren’t there more than 2 minutes before she was whining at the back door about playing in the snow.

When I left for work, she was still playing in the backyard…

From 20 Months

From 20 Months

From 20 Months

From 20 Months

From 20 Months

What a fun day this was! Addie had so many firsts. She learned the word “safe” and we introduced her to police officers, firemen, and EMT’s. Everyone that had a badge on, Addie would High-Five! By the end of the day, she police by sight!

Here are some highlights from the Sheriffs Office and Police Department demos.

Once again, this kid and Helicopters:

From 20 Months

After visiting with the Sheriff, she was allowed to sit on the four-wheeler. She knew what to do…

From 20 Months

She instantly became friends with Sparky the Firedog:

From 20 Months

From 20 Months

And Even became and honorary Fireman!

From 20 Months

She also had her first Bike Ride! Pink Helmet included. She did awesome and had so much fun. (I guess I know what we will be getting her for her second birthday)

From 20 Months

From 20 Months

Now that I have entered Mommy-dom, I find myself hearing about all sorts of fun activities going on about town that I never knew existed before. This year I have tried to take Addie to as many as possible. Here are pictures from WinterPalooza 2010. Unfortunately, by the time I realized my phone had a camera on it, we were almost done. So, sadly I only have a few pictures and one video… but you can tell how much fun she was having!

Winterpalooza 2010

Addie absolutely loved the bouncy-castle slide, we spent a good 20 minutes here:

From 20 Months

From 20 Months

She thought the helicopter was pretty cool too!

From 20 Months

I am hoping to not curse myself by writing this post…

Addie and Jess have been sick now for 2+ weeks, and there seems to be no end in sight. Fortunately, it’s not the gross kind of sick where there is a lot of *ahem* ”clean up” involved, but more the “we-have-been-through-eight-boxes-of-kleenex-in-the-last-2-weeks” kind of sick.

Poor Addie started to really get snotty (in both senses of the word) about 2 weeks ago, just in time to miss our good friends Steve and Mindy’s sons birthday party. He was turning two, and the party was a Classic Roller Skating. They have bouncy slides and all sorts of fun things for kids to do. Addie would have loved it, and I am so sad we missed it! But Happy Birthday to Zander!!

Addie got a pretty deep cough last week, and fortunately it really died down by Friday night. So she should be on the up-and-up. Jess on the other hand, is still sick and doesn’t seem to be getting much better. He is stuffy and runny all at the same time, overworked, stressed out from school, and not getting enough sleep. All in all, not a good combo for someone who is trying to get over a cold.

Last weekend, Addie and I went to another friends birthday party. Caden, Lisa and Nate’s son, turns 1 today! Happy Birthday little guy! He is such a cutie and we were very lucky to be well enough to attend that party. Addie was still a little sniffley, but hopefully my excessive tissue and Purell supply was enough to not get anyone else sick!

Please, everyone send well wishes toward our house, especially Jess’ way!