Labor Day weekend we visited our friends Peter, Tina, and Gioia McNeilly in Stafford Virginia. Peter is a Marine Jag officer and has been participating in TBS training in Quantico Virgina at Camp Barrett. He is actually almost done with his training and is waiting to hear where in the U.S. he will be stationed next! It is an exciting time for them and we are all very proud of what Peter has been doing and what he has accomplished. They only live about a half hour drive from the Franconia/Springfield Metro stop. Saturday morning we all met there and got on the metro and headed into D.C.
It was so GOOD to see them! All 3.
It was so GOOD to see them! All 3.
Micah's first Metro trip!
4 adults and 3 strollers
D.C. here we come!
The Capitol
The Washington Monument
The McNeillys in front of the capitol
and the Washington Monument. It was windy but such a beautiful day!
Tina packed us all a lunch and we ate it near a fountain by the National Archives.
Gioia loves D.C!
Peter is so tough looking?! He has done some crazy and unbelievable things in TBS. They have both been through a lot and we are glad that TBS is almost over.
Tina and I wanted to visit the Smithsonian and see the First Lady Dresses exhibit and Julia Childs kitchen. It took some coercing to get the guys on board but they humored us and viewed the kitchen but when it was time to see the dresses they were suddenly gone. Oh well. Their lose. Tina and I LOVED seeing the dresses. They even had Michelle Obamas gown from the latest Inaugural Ball!
I posed in front of Julia's kitchen. She donated it to the Smithsonian. It is recreated to the T. It even has her decorative cats on top of the fridge!
Phil and I really wanted to see the WWII monument. I had never seen it before and Phil had only seen it in the early spring without the water running. It was quite the sight!
Behind me are stars and each star represents 100 U.S. deaths! Look how many there are.
I was feeling really emotional about the monument because I had just finished reading "Coming Home" by Rosamund Pilcher. It is historical fiction set before, during and after WWII.
The monument is located directly in line with the Lincoln and Washington monuments. Phil said that people were upset about this because it changes the look of the mall. I think it makes the monument more special that you can see all 3 monuments together.
We were not really sure why so many people were getting into the fountain in the middle of the monument since there were many signs that said to stay out of the fountain? It was weird to see people sitting on the edge of the fountain with their feet in the water right next to a sign. It made me realize that people are not as respectful as they used to be or as I think they should be. It actually made me mad. Maybe because I had just read that book or maybe because we were walking around with a Marine and we were proud of him?
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