A week ago today...Wednesday

Wednesday took us to "The Mall". The wind was blowing pretty hard and the first thing Etta said after we rode the escalator up to ground level was, "Poop!" [For those who may not know, that is what she says whenever she has to go to the bathroom, #1 or #2.] So Bob and Molly took off at a quick pace to find a bathroom. Jim and I were able to stroll and enjoy the sights.

Cherry blossoms



Washington Monument



Montana and Idaho next to each other at the WWII Memorial



Lincoln Memorial





Korean



While I took my time at the Holocaust Museum (no pics) Bob and the gang took a stroll. Swung by the Department of Education (Bob's choice).





And then an outside viewing of the Capitol. Bob at the Capitol.



Etta at the Capitol. (She was napping.)



And we ended the evening with an exciting round of Rock Band.

A week ago today...Tuesday

Tuesday morning we got up and headed to Arlington and the Pentagon. No rain, but still pretty chilly.

Making our initial approach



A classmate of Bob's



So powerful



The Eternal Flame



The Robert E. Lee House



Tomb of the Unknown Soldier



Changing of the guard



At the Pentagon you aren't allowed to take ANY pictures. Even outside. But we did get this one shot of Etta. (Hopefully this will work...)

A week ago today...Monday

As I look out the window on a dreary Lewiston morning I am reminded of last week when we were in a wet and dreary Washington DC. But we didn't care if it was raining - we had come a long way and there was a ton to see! First stop - Mount Vernon.

Headed in the main entrance.



The tomb of George Washington



Looking out towards the Potomac. Unfortunately this is as close as we could get.



The mansion.



Posing with the family. Life size statues of George and Martha Washington. Martha was only 4' 11". The kids are two or their grandchildren.



By 12:30 we were soaked to the bone and getting chilled. We headed back to Molly's for a quick lunch and then went to the mall. Enclosed, warm and full of clothes and shoes. Etta's favorite part by far was the picking out of the shoes. She tried on a pair and as I took them off she started yelling, "My shoes! My shoes!" How to explain to an almost two-year old that you have to PAY for them first?

After a bit of shopping Etta was done and wanted to "drive".

Happy Easter!

Over the next few days I will be doing various posts on our recent family vacation to Washington DC. But for now...

Happy Easter!



And I couldn't leave this one off...rockin' the drumset.

Etta Girl

And since I KNOW that most people don't visit this blog for deep philosophical writing or pictures of a washed out road...

Etta on the return trip. We are just hoping and praying that she does as well on a plane as she does in the car!

Nature

Got a call from our airline last night. Our flight out of Spokane tomorrow morning was canceled due to "weather" in Denver. Yikes! Thankfully my totally AWESOME sister-in-law Molly was able to call today and get us on a flight Sunday morning. (I had tried last night and the best I could do was Tuesday. Shows how awesome I am...) God's plan is God's plan and I am so thankful that we still get to go (at all!) and spend most of the week.

But this is what else Mother Nature can dish out...a washed out (man-made fill-in) road.

View from close to the bottom.



Erik surveying the scene.



Looking across the road.



Another view.



Looking down. It was hard to get good size perspective because we didn't really want to go crawling around the washout. But the "pebbles" at the bottom were actually pretty large rocks.

Baba & driving

While I unfortunately don't have any pics of the actual driving (most of it was done while I was starting to get the flu) it was one of the high lights of the trip to Montana. As a matter of fact, when Christine asked Etta what she did while in Montana Etta replied "dwiving!" Nice. And when we stopped at Shopko in Coeur d'Alene on our way home we were going back to the car and Etta said, "Etta dwive". Not yet girlie!

But here are some other Baba Eddie pics.

Takin' a stroll with Baba.



Post-bath snuggles



Chillin' with the drums.



[Sorry to say NO pics with Grandma Cindy. Not even any in her nightgown with bed head. Bummer dude. Next time we will get some crazy shots!]