DC Visit

After dreaming about it for years, I finally made my road trip to DC to visit my sister's family. It was such a blast! Even though the first few days were rainy, we had lots of fun! I got to help Taryn with a baby shower she was throwing for a friend. It was like baking camp! We made lots of yummy treats: 

      

Left: Taryn and Ashley (the shower was for her) frosting the onesies. It was fun!

Center: The recipe made about 40 cookies! Almost all of them made it to the baby shower.

Right: The onesie upclose. So tasty! We got the idea from a segment on Martha Stewart. Cookie recipe here.

The spread at the shower (just desserts) included yummy cupcakes with pink butter cream frosting, a chocolate fountain, meringues (with mini chocolate chips- leave out the espresso), and chocolate raspberry bars with white chocolate and almonds. The recipes are linked because they were all sooo yummy, if you like sweets like this.

On Friday after the shower was finished we checked out some museums in downtown DC. The real fun was when Dean joined the party! He flew in late friday for the USNA Summer Seminar that he was invited to attend. He's there right now and I can't wait to hear more about it... I guess it's a little sampling of what plebe summer would be like. We spent most of Saturday hanging out with Dean, then driving to MD and doing a little exploring. The town of Annapolis is very charming. When Dean was checking in, a midshipman (woman?, it was a girl) came up to visit with us and answer some questions. She mentioned that last week someone didn't memorize all of the material in time and they made him cry about it! I think today is the big day (memorizing testing day) for Dean, so I hope he's got it all down. I'm pretty sure he's not the crying type, but do you even think he would tell us if he did? I can't wait to hear all about it!

Me, Reese and Dean outside the visitors center at Annapolis. Such a beautiful campus, right on the water.

On Sunday evening after church we went to the National Mall so I could see the sites. (I guess my family went when I was little - but I was too little to remember any of it.) We walked through the Lincoln, down the Reflecting Pond, and around the WWII Memorial. Since it was getting late, we did the rest by car- Jefferson, Washington, Capitol, White House, Iwo Jima. It was great! We also drove through tons and tons of government buildings... As we did, the thought kept recurring in my mind: How can our country be in such bad financial shape, and our national debt so high, yet we still have tons and tons of beautiful buildings, that I'm sure employ millions, and where did we get extra money to build all these things, and keep them beautiful? If any of you readers are historians, poli-sci fanatics, or just know the answers, please comment and solve this mystery! 

Enough of my musings, here are the best photos I snapped of the evening. 

Whenever Reese is not in the stroller, she is pushing it. SO CUTE! She holds on to this little railing for the basket below the seat. It's hilar!

   

The Lincoln Memorial- from far and farther. It's much much larger than I thought it was. Very majestic. It seemed as though everyone that was near it or inside it was overcome by reverence and awe. Amazing!

  

Right: The Wheatley's at the World War II Memorial. Left: Me posing with my current home state pillar. I thought about taking them with all the states I've called home, but that would have been lots of posing, so I settled for just one. These pictures don't give a complete view of the memorial. Click here for better shots. I highly recommend it- it's beautiful!

Field of Stars at the WWII Memorial. It looks really neat in person. 

The Freedom Wall. After some quick math I figured that there are about 4000 stars on this wall!

And a drive-by of the capitol. It was way past Reese's bedtime and she was getting pretty tired, so we finished with the driving tour.

 

It was such a fun trip and went by fast. Now it's their turn to come visit us! If anyone else wants to, we are completely welcoming all friends and family who want to venture through the flyover states.