Washington D.C. Day Two - Monuments

Last night Papa and Daniel took Jacob to the emergency room.  Daniel came home around 2am and we had hope that Jacob and Papa would be home soon.  But when I woke up this morning they were still not home.  The morning passed slowly and it was pretty stressful waiting for Jacob and worrying about his health.  Papa came home around 10am so that he could get some sleep.  The doctors seemed about ready to release Jacob but wanted to run another test first.  

Meanwhile the morning was getting on and the kids were starting to bounce off the walls.  So along with Joe and Elisa, James and I took the kids out to tour the monuments.  Papa and Mom stayed home to get some sleep while Daniel and David were waiting to bring Jacob home from the hospital.  Unfortunately he wasn't able to come home until 3pm!  Thankfully though the testing ruled out some of the more unpleasant things and Jacob is feeling much better today.  Praise God!

Anyway, we started off at the Jefferson Memorial.  It was an absolutely beautiful day, sunny but with a brisk breeze.  Washington D.C. was the first trip we ever took with Will and Jon, back when they were 30 months and 18 months respectively.  I don't know if he actually remembers or if he has just seen the pictures often but Will and I were reminiscing as we toured the monument.  We even recreated some of the pictures we had taken six years ago.

Josiah and Elisa at the Jefferson Memorial

Our family at the Jefferson Memorial

Will at the Jefferson Memorial

Up at the Jefferson Memorial I took Will, Jon, and Colin aside to read the beginning of the Declaration of Independence and talk a little about what it meant.  It was a really good conversation and I thought the boys did very well.

Will and Jefferson

Reading the first part of the Declaration

On the way back to the car we stopped by the under appreciated George Mason Memorial.  As we were looking around Elisa paused to take some pictures of the flowering trees and Jon, wanting to be like his aunt, borrowed my camera to take similar pictures.  It was very cute.  

Colin

Jon's picture of me

Colin hangs out with George Mason

Will

Will checks out Mason's books

Our next destination was supposed to be the Lincoln Memorial but we had a very hard time finding parking.  We circled around for at least forty-five minutes before finding a spot near the Washington Monument.  But the National Mall is a beautiful place to walk so we started off.  We stopped at the beautiful World War Two Memorial and I had a great conversation with the boys about that war.  

Will and Jon salute the NH soldiers who fought in WWII

Washington Monument

James from a kid's perspective

Will and Aunt Elisa

As we left there we heard that Jacob was finally home from the hospital and that Papa, Mom, Daniel, and David would be coming to meet us.  Before visiting the next monument we stopped for ice cream and let the kids run for a bit.  Afterwards we headed up the steps to visit the Lincoln Memorial.  In retrospect it would have been better to save the ice cream for afterwards since the boys were now sugared up and I had no more bribes to offer for good behavior.  But I was still able to sit with them and read the beginning of the Gettysburg address.  And Will now knows what a score is!  After that though we found a nice little group of trees by the side of the monument where the boys could run and play.

Enjoying ice cream

Three boys at the Lincoln Memorial

Will on the Lincoln Memorial steps - 2015

Will on the Lincoln Memorial steps - 2009

We met up with Papa and company to see the Vietnam and Korea memorials but by this time the boys were getting a little crazy and my feet were killing me!  So after a short time we headed home for supper.  

Will finds another William on the Wall

Grandpa and Charlie read names on the Vietnam Wall

Colin

Gathering

Papa takes pictures

David, Mom, Charlie, and Daniel at the Korean War Memorial

Tonight was really nice.  We had eggs and pancakes for supper and then said goodbye to Faith, Danny, Danny's mom and the girls.  They weren't able to stay for the whole time but it was really wonderful that they came!  It was so good to have them here!  The boys will miss having their cousins to play with in the morning.

Grammie hangs out with her littlest granddaughters

Little girls can play with anything!

After Faith and Danny left and the boys were in bed, I played a card game with Joe, Elisa, Daniel, David, and Jacob.  Jacob is finally feeling a little better!  Playing games with my family is one of my favorite things to do in the world.  I'm hoping we'll get a chance to play tomorrow too!  

But now it is time for bed.  Goodnight!