We the people of the United States of America...

DC. the nation's capital. 

The city of presidents. 

The city of American history. 

The most powerful city in the United States. 

Both Nate and I had been to this beautiful city before 

but neither of us had remembered much and didn't know how to navigate 

this metropolis with children in tow. 

But somehow we did it. 

We saw everything we came to see. 

We walked more than I thought my kids were possible. 

We observed so much of American history and the kids had fun. 

Mission accomplished. 

In 3 full days we saw the following:

National Archives

Ford's Theater 

The Capitol

Senate Office Buildings

The International Spy Museum

 and that was just in the first day! 

Here is a glimpse into our trip! 

This girl was on cloud 9 as we took the metro into DC the first day. 

She was talking in nonstop sentences without taking breaths about 

what she wanted to see and why we had to see it. 

When we walked up to the National Archives and stood in line to get in 

she was somewhat irritated that this wasn't on her list.  

Then we told her this is where the actual, the real Constitution and Declaration Independence and 

Bill of Rights is held.  

The girl who spent her hard earned money buying a book with the Constitution written in it (most of which is too hard for her to read or understand) was ecstatic.  

She even volunteered to be in a picture!  

Mommy's wish can come true to!

I have stated our love for all things Lincoln so 

of course Ford's Theatre was on the top of her list. 

Oh, and the house across the street he died in. 

(she told us that there was still blood on the sheets.... there wasn't thank goodness)

{Holding the Washington Monument in her hand}

Being in this powerful city made everyone feel like a super hero. 

With all the walking between monuments and museums we had to take

numerous sanity breaks.  

Sometimes those were dance parties in front of the Capitol. 

Our afternoon was scheduled with a visit with our Senator from Iowa, Senator Chuck Grassley.

While this wasn't the most exciting part of our trip for the kids, Nate and I both thought the tour 

of the Capitol was one of our favorites. 

I was slightly disappointed that the view of the Capitol building was marred by the scaffolding around the iconic dome.  

{Family picture #2 of our trip}

From our meeting with the Senator we hopped in the mini tram under the streets that run from the senate buildings to the Capitol and got our tour of the magnificent building. 

Lil Miss slept through most of this part.  

We didn't bring our stroller into the city any of the days, 

so her little feet had to carry her on every excursion that we all went on. 

Sometimes though mommy and daddy had to carry her when her feet couldn't walk any farther. 

After all day in the city the kids were worn out (mommy was too) we had plans to 

go see the Lincoln memorial that day but none of us could walk any further so 

Daddy surprised us with calling an Uber and getting us to Shake Shack for burgers and milkshakes. 

It made us ALL happy. 

Milkshakes and burgers gave us enough energy to walk next door to the International Spy Museum. 

This was number 1 in Bubba's book. 

We climbed into heating ducts, deciphered codes, and learned all about Bond, James Bond.

By the time we were heading back to the hotel that night we had spent over 10 hours in the city.

They still had smiles on their faces. 

Only on the East Coast, surrounded by culture for 24 hours and my littlest starts reading 

the paper.  Washington suited us. 

Day 2 started with a trip to Arlington National Cemetery.

I had never been here, so this was something I was excited to see just as much as Rosie. 

The day was beautiful with the sunny skies to visit these holy grounds. 

{Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Changing of the Guard}

{my mini me photographer}

To continue our day of deep thought and remembrance, our next stop was the Holocaust Museum. 

Now I had read all the recommendations on ages and what is appropriate for visiting this 

particular museum.  We had decided that since it was something Daddy really wanted to see that 

he and Rosie would go through the tour and the other kids and I would do the children's part and meet them at the Washington Monument.  

There was so much to talk about and explain while going through Daniel's Story.

I loved that at the end they have a space where children can write down their thoughts about what they saw and how they feel about it. 

My son the compassionate one, wrote this after hearing Daniel's Story.

I couldn't have written it any better.  Why can't the world 

all get along?

 After that deep and emotionally draining 30 minutes... we need another sanity break. 

So running around the Washington Monument sounded like perfection. 

And ran we did. 

A hint to any families that visit DC. 

There is the most perfect climbing tree right below the Monument on the Lincoln Memorial side. 

The kids and I sat and played in that tree like we were on a jungle gym while we 

waited for the rest of our party. 

Then the long awaited walk to the Lincoln Memorial.  

There is no easy way to get to the Lincoln Memorial but walking but it is so worth it.

 Remember our love for Lincoln. 

A gigantic Lincoln Statue... very cool in our book. 

 On the steps of the Lincoln memorial is where Dr. Martin Luther King spoke his famous

"I have a dream speech".  It gave me chills to place my hands on the words in the 

very spot he stood.  

 Speaking of MLK... his memorial is pretty cool. 

The kids all took there best shot at doing the MLK pose trying to look as commanding 

as he does.

Our trip wasn't over, but in just two days we had seen some of the most important 

places in the United States.  

It was hard to wrap our head around it.

That the places we saw on TV and in the movies were right at our finger tips. 

Places we could walk into for free. 

DC is a pretty amazing place when you think about it. 

Where you can see Prince Charles motorcade as you walk out of the Smithsonian? 

Like who does that? 

We hadn't yet even walked into the White House yet... 

and because I don't want to bog down your computers, I will leave the White House for tomorrow. 

to be continued...

History at our fingertips - Gettysburg

This past week was Spring Break. 

Usually that means a trip back to Ohio to see the family while daddy works, 

but this time daddy decided he could get away.  

Over the holidays we started talking about places we could go 

and Rosie expressed a great desire to go to DC. 

From there our spring break plans were made.

We all know I am really bad at editing myself so 

here is our trip and everything else in its entirety. 

Heading East on Friday we made a pitstop in Ohio 

to drop off Grandma Judy who had been helping us out for a week and 

to see Grandpa Bill for his birthday. 

 We saved hotel expenses for a night by staying in Kalida and 

got to see the Schulte cousins.  Yeah!

 From Kalida, we took the route that took us through central Ohio. 

My hubby is the king of odd pitstops, and that brought us to our first 

stop Grandpa's Cheesebarn. 

It was a great place to grab a snack, cheese curds and fudge. 

Just what we need on a 9 hour drive.  

 Through Ohio and Pennsylvania, it was close to bedtime before we made it to 

our hotel in Gettysburg.  

Gettysburg was not something the kids knew to much about before our trip. 

We had read a lot about Washington DC, about the presidents, 

and some of the landmarks, but not so much about wars. 

Gettysburg was our first reality check in what people 

go through to fight for what they want. 

The kids love Lincoln.  

Like capital LOVE Lincoln.  

He is my favorite president and the kids also. 

Around Gettysburg are so many statues of Lincoln. 

We had fun exploring each and every one of them. 

The fact that Abraham Lincoln had a major role in freeing blacks from slavery, 

makes him a white knight in my book.

Souvenirs from trips can go a little crazy with 4 kids, but Nate 

was right on top of this at our first stop. 

Something he had always wanted as a child was a National Parks 

Passport.  When he saw them at the Gettysburg Visitors Center he told 

me that he wanted to get one for each of the kids. 

They ended up being the single best thing we purchased on the trip. 

At many of our stops/monuments/parks we could walk into the 

gift shops and get a stamp in our passports saying we've been there. 

Lil Miss carried her passport around everywhere like a trophy.

In Gettysburg, the battlefield is so large that you have to travel by car to see all

memorials and battlefields.  

It was a windy day, but we bundled up and enjoyed snacks 

and the heater in the car in between stops. 

In Gigi's words "its alot of stones with words and hills."

but it is more than that.  

We downloaded an app for our ipads so that we could 

watch reenacted videos about the Civil War as we drove through the auto tour. 

The kids had lots of questions and thanks to Google we could answer most of them. 

It was a way for us to the tour at our pace.

Did I mention it was a windy day?

We saw pretty much all we wanted to see in Gettysburg in one full day.  

Yes we could have seen the diorama, we could have gone to Eishenower's National 

Historic Site, but the kids were so anxious to get to DC.  

We couldn't pack our bags fast enough. 

I convinced Dad to make one extra stop on our way out of town and

that was at Sachs Covered Bridge. 

It was such a pretty bridge. 

This was the bridge the confederacy took out of town to retreat from the 

battle of Gettysburg. 

This is one of two family pictures we had taken on the trip. 

I had to add it.

Before we made it into DC, we made one stop at Mount Vernon. 

Learning about another president, George Washington, 

we walked on hallowed ground as we explored Mount Vernon, Washington's mansion. 

Our first glance of the Potomac River. 

The kids got less and less excited seeing the Potomac as we crossed it every morning and 

every evening entering and leaving DC going to our hotel in Arlington. 

The Mount Vernon mansion is a really cool tour for adults and kids. 

The puzzle scavenger hunt kept the kids occupied and 

involved in the tour from beginning to end.

Mommy was a fan of the beautiful grounds and 

gardens. This made this gardener very happy. 

We then made it into the city.... 

more to come. 

Mommy SOS

This week I have been lucky enough to have my mom come and visit. 

I don't know if it was the winter weather, the constant onslaught of 

activities for 4 children, or just me but I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. 

My mom saw the bat signal I was lighting up 

and came to my rescue. 

 It is always fun to have Grandma Judy here. 

She has helped be an extra set of hands and my laundry has never been 

this caught up!  The kids LOVE having Grandma Judy here.

 While she was here she was able to see Rosie perform in 

an orchestra concert, Bubba's last basketball tournament for the year, 

Gigi and Bubba's acts in the talent show, and see Lil Miss 

dance her heart out in dance class. 

 Grandma also was able to volunteer in Lil Miss' preschool 

class on Monday and my little girl couldn't have been happier to 

have Grandma Judy there!

 For a treat for my mom, we went out eagle watching. 

I was so excited because we saw over a dozen eagles 

on our trip to the Mississippi River shore. 

 My beautiful mom.

 Grandma Judy brought along spring with her when she flew out to Iowa. 

The weather has been warming up since last Thursday.  

The snow is almost all melted and the birds are chirping all in full force. 

This weekend my Mom was a big help while Nate and I attended a fundraiser and 

she took two of the kids to their talent show.  

 Gigi performed a Raas dance with three of her friends. 

 And Bubba danced to the Superbowl Shuffle with his buddies. 

Even though we couldn't be there to see them perform, I was glad 

Grandma was there to cheer them on. 

Nate and I got a night out. 

It was wonderful.  I had my hair and makeup done so I felt 

pretty as a princess! 

 Bubba especially enjoyed his momma all dolled up with lipstick!

 What is better than going out with the hubby AND supporting a good cause?

Pretty much nothing.

We attended the Gigi's Playhouse Gala, which supports programs to help 

children with Down Syndrome.  Of course my mascara ran as families 

told their beautiful stories. 

It was a good reminder of hope and love.

 So we are grateful that Grandma Judy saw our SOS and came out to help. 

I couldn't ask for a better mother. 

After a week with her here, I feel like such a better mom just following her example. 

Spring is here! 

Dear Man Who Called My Son Ray Lewis

Dear Man who Called My Son Ray Lewis:
Sir, I was furious as I listened to your name calling and shouting at my son's basketball game Saturday. It was an intense basketball game, that had both teams fighting until the buzzer, after the last second of the SECOND overtime. I listened to you throughout the whole game from 5 seats over shout with your buddies that the Refs calls were wrong, that we were intentional fouling, and that our kids play dirty.
These kids are 8 - 9 year old boys.
They in no way are perfect.
But in no way are they intentionally trying to foul.
They are learning.
Both of the teams were fouling if you didn't notice.
When my kid got his second foul and you shouted "take Ray Lewis out" it infuriated me.  My hands
were shaking as I typed a text to my husband across the court telling him what you were saying.  And maybe you said it for no one to hear.  (Then you need to work on your whispering)
But my daughter then asked "who is Ray Lewis?"
She then asked if she could cheer really loud for her brother out there to drown you out.
(proud momma moment right there!)
I also don't know if you meant it to be malicious.  Maybe it was a compliment.
I am just informing you that the boys you are shouting to on the court are young ball players.
All of the boys, yours and ours.
Yes, my son fouls.
He likes to go for the ball and when he is sloppy he fouls.  We talk to him regularly about this and he is learning.  All the boys are.  But for you to shout mean things from 10 feet away at my son on the court is not okay.
We need to be encouraging to these boys.  They are not playing in the NCAA championship or the NBA AllStar Game.  They are playing a Saturday afternoon game in third grade.
I just want you to go to the next game and cheer.  Cheer for your team.  Encourage the boys to put their hands up or get back on defense.  But keep the negative comments and name calling out.
My husband went up to you after the game and talked to you about your comments.  I am very proud of him for doing that and sticking up for our son and trying to get you to change your behavior in the future.  I just hope you read this and know all the kids out there are someone's kid, just maybe the family sitting beside you and I wouldn't shout mean things to your son out there.  SO don't do it to mine.

Rant Over.
Spread love not hate.

Sincerely,
Mama Bear