Washington, D.C. ~ The Monuments

Definitely one of my favorite things about D.C. are all of our national monuments which signify so many important events in our nation's history.  Regardless of how you feel about war, you cannot deny the powerful emotional feelings of standing before a monument that honors the lives of those who fought and died for their country or standing before a monument that honors the life of an individual leader who helped make their country what it is today.  Without many of these men and women, we probably wouldn't even be a country today.  We would likely still be under the rule of another world power.  Regardless of how you feel about war, it is hard to deny that some things are worth fighting for like family, freedom from tyrannous governments who manipulate and murder innocent people for power, and freedom to live by those inalienable rights that we Americans hold so dear.  No matter how you feel about America, it is hard to deny that our country is one of the few and proud that was established with the very noble intentions of insuring that all people have an equal right to the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The Washington Monument has such a prominent position in this city and is visible from nearly everywhere.  You can truly see how big it is by how small all of the surrounding flags look below it.  Construction around the monument did not allow us to get closer or to walk inside of it so that is still on my bucket list.  The monument was built in the style of the Egyptian obelisk and is the world's tallest obelisk shaped building.  Unlike the ancient obelisks of Egypt, it is not made from a solid piece of stone but from many bricks.  It is 555 feet tall. 

Of course, we had to take a picture in front of the monument.  As I have explained earlier, we walked all over D.C. (over 10 miles) on this day in our "Easter" clothes.  It was a long day but well worth it! 

(Thank goodness for Daddy's jacket to sit on!)

This picture looks so misleading.  I was zooming in for this shot from the grassy space in front of the Washington Monument looking at the Lincoln Memorial.  That reflecting pool is a lot longer than you think! 

The Atlantic side of the new World War II Monument. 

And the Pacific side. 

There is a large fountain at the center of the memorial. 

Some of the memorable historical statements are engraved on the walls of the memorial. 

Every state has a column honoring its soldiers.  Eddie and the boys stood with our state in honor and memory of their grandfather, a WWII veteran. 

I just loved this view of the Washington Monument and flag through the WWII Monument. 

A special tribute to the women who helped the war effort. 

Those infamous words of President Roosevelt live on. 

As I already mentioned, we didn't make it all the way to the Jefferson Memorial since we detoured for pictures with the Cherry Blossoms and then had to go eat lunch.  

Speaking of lunch, I would be quite remiss if I did not mention this absolute fabulous place to dine.  We tried to eat here on an earlier day but needed reservations because it is always busy.  We had reservations for 2:00 on this day (it was either that or 9:00 at night.  Ha!).  Seriously though, it is so good.  They do specialize in "true" food meaning healthier and more natural food and drink choices inspired by those old fresh from the farm made from scratch classics.  They have some really great drink options.  Just check it out!  It is on Pennsylvania Avenue a few blocks from the White House. 

After a lot of walking and a late lunch, we attempted to make it to the National Archives before closing.  I really wanted Evan to see our nation's most treasured documents.  Unfortunately, we arrived just a little before 5:00, and the guard wouldn't let us in.  Sigh.  

Thank goodness for the stroller on this day since we did so much walking.  We were heading back toward the reflecting pool and Lincoln Memorial here.  I had to stop and rest halfway.  

My cute little nerdy son reading a book on the long walk.   Can you believe he reads real books without pictures and loves it?  Where did my baby go? 

We also did not have time to see this museum.  Sigh again. 

After the long walk back to the Lincoln Memorial area, Brody was restless and begging to see the water.  He loved watching these ducks in the water.  I did not let him out of the stroller for fear he would go in after them.  

Here they were laughing about the "duck butts" as the ducks dove head first under the water.  Yes, Brody was repeating that! 

Brody was laughing hysterically. 

A sweet tribute to the women of the Vietnam War caring for the wounded soldiers.  I love that someone had put those yellow roses there. 

Such a lovely tribute from someone.  

This has to be the most touching memorial on the Mall.  It is so simple, but you just get this reverent feeling walking next to this black granite wall with thousands of names inscribed of the soldiers who died fighting in this war.  No matter how you feel about that war, these brave soldiers deserve to be honored.  They paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country as they were called to serve.  My dad served with these men.  I remember watching him finding names on this wall when we went as a family.  If you have a loved one on this wall, you can take pencil and paper and rub the inscription to keep. 

I loved that lots of school children on field trips had brought some lovely art to leave here.  

So many names.  The wall just seems to go on forever. 

So touching to watch people finding loved one's names on the wall. 

Evan standing at the wall for his Papa. 

The Three Soldiers statue complements the Vietnam War Memorial as they stand watching over the wall of names of their fallen comrades. 

And we finally made it all the way to the Lincoln Memorial.  Thank goodness there is an elevator for strollers because it is much higher than it looks! 

At the top of the Memorial looking at the Washington Monument.  Can you tell why they call it a reflecting pool? 

My favorite President! 

I often wonder how different our country would be today if he had lived.  He had so much to teach us about unity and forgiveness. 

Such a memorable (although exhausting) day. 

My handsome boys. 

We tried for a picture on top of the Lincoln Memorial with this awesome view, but Brody was not cooperating. 

The Korean War Memorial is another touching tribute. 

The faces of these statutes are so lifelike. 

This one is supposed to look like a squad of soldiers on patrol walking through the rugged terrain of Korea.   There are 38 soldiers representing the 38th Parallel. 

The wall contains real images of the soldiers and events of the war.

Before we began our long trek back to the metro station, the boys pose for one last picture looking so handsome and stylish.   Brody was wearing his new skinny jeans which looked adorable on him, but I can see that he may not be a skinny jean wearing man because he has his daddy's thighs.  Of course, skinny jeans on Evan just look like regular fit. They are about as different as night and day! 

Brody pointing at something. 

I just love the way the trees and memorials reflect in the pool.  I can see why the pool was part of the design of the National Mall.  

And we finally made it onto the metro train for a short ride back to the hotel.  We were exhausted, and my feet were not loving me! 

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

After our little tour of the Capitol and a pretty lengthy walk down the National Mall, our next stop on our tour of Washington, D.C. was a must see for any families with young boys.  What boys don't love a cool plane or space shuttle?  Evan was definitely excited to see the Air and Space Museum.  Brody, however, was pretty exhausted after a very long day.  He and Daddy actually fell asleep during the planetarium show.  While the Smithsonian museums are free to the public, the planetarium show did require a paid ticket so Daddy and Brody had to pay for that little nap.  Ha!  After the show, I gladly held Brody while he finished his nap so that Daddy and Evan could enjoy the rest of the museum.  Daddy really enjoyed seeing all the old World War I and II aircraft.

Three Intercontinental ballistic missiles from the US and Russia.  Also, above them is a V-2 rocket.

This is a copy of the International Space Station.

The actual size of the Hubble Space Telescope.  Pretty big telescope, huh? 

Where the astronauts shower in the space station. 

And where they eat those yummy MRE's. 

The real Wright Brothers airplane.  We've seen the replicas at Kitty Hawk where the first flight took place.  One of the brothers donated the real plane to the museum.   

Evan enjoyed learning about the mysteries of flight. 

Early passenger plane.  I am not sure if I would feel comfortable riding in this.

British Spitfire from World War II.

Only one of the greatest fighter planes ever made.  The P-51 Mustang

Our future pilot or astronaut. 

This is an experimental aircraft that set the air speed record.

Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis that made the first transatlantic flight. 

Blogging Update

Well, you may have noticed some changes around here lately.  I am sorry for any inconvenience this may cause to any of our blog friends and readers.  I hope you will continue following along on our journey.  Our previous blog address, oursweetlifeonline.com expired this week, and when we attempted to renew our registration, we could not find the google domain reseller where we purchased the domain last year.  Apparently, google made some changes a couple of months ago and has a whole new system for domain registration and management now.  Since our google domain reseller appears to be non-existent now, we would have to wait several weeks before we could attempt to purchase the same name through a different reseller at a much higher price.  I actually didn't feel that the name really adequately described what we are all about here so we decided to just give that name up and come up with something a little different.  In our home, we are about love.  Love as a couple, love as parents, love as children, love as friends, and love for our savior.  This whole blog tells the story of our love.  I hope you enjoy our new home here at www.oursweetlovestory.com.

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