DC Interupted

 
 
 
 
Hey everyone... the internet has been ab it slow for us lately, combine that with life being busy and my blogging has been getting away from me. Just thought I would post a few photos from the 4th of July celebration down in Longview. We had a wonderful time even though we ended up with a bit of rain- it didn't affect us too much. It was great to see everyone and give David a chance to be charming. I got to fulfill my pilot lesson from Jonathan and thouroughly enjoyed it, and hope to fly again :) thats all I am going to write for now... dinner still has to be finished and laundry is NEVER done. lol. will try to catch everyone up on what we have been up to when I can, but know that I am thinking of all my loyal readers, even when I am not actually blogging!
God Bless ya'll!
~Tonia, Jonathan, David and Levi

DC-Part 4-Sightseeing

 
 
 
 
Wednesday was our Sightseeing Day, we got tickets for a service called Tourmobile, it goes in a set loop to various monuments and memorials, Smithsonians and Arlington... there are several buses and you can hop off an any stop you want and depend on a new bus every 20 minutes. It was a great way to get around and learn a lot of history on the way, the guides were very knowledgeable. Our first stop was the impressive Washington Monument, 55 feet tall, a beautiful Obelisk shining white against the blue sky, from there we walked to the WWII memorial which is quite new and found it to be very well done, there were 2 sides, one representing the Atlantic and the Pacific. A wall of gold stars in remembrance of the price of Freedom captured my attention- each star representing 100 fallen Americans. Next we took the Tourmobile past the Jefferson Memorial and got off again at the Lincoln Memorial, it is stunning! Despite the large quantity of tourists it maintained an austere reverent feeling. There were 36 columns around the memorial- each representing a State of the Union at the time of Lincolns Presidency. Our next stop was the Vietnam Memorial, Granite polished to such a shine that the surrounding area was reflected on it. We then rode past the White House and jumped off again to see some of the areas of the Natural History Museum that we hadn't gotten around to on the first trip. We enjoyed dinner from the Station Grill (at Union Station) but ended up just taking the food back to the hotel as David was quite tired and desperately needed a nap. Part 5 will be my first day alone with David in DC!

DC - Part 3- The National Zoo

Hello Everyone! Our second full day in DC we headed to the National Zoo, it involved navigating the Metro, riding up the LONGEST escalator I have ever seen and a bit of walk to get there, but it had just opened and wasn't very crowded, which made for optimal Panda Viewing :) There are 3 habitats, the first Panda was sleeping contentedly in a cave, the second chowing down on some Bamboo and the third was snuggled up as well. After checking out the Pandas the fist time around we saw the cool inhabitants of the bird house, then headed to see the other critter on the Asia trail, despite their name the Sloth Bears were quite active and entertaining- they were fluffy and kind of reminded me of Julie's dog Essie. We saw adorable red Pandas and the Beautiful Clouded Leopard. although we tried twice to see the fishing cat he was hiding very well and we never did spot him. Next we ate Lunch at the Panda Cafe' and were surprised to find the BEST view of the Giant Panda's we could see them walking around and were quite close. While the Panda's were the star of the zoo we also thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the animals as well, we saw gorgeous Tigers, lions, a few varieties of crocodile, cute meercats, talented Orangutans, turtles, Giant fish, Elephants, hippos, a capybara, there were gross snakes and pretty frogs. We got David a Panda T-shirt, and I got a cool Panda bag. We were exhausted by the time we headed home and had a picnic in our hotel room once we finally got back. Sleep followed shortly after. Enjoy the Photos... I will post Part 4 as son as I can :)

DC - Part 2

Alright, this is where the really good stuff starts. I kept notes while were were there so I wouldn't forget everything by the time I got around to blogging.
Our first stop was the Air and Space Museum... we got up and out so quickly that we arrived 5 minutes before the doors opened. It was really cool to see some planes with quite a bit of history. we saw Spaceship one- the first personally owned craft to go to Space, and I loved the Space exhibit- the history of telescopes and discovery... David liked looking at the pretty colors there too. We ate lunch there and then decided to see what else we could fit into our day. Next stop- The Museum of Natural History... it was SO cool! we Saw that gorgeous Hope Diamond... and many other stunning gemstones - there were earring that belonged to Marie Antoinette, and several tiara's and necklaces that belonged to other European Royalty- talk about impressive! Next we saw the Dinosaur room, and the Mammoths and Giant Sloths- the whole place was completely overwhelming in its amazingness. I wanted to see the Castle, which was the original building that housed all the Smithsonian displays back in the day. It is a beautiful building- stunning architecture, inside and out. It is now the information center, and lucky for us a gift shop- it started pouring rain while we were there, so we now own a Smithsonian Umbrella, lol. The rain showed no sign of letting up, so we decided to see how far we could get, we went into the National Gallery of Art so see the sights and dry out... it is the largest Marble building in the WORLD... absolutely no windows, so that the priceless works will be safe from sun damage. We saw works by Degas, Monet, Renoir to name a few as well as unbelievable marble sculptures. I wish we could have explored the whole thing, but we needed to get David back to the hotel for food and a nap. So off we went through the rain again, and finally made it back to our hotel. Because of the rain we once again ate at the Dubliner- I continued to be impressed and wish that we could have taken the entire restaurant home with us. Tomorrow, the National Zoo!