Saturday, March 31, 2012

lemonade

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The neighborhood kids have been testing out their entrepreneurial skills this past week. And of course, Delaney can not be left out of the fun!

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Free delivery…now that’s what I call customer service!!

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We must always wear our fanciest shoes when patronizing the local lemonade stands!

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Love this!!!

DC…day 3

I think this was my favorite day of the trip!

We started out at Arlington National Cemetery.

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Eternal flame and burial site for JFK and Jackie O

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Edward Kennedy’s grave

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Changing of the guard at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I had to take these pictures by holding my camera up over peoples’ heads. I didn’t get to see it first hand.

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Laying of the wreath

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Bri with one of the other sponsors.

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After Arlington, we went to Ft. Myer Army Base for a concert put on by the Army band jazz ensemble. The trombonist was amazing!

We spent the afternoon at Mt. Vernon.

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Slave quarters

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Blacksmith demonstration

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View from the back of George Washington’s house of the Potomac.

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This is the original tomb of George Washington.

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George is on the right, Martha on the left and the rest of the family is inside the vault.

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George Washington’s toilets! I showed these pictures to my kids at school. This was by far their favorite!

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We couldn’t take any pictures inside the mansion or in the museum. We did see the bed where Washington died and his dentures. They weren’t made of wood. They were made of hippo teeth, human teeth and brass.

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A few of the kids on the trip.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

DC…day 2

Our second full day in our Nation’s Capital started out with a concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Quite an honor for these kids to play their instruments in front of the spot where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous speech!

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After their performance, we had a little bit of time to see the monuments. Not a lot of time, and if you’ll recall, Bri was hobbling around with a sprained ankle. It was slow moving, so we didn’t get to see as much as I would’ve liked.

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The Korean Memorial

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The previous night, I could see the Korean Memorial in the distance. At night it was very haunting.

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World War II Memorial

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We didn’t get to see the MLK memorial close up. This picture was taken from the bus and it’s only the back side of it.

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The tidal basin lined with cherry blossoms

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Jefferson Memorial, which we only saw from a distance

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We ate lunch at the Old Post Office. It’s pretty much a giant food court with gift shops. Perfect place to take 80 teenagers!

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After lunch we went to the Museum of American History.IMG_1418 IMG_1442

Thomas Jefferson had a bible that he created based on the life and morals of Jesus. He cut scriptures and passages out of 2 of his bibles and glued (or attached in some way) them into another book. Below are the bibles he cut the passages from.

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Above is his “new” bible, which was bound with Moroccan leather.

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The hat and boots worn by the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz

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Most of the pop-culture exhibits were under renovation. But we enjoyed the few artifacts that were out.

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No wonder everyone’s teeth fell out…who would want to sit in this torture chair to see a dentist? Not me!

There was a display at the museum with the original Star Spangled Banner. The one that inspired Francis
Scott Key. Of course, no photography of the flag. Boo. It was a really cool exhibit!

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We went to the Holocaust museum, but they didn’t allow photography inside. A very somber experience.

We ended the day at a shopping mall. Another food court. Easy Peasy when feeding a large group. I mostly just sat and caught my breath. Another busy, busy day.