The Holocaust Museum

Kendall and I both agreed that this was one of our very favorite things we did.  But it was hard to see, hard to read, very powerful.

the outside of the Holocaust Museum

just one display of amazing pictures of people affected by the Holocaust.

there are displays of clothing etc that the prisoners wore...these are shoes...there is a room of shoes.  

this was definitely not uplifting but i very much wanted to see this museum.  we waited in line starting around 8:15 am, to get tickets for the day.  you can reserve them online but they were all out when we went to do that.  so we waited in line, and we got great tickets.  the museum actually opens at 10 and we got tickets for 10:30, and it took probably 3 or so hours to do all the floors and read all the things we wanted to read and see all the pictures and artifacts and short films they had.

The Holocaust has always amazed me...i feel like i can never learn enough about it, there are so many facets to it. and it is a very emotional subject, to be sure.  so many groups of people were targeted by the Nazis, not just Jews, although they were the largest group to be exterminated.  Even the word extermination...we associate that with bugs and vermin, so did the Nazis.  One theme running throughout the exhibits was the idea of how Hitler could get a whole nation to agree to genocide...well in truth, he didn't have to do anything as grand as that.  He just had to get them desensitized to the plight of the Jews (and other groups), just get them to not really care, be enough past feeling, that when they did realize the true scope of what the Nazis had planned, what they were doing, there was nothing they could do to stop it.  

The hardest part for me, besides the sheer numbers of people killed, was the children.  Over 1 million of the people who died were children.  Who could look at a child and have no regard for their innate worth and goodness and not want to save them, help them?  plenty of people did help, you learn about them too, in the museum.  It was an overwhelming experience, but I am so glad we went.  

Another amazing aspect of the build up to what Hitler and his followers called "the final solution" (meaning killing those they viewed as not worthy to reproduce etc.) was how short of a time it took Hitler to gain pretty much absolute power in Germany.  He was appointed as a Chancellor (I believe) and then 6 months later, he had completely obliterated the fragile government they were trying to build back up in Germany and was controlling everything and pushing ahead with his own agenda.  Really amazing and definitely a lesson in how much damage corrupt leaders can do, how much impact they can have.

We Toured the Capitol

we got tickets to tour the capitol through our state representative's office, which we liked a lot, because then we had one of the interns give us a guided tour, and we didn't wander aimlessly.  It was quite a bit longer than we thought, about 3 hours, but really interesting!

capitol building

through a skylight, from underground

tilt your head...apparently when i tried to turn it, it didn't work...commemorative of the cornerstone laid by George Washington

view from the balcony of the capitol. Currently the Mall (large greenspace, reflecting pool etc) are being refurbished, trying to have them done by the time elections are done i believe.

inside the rotunda

LARGE memorial sign erected to the passengers of flight 93

we went to several Smithsonian Museums...it's so great that all of them are free, you just have to go through metal detectors before you go in:)  we went to the National Air and Space Museum

hello random guy in our picture....

we went to the Museum of Natural History

inspiration for Rexy in Night at the Museum

the Hope Diamond

Tucson Meteorite (sign about it above, meteorite below) 

we also went to the American History Museum, which i don't think i got any pictures of...i may have been running out of steam by the time we went there:):)  

we had a bunch of very fun, very full days!

the next day we went to the Holocaust museum...thoughts about that, next time:)

Memorials of DC

We spent our first day in DC walking, walking and walking!!! It was super fun to see things i've only ever heard about or seen in books....

Washington Monument

View of Washington monument from the Lincoln Memorial

World World 2 monument

wall of stars, each star equals 100 dead or missing servicemen, from World War 2

vietnam memorial...wall starts low and is higher than my head in the middle, filled with names

here we are in the wall:)

Lincoln memorial

Mr. Lincoln

the White House. We did not do a tour of the White House because apparently you have to request those tickets 8 months or so in advance.  But we did go to the White House Visitor's Center.

Williamsburg and Jamestown

last night at the Cottage where we stayed in VA beach...it was so pleasant that night we went out on the upper porch and kendall enjoyed the hammock and we both read for a while.

proof i was there:)

 proof of the AWESOME sunburn that i had gotten that day...pretty sure this picture doesn't do the pain justice! ouch! never again!

The next day,  Tuesday in VA it was overcast and spitting rain, but still nice so we decided to go check out Williamsburg and Jamestown.  I had been to Williamsburg as a child with my family, this time we didn't have enough time to do the tour but we did all the free things:):)

College of William and Mary, one of the oldest, still functioning colleges. It was beautiful...as was all of Virginia and WA DC...really pretty greenery/flowers.  I miss that sometimes in the desert.

sign in the ground

sign along the road...beautiful flowers

walking up to one of the main builidngs

gigantic fireplace in one of the rooms...that's me in there:)

beautiful magnolia tree blossom! as a child, we had a magnolia in our front yard in NC and the smell was AMAZING and took me right back there, when i smelled this one! beautiful!

church in Williamsburg

General George's Pew...

At Jamestown...outside at the Indian Village...

lots of baskets and furs...

replicas of boats that landed there...

The fort at Jamestown...

Blacksmith shop

Obviously NOT in Jamestown, but a parting shot of Food Lion...They were everywhere in VA and reminded me strongly of going grocery shopping in NC, when i was younger:)

Next Up: to WA DC!!!!

VA Beach Portion of our Vacation...

in honor of me being dismissed from Jury Duty today...here is installment number 1 of vacation pictures...

we went on an "early anniversary" trip a couple of weeks ago to VA beach and WA DC. it was so fun! we left on a saturday, flew most of that day. stayed in a hotel that night.  Sunday we checked out of said hotel, found a church, went to church, and then headed to our B and B.  here are some pics from Virginia Beach...we stayed at the CUTEST bed and breakfast, called Barclay Cottage website here, just two blocks from the beach, we walked everywhere! it was awesome! that bed and breakfast really set the standard high for bed and breakfasts for me! can't believe i didn't get a picture of it, but it's a two story, old school house, very square-ish and squat but so cute with wraparound porches and a BEAUTIFUL view of the beach and surrounding areas!  really wonderful.

nice face hun!

 standing in line for his parasailing ticket...we went on some seadoos before parasailing, that was fun!

we went with 6 others out on the boat, the others went in groups of three (they had little kids with them) but since i wasn't going parasailing, kendall went by himself.  getting strapped in...

you take off from the boat and land on the boat...lifting off...

and because he was doing a "solo" trip, it took a little speed to get him up in the air...need to put on some weight huh??? just kidding kendall, you look awesome! but you did get wet there for a minute:)

up up up...1000 feet of rope...

from the boat...he's that little speck!

me, getting a sunburn i would feel for about a week after! yikes!

our veiw of the ocean from our umbrella...

it was relaxing and fun and i'm glad we embarked on our trip this way!  next up...more from Virginia...

up way too late...

i am up way too late...actually it's not SUPER late, but it is almost 1 am...but for some reason i feel compelled to write at weird late hours of night.

we just got back from a trip, kendall and I.  we went to VA beach and WA DC.  it was AWESOME! pictures are forthcoming, but you know i took about 160 or so, so i'll hit the highlights when i share those. but it was a super fun trip and i am so glad we had such supportive family here that could take care of our kiddos for us.  they made it possible for us to go!!!  thank you family!

i just got my "new" family pictures up on the wall. Yes, Alacey, they are up now!!!!  yeah, we've had them for months, but honestly i just didn't feel up to putting them up.  i just couldn't do it.  it was hard for me to put up the beautiful picture we have of Christian (thank you Arian!) and know i will never change it out for one of him when he's older.  i just couldn't face it.  and now i have faced it, and i see it on the wall, and i love that picture, i love that boy. i miss him so much.  Monday 18th was his 10 month birthday, it's been 8 months since he passed away.  it seems like a whole other life.  it honestly does.  i can't explain it.  i feel like a different person.  when something like this happens, you are forever changed.  my reactions to situations are different, my thought processes are different.  how i view my family is different.  i will always think of him, everyday, and that's a good thing.  i will always miss him.  i will always have a whole in my heart where he would be daily with us but he's not.  i feel him around us, but i just wish i could hold him.  this grief is hard and heavy sometimes.  i am so lucky to have such a wonderful family, to have a husband who is kind and patient and loving and children who are literally the reason i get up in the morning.  who give me hugs and loves and want me around them.  in some ways i feel like i am healing but at the same time i know this isn't something i'm going to "get over" or "move on from." and i don't want to.  i don't want to wallow in self-pity and sadness either but these experiences we've had have shaped us and we are different than we would have been.  I guess i just want to say, thanks for still loving the "new" me, scars and all.

hopefully soon i'll share (a fraction) of the pictures from our adventures on the East Coast:)

we made OOBLECK!

actually i think the recipe we made was officially called Gak, but we had storytime at our house today and among other books, we read Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss.

it was really fun and the kids really enjoy playing with it!

i like this recipe because it is "clean" meaning when the kids play with it, it's not stringy or gooey, but it is wonderfully squishy and makes funny noises when you put it in a play kitchen mug.  just try it.  it's ethan's favorite trick today:)  (hint: he makes the oobleck make tooting noises...ahh...boys)

we made these fun colors and still have the pink that we haven't tried yet...those neon gel food colors she suggests using in the tutorial really do a great job coloring the mixture!!!

fun thing to do for summertime (or anytime) :)  give it a whirl!