Hill Family Blog: Washington DC- Day 2

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Washington DC- Day 2

We got into the city in the late morning. I knew that between me being pregnant and Kinsey being 2 we wouldn't last all day long so we decided to sleep in a little. The first thing we did was attempt to find the White House. I have this memory of being 15 and walking from the White House to the Smithsonian (the last time I was in DC). It was really hot (I was there in June) and it seemed like we walked forever. I had it in my head that the White House was really far away from everything else. So, I figured that since we were near the Smithsonian when we got off the metro, we would have a very long walk ahead of us. I don't know if it was because it was so hot that day in June or because I was a teenager, but it really wasn't that far. We took a few pictures of the back of the White House and then headed to the visitor's center. We can't tour the White House unless you have a group of 10 or more so we didn't get to go inside.

We planned on meeting up with my brother for lunch, and after a detour to see the front of the White House, getting slightly lost, arriving at a closed metro station, and nearly starving to death, we finally got to the restaurant. Kinsey told "Uncle" all about her new bed and informed him that her favorite food is "chicken." That was news to me. After lunch, we said goodbye to Troy and made our way to the Smithsonian museums. Just so you understand, 19 museums make up the Smithsonian and we had exactly 2 hours to browse. We ended up at the Air and Space Museum (for Jason) for about an hour, then walked for 30 minutes to reach to American History Museum (for Kim) in order to see the Star Spangled Banner right before closing time. Jason wants to take a month long vacation to DC in order to see everything there is to see there. I'm not sure that will be enough time....

After the museums closed, we sat on the Mall (not a shopping mall, but a big grassy area-I was very disappointed to learn this fact when I was 15) and watched the sun set behind the Washington Monument. Then we walked over to the WWII Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Memorial. It felt almost magical (maybe spiritual is the right word) at the Lincoln Memorial at night. The Vietnam Wall is huge and full of names. I've seen it before but it was still shocking to see how many young men (the average age was between 19 and 21) lost their lives in that war. My Dad is a veteran of the Vietnam War and I was filled with gratitude that his name (or any of his brothers) is not on that wall. While we were there, a man approached us and asked if we had any questions. We didn't so he decided to fill us in on the facts of the War and the Wall. He finished by telling us that he is a Vietnam Veteran who still suffers from the effects of Agent Orange. He lives in a homeless shelter in DC and spends his days at the Wall helping tourists find the names of loved ones and answering questions that anyone has. I was quite impressed by his knowledge and found him quite interesting.

The White House

A view from the front

And from the back

In the White House visitors center. Someone was really smart and set up tables with pictures, puzzles, and books about the White House. It gave Kinsey (and me) a nice break.

The Treasury Department

The National Air and Space Museaum

Jason liked the planes, Kinsey liked the planes, I liked the chairs.

A picture of a plane that flies by itself somehow. Jason thought these were so cool.

I thought it was cool that the planes didn't fall on top of us...

The Washington Monument

I think we have more pictures of this than anything else. It just makes for good pictures I guess.

Jason took this one...

The Lincoln Memorial

The Vietnam Wall

I didn't really take this picture. But I could have if my camera batteries hadn't died...maybe.

I have one more day to post about. I don't know if anyone other than my mom is really interested in reading my travel log, but come tomorrow (hopefully) my trip will be successfully blogged.

2 comments:

Metta said...: Whatever. WE love your travelog too. Like, we can almost pretend that we were interesting and went somewhere this Spring break, besides Wake Forest and Cary.; March 12, 2009 at 12:24 AM
Jason said...: I learn new things from this blog, even when I was at the event. For example, "starving to death" for a pregnant woman is equal to "sort of hungry" for others...

I recommend the Lincoln memorial and especially the Vietnam memorial. I can't describe the sense of reverence I felt for those lost. I also feel immense gratitude for those whose names do not grace that wall.; March 12, 2009 at 11:03 AM

Moments...

December 13, 2010
Kinsey: "Mom, do you like being a human?"
Me: "Yes."
Kinsey: "I don't."
Me: "What would you rather be instead?"
Kinsey: "A ballerina."
October 26, 2010
Kinsey told me: "I think right now Jesus is saying 'Halloween is in 5 days! I will make it NOT rain that day.'"
June 18, 2010
Kinsey's band-aid fell off in the middle of the night. Kinsey decided, "I think Heavenly Father took it off."
June 18, 2010
Kinsey's explanation of teething: "When I was a little girl, you put some things in my mouth, and they hurted, and then they turned into teeth so I could chew! And that's what will happen to Kaitlyn."
June 3, 1010
Kinsey asked me today, "Mom, why do parents not listen?"
May 3, 2010
I braided Kinsey's hair today. When I took it out, Kinsey looked at all the waves in her hair and said, "I look like an old, old lady!"
April 29, 2010
Kinsey drew me a picture today and said, "This is for my two grown-ups; you and daddy."
January 15, 2010
I gave Kinsey a cookie tonight after dinner. She finished it and asked for another. I told her that I had already put them away and she said, "Well, can you put them un-away?"
January 15, 2010
Today was an unusually nice day (in the 50's) and Kinsey told me, "The sun dried up all that winter!"
December 10, 2009
A classic Kinsey sentence, "Mom, last morning your daughter named me and you dad named Grandpa forgot to weprise (surprise) yours mom!"
November 25, 2009
Kaitlyn woke up from a long nap and Kinsey told her, "Welcome."
November 25, 2009
Kinsey told me, "Mom, I have been holding my pee for one hours! I need to go potty." The other day she told us that she had been in rest time for "30 hours."
November 13, 2009
After her bath tonight Kinsey said, "I look as nice as a daisy!"
November 12, 2009
Kinsey said, "Kaitlyn can hear me in her left ear but not her black ear!"
November 10, 2009
Someone asked Kinsey how old I am, she said, "I don't know what letter Mommy is."
November 7, 2009
We are working on knock knock jokes but Kinsey doesn't really get them. The other day she told me this joke..."Knock knock, who's there? The missionaries! Ola!"
October 30, 2009
Jason is teaching Kinsey some Spanish. The other day she was practicing her counting and started out with "One-o."
October 26, 2009
I was doing Kinsey's hair in the morning and it was tangled. She said, "My hair is all rectangled!"
October 26, 2009
The other day I told Kinsey that we were going to go to a Halloween party at the church. She told me, "Nephi goes to our church."
October 24, 2009
Jason took Kinsey to Wendy's to eat and she told me, "I had a kids meal and Daddy had a big guys meal."
October 22, 2009
During prayer tonight..."Help Kaitlyn to be happy when her binky is in, when it falls out then she not be happy."
October 22, 2009
Kinsey told me, "Kaitlyn is hearing me! In her listening ear." She knows that one ear "doesn't work very well."
October 12, 2009
The other day I was hurrying Kinsey to get out the door and she looked at me and said, "Chill Mom."
October 9, 2009
Kinsey told me that Kaitlyn has "ABCDEFG" (referring to her CMV).
October 7, 2009
Kinsey asked me the other day if we could take a "talking picture" (video).
September 9, 2009
Kinsey told me, "I love Kaitlyn. She is such a good cleaner!"
September 9, 2009
Kinsey: "Why does that doggy have a handle?" (the dog was on a leash)
August 30, 2009
My brother came over for dinner today. After he left Kinsey said, "I just love that man."
July 19, 2009
The missionaries came over today. After they left, Kinsey said, "Them missionaries are so lovely and cute."
July 18, 2009
Kinsey noticed some guys moving furniture outside of our apartment. Some had taken their shirts off and she asked me why. I told her that they were probably hot and explained that sometimes guys take their shirts off outside but that girls shouldn't and figured that would be the end of the conversation. But a little while later she saw the guys outside again and said, "Them boys took off their shirts. They're HOT!"
July 5, 2009
The other day Kinsey told me that when she gets older, she will be angry. I later asked her what she thought the word angry means. She said, "It means I be soooo tall!" I don't know how that one got so mixed up...
June 25, 2009
The other day I started to hiccup and said to Kinsey, "I have the hiccups." A little bit later she yawned and told me, "I have the yawns."
April 22, 2009
Kinsey told me today..."Daddy mine family and you mine family. All both of you mine family!"
April 21, 2009
Kinsey noticed Jason taking a nap one afternoon and asked me what he was doing. I said, "What is Daddy doing Kinsey?" She thought for a moment and then said, "Homework."
April 1, 2009
Kinsey and I took a walk to take some things to the recycling bins. She usually brings her stroller and a doll or two but didn't ask to this time. When we were halfway to the recycling bins, she stopped in her tracks and said, "Oh my! We forgot mine stroller!"
April 1, 2009
I asked Kinsey is the eggs she was eating for breakfast were good. She thought about it for awhile and then said, "kind of."
March 2009
-I was trying to explain that we didn't need the lights on because it was sunny outside. Kinsey finally kind of caught on and said, "We don't need the lights, the sun is on!"
-That transpired into this...
I was getting ready in the bathroom, a room with no windows, and Kinsey told me, "Mommy, we don't need lights, the sun is on!"
-And finally into this:
Me: Kinsey, you don't need the light on, the sun is on.
Kinsey: No, the moon is on.
(She's two, so she argues everything of course)
February 27, 2009
Kinsey tells me that everything costs "three nine dollars."
February 17, 2009
Kinsey's newest counting method: one, two, three, four, nine, two, three.
February 1, 2009
When Kinsey finds something she is looking for she says, "This it is!"
January 26, 2009
Kinsey has a little basketball that needs aired up. She brought it to me the other day and told me that "It needs batteries."
January 15, 2009
If I don't pay attention to Kinsey when she is trying to get my attention she will start to call me "Kimmie." She will repeat it over and over again until I focus my attention on her.
December 10, 2008
Kinsey and I left this morning and I said, "Bye Hun" to Jason. Kinsey then repeated "Bye Hun" and then started laughing and said, "Kinsey say bye hun."
December 7, 2008
Kinsey has been telling me that our stockings are "Santa's Socks."
December 3, 2008
Whenever Kinsey notices that there is more than one of something, she counts like this..."one two free, one two free--a lot!"
November 24, 2008
Today Kinsey told me that the eggs I was cooking were "cute."
November 16, 2008
After Jason strapped Kinsey in her car seat the other day, she said loudly, "It's too tight Mom!"
November 14, 2008
Today Kinsey told me, "I loo Shampoo." Interpretation: I love Winne the Pooh.
November 11, 2008
I threw some clothes onto the bed and heard Kinsey say, "Oh Mama. No no throw. No no." as she shook her head in disappointment.
October 23, 2008
I put a bow in Kinsey's hair the other day and when she saw herself in the mirror she said, "Oh! Cute!"
October 8, 2008
Kinsey poked herself in the eye today and kept crying about it. Apparently I didn't comfort her good enough because she kept saying "See Cole!" (our friend Nicole). I kept telling her that we couldn't go see Nicole right now and she finally said, "Get in car and see Cole!"
October 7, 2208
We were walking around the neighborhood this evening and Kinsey spotted a dog and wanted to say hi. The dog lay down and Kinsey said "Upside woof-woof down!" (upside down dog)
October 5, 2008
Jason made pancakes this morning. Kinsey really enjoyed them and kept saying "I loo pan pans!"
October 3, 2008
Today I was getting Kinsey ready for bed and she looked up at me and said, "I loo (love) mama. A lot." So sweet!
October 3, 2008
Kinsey was walking up the stairs on her own and I said "Be careful Kinsey!" She said, "I know!" Guess I say that a lot!
September 30, 2008
Kinsey now calls ice cream "abilene" and Winnie the Pooh "shampoo."
August 30, 2008
After a day at the zoo, we were talking to Kinsey about what we had done. We asked if she had fun at the zoo, she said, "Uh huh." We then asked her what she saw at the zoo. She answered, "More and more and more animals!"
August 14, 2008
I was telling Jason how well Kinsey was doing learning her colors. I mentioned that she knows the color white. Jason said, "She knows white?" Kinsey, very confidently, broke into the conversation and said "I know white." We just looked at each other. It was her first "real" sentence that she thought up all on her own. She's growing up too fast.
June 20, 2008
Kinsey and I were taking a walk around the neighborhood when she spotted a dog, or a "woof woof" as she calls it. We went over to say hi and the dog touched her hand with his nose. Kinsey looked at her hand then said "eww" and wiped her hand on her shorts.
April 22, 2008
The other day Kinsey and I were looking at a picture of President Monson. I asked her if she knew who it was. She got really excited, pointed to the picture and yelled, "Bampa!" (Grandpa)