Hey Mr Prez! What's up? Wanna have tea? I'll be right over!

Day 5



Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're off!
To DC that is!
!!!YAY!!!

We woke up after much needed rest and got ready for our busy day of site seeing and history stalking! Ooooo I can't wait!

Uncle Jim was so awesome and dropped us off at the Metro Station and we rode the subway all the way to the Smithsonian! So fun! Maribel really enjoyed looking out the window and watching everything zoom by. Then we were underground and she didn't like it as much after that.


We arrived in the middle of the Smithsonian and came out at the National Mall. Which really isn't a "Mall" by the way. It's just an open field with a grassy patch in the middle and gravel walk ways running either side. Speaking of running, that's what people do here. They run. I guess I would too when you have such an awesome view to soak in everyday! Man I love it here! (But not enough to move here. Still saving that for either Missoula or Charleston ;0)


Right away we saw the Washington Monument which I always referred it to as "The Pencil". It is so cool! And very very tall. On our way to the Lincoln Memorial I could hear something in the air. I looked up and it was a helicopter heading towards the White House, and my FIL said it was Marine One.
Off to pick up the Prez I'm sure! So stinkin' AWESOME!!!!!

We stopped at the WW2 Memorial and paid our respects. Joe and Maribel sat by the pool while everyone else walked around and viewed the several murals. I took a bit of a break too and sat with Joe and Maribel and along came the only duck chillin' in the fountain. Joe began tossing Maribel's crumbs from her snack and he got busted! The nice yet assertive lady officer leaned over and politely and authoritatively asked Joe to "Stop feeding the duck." Nice Joe. Tee Hee.


He's so cute, I don't blame Joe for wanting to feed this little guy!


We all gathered and began our mile hike (no joke)to the Lincoln Memorial. I was getting excited to slap Abe on the knee! Soon. But to get there, we had to walk along side the Reflection Pool. Yeah, I'm hoping they cleaned it out for Jenny when she had to run through it to meet up with Forrest, because this pool was nasty!
The Canadian Geese seemed to like it plenlty though. Eewwwww.


We stopped for some ice cream along the way to cool off a bit. It was so refreshing.
Mmmm Rocket!

*huff* *huff* *huff* We're here!
I climbed the steps to the top and went straight for Mr. Abe Lincoln. Even if the ropes weren't there, I wouldn't have been able to reach that marbel knee of his. not even his ankle. Shucks! Maribel didn't like him. She said he was "starey".


Well I guess it reflects after all. See? And you can hardly tell how grungy it looks from up here. Hmmm interesting.


Next we walked through the Vietnam Memorial. It was breathtaking in a humbling way.

In this pic it looks like a pool of water but up close it is something amazing.

This entire wall is filled with the names of every soldier who died in the Vietnam War. This is only a small section of this vast wall.
So many names :0(


I love the beauty of this city. There are trees everywhere and so green and lush. The weather was a perfect 72F with no humidity. At least none that I could tell. Ahhhh it was nice. I was able to wear jeans and a tee shirt with no problem! We decided it was time to check out the Smithsonian so off we went.



Anna and I wanted to grab a few pics of the White House as we walked by so we let everyone go ahead of us.I wonder if he's home today? Oh, right. Marine One picked him up. Shucks. Maybe next time ;0)




I love DC!



How cool to see the real Ruby Slippers! (They aren't looking so hot now, in my opinion) but still cool to see!
Heh heh and how about Oscar the Grouch sharing the same display as Seinfeld's puffy shirt? Awesome in my books!

There really isn't enough time in the day to see everything this city has to offer! I could have spent a week here still wanting to see more!
This city is a site to see. Pictures really can't do it justice.
All I can say about DC is.....

I'll be back!

The Liberty Bell And Other Yummy History Parts!

Day 4

My country,' tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountainside let freedom ring!

Ooooo excitement is in store for me today! I can feel it!


After checking out and packing our car, we headed downtown to see the Liberty Bell. We parked in an underground parkade and took the elevator up into the Liberty giftshop. I'm just so used to having to pay to see anything cool that I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was free to see the Liberty Bell.
Maribel liked the bell too. She said it was broken and when asked if they could fix it, she would reply, "No. Papa can't fix the Bell." Too cute.
It really is a site to see in real life.


We then headed over to the Independance Hall for a small tour and some education. Our guide was really chatty and chalked full of American history.



I love the grass here! Seriously! It's like walking on nice cool carpet. It felt great to have the grass between my toes. That's something I would never do down in FL. My princess feet can't take the razor sharp blades of grass plus we have fire ants and they reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally hurt when they all decide to bite you at the same time! Anywho back to Philly!



After the tour, Jay asked one of the locals where the best place to get a Philly Cheese Steak would be. With a recommendation we headed over to Market and 3rd and had the best darned Philly cheese I had ever!!!


It even beat the one I had on Friday! I only wish I took a pic of it. Instead, here is a sign they had posted that had me chuckling and holding Maribel's had tighter all at the same time.


With full bellies and our bag of overpriced gifts from the giftshop, we got in our cars and made our way to Maryland to stay with Jay's brother Jim.

But first here are a couple pics of downtown Philly.



Off to DC tomorrow! YAY!!! I am beyond excited for DC! There's so much to see and so little time! Oh what to do! What to do!

The Wedding of All Weddings!

Day 3
The Wedding

Maribel and Joe were the first to wake up.
Nice and early.
And I mean nice and early.
Like 7am early.
I must speak to those two.
Seriously.

We all got ready early around 10ish and arrived at the Villanova's St Thomas chapel. Well as you can see, it's more like a cathedral. The stunning beauty and architecture really took my breath away.



The walkway leading up to the chapel was lined with these beautiful flowers.


I think this one is a Peony.


Maribel was getting a little restless so we tried to keep her occupied so she was scanning our programs under the marble Jesus statue. It was too cute to watch her pretend. When she saw the stained glass windows she asked Grandma where the monster was. Shrek has been her movie of choice the past few weeks, so it made sense. *giggle*

We told Maribel that she was seeing a princess today. She asked me every 5 minutes where the princess was so I had to tell her that she was getting dressed. Maribel then said, "Pincess is nakey. She need to get dessed." She then proceeded to tell everyone who was willing to listen. Too cute!


She started acting up so I we took her outside to let her settle down. As you can see it was a nap that she needed. Uncle Phill was so sweet and took her from my arms as they were ready to rot off from carrying her for 30 minutes.


This little guy is one of Joe's 2nd cousins and he is so stinkin' cute! I love the look on his face as he checks out his Uncle John. We think it was the mustache. LOL


I am so blessed to call these wonderful people my family! As miss Anna so often and sweetly reminds me, I had a choice. Well hunny, I'm so glad I chose well! ;0)




When Jolene came down the isle she was a beautiful princess. I couldn't get a decent photo inside so I had to wait outside for my chance. Just check out cousin David's smile! They really do make a beautiful couple!

I have to say that this wedding was one that I will remember for many years to come. Everything from the beautiful church, to the happily ever after couple to the stunning beauty of our Heavenly Father's creations, and finally the joy of being with family. I thought I would take one last look at the church before heading to the reception.


I love weddings! Now off to PARTY!!!

Hors d'oeuvres Anyone?

Day 3
The Reception

Right after the wedding we all headed to the Presidential Caterersfor the reception. We were immediately greeted with the friendly staff and were offered the most tasty hors d'oeuvres I think I have ever had. They pulled out all the stops for this place, I'm telling ya!

The cake was in the middle of the room so beautiful, and tasty too.


Maribel found our table for us as it was the only one with a high chair. LOL
Our table was set like it was seating royalty and seriously I didn't know what fork was for what so I just followed what Maribel used and used the same ones.


Here is Aunt Joan and Uncle Jim getting ready to enter the hall.


It was fun how the wedding party entered the room. Normaly they just waltz on in and have their seat, but here they all had fun upbead music and practically danced their way in to the hall.
The Bride and Groom came in and danced their first dance to a nice waltz and they looked like a king and queen twirling on the floor. They were so beautiful and happy. :0)


The food was absolutly deliscious and the music was all so awesome! David and Jolene selcted the music for the evening and they did such a great job with the variety of artists and styles. Maribel was getting a little restless with all the fun comotion so I took her out into the hallway to run around and sniff the flowers. This place is so beautiful and grand.

I love how Maribel lifted her dress to walk down the stairs. Such a princess.


We all retired to the hotel after awhile and I had this awesome idea to go swimmming in the hotel's pool. After all, it was nice out today. Um, well I fogot that I was in the "North" now and just because it was sunny out doesn't necesarily mean that the pool will be nice too. Infact, the pool was down right cold! But did that stop us???? Never! Poor Maribel was so determined to swim. She had ber "babing suit" on and her towel around her shoulders all ready to go down to the pool. Lucky Mommy was the first one to take her in the water.



By the time her teeth were chattering and her lips turned blue, I thought it best that she go back up to our room and warm up a little bit. Maribel didn't put up any fuss. We watched Mulan and had a nice little picnic in Uncle Phill's bed. Hee Hee.

Tomorrow is check out day from here and off the downtown Philly for some more Philly Cheese Steak and to see the Liberty Bell! I cant' wait to walk on the same ground where history was made! Eeek! I'm sooo excited.

I heard that "nerd" cough Vic!!! I'll push up my glasses just for you!