saturday -- continued

Saturday continued with the night tour of the Memorials.  This is a picture of Eric and Lauren in front of the Jefferson memorial.  It was a long way to the memorial, but we had 15 minutes to do it, so did it we did!  Rachel was on a mission -- she hiked up there in about 3 minutes, pushing people out of the way with her elbows!  Funny stuff.  We realized that after that trip, we needed a little longer at the next two.  So, we gave half an hour to see both the FDR memorial and the Martin Luther King memorial.  They were fairly close to one another.  The Roosevelt memorial was amazing.  It was laid out with different walls and waterfalls and quotes from the president.  One that struck both Eric and I said this:  " I see one-third of the nation ill housed, ill clad and ill nourished.  The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough to those who have too little"  it struck both Eric and I that it is still true today, and that people need to think of that.

next we moved on to the Lincoln Monument.  It was a sight to behold.  I could not believe the size of this thing.  We've all seen pictures of it, we've seen it on TV.  But to be there, well that is really something.  There was a group of girls there in formal dresses and stiletto heels.  One of them tumbled down the steps while getting her picture taken!  True story.  It was like a train wreck, you couldn't look away!  But I had to because Rachel took my face in her hands, and said... we have 25 kids to worry about, you can't worry about her too!  haha.  I spent a moment speaking to President Lincoln too.  Asking him what to do about those who wont' cooperate or be kind.  he did not answer, but I felt better!  I think I was losing it... speaking to a monument! here is that photo

next up you see the photo of me and my trusty chaperone friends.  We had a way of looking at one another and knowing what needed to be done.  It was incredibly helpful to have that.

it was at the Lincoln that Alaynah finally was able to recreate her Forrest Gump moment.  She never saw Forrest or Jenny, but she was able to see where it happened.  Silly girl!

From there we went to the Korean War Veterans Memorial.  it is an imposing sight.  Life sized bronze soldiers walking through the grass.  you could see the fear and angst on their face.  This is the only entirely privately funded memorial here. 

next up is "the Wall".  no, not by Pink Floyd. But, the Viet Nam Veteran memorial.  Imposing and sad.  Especially because my dad survived the war but is a wounded veteran.  We finished at the WWII memorial.  Huge.  The fountain wasn't working but you could see the states and other things there.

After that we had to get to the bus.  The tour guides and maps did not show that there was a roped off section of construction that was in our way.  Eric, our fearless navigator, walked around to find how we could best get to the bus pickup. Turns out that it was THROUGH the barriers.  now, I am a rule follower.  But I'm also practical. We had been out touring since 8 Am, and it was nearly 11 PM.  We had all logged between 10 and 15 miles of walking.  So, through it was.  we got to the bus and went back to the hotel.  Tired, weary, and ready to rest.  But, we had a great day and saw a lot of things!