We started out after church on June 23. Our first stop was St Catherines, ON at friends. The kids and I stopped there four years ago on our way to visit Matt. While living in MN, there were five - six couples we became friends with through my teaching with them. None of us had family in Minneapolis, so we became each other's family. We worked together, played together, shared holidays, and literally went through life and death together. It was wonderful to sit down, talk, and relax with people we love and be reminded of the time we shared. Our lives are different now - 8 kids later between the two of us, but they jumped right back into Lake Ontario together. Only this year, we got them out before they got soaked! We rode the carousel, played in the lake, found a letterbox, watched some big ships work their way through the locks, drove through Niagara on the Lake, and marveled at Niagara Falls. Thanks you guys for rest, fun, and good memories.
From Niagara, we took the back roads drive to Washington DC. Driving through the Appalachian mountains on two lane roads is quite the trip. It was beautiful and adventurous! We arrived in Silver Spring, MD at our wonderful hosts home quite late. My uncle and aunt were even up and waiting for us!
The next morning we got up and at it, ate a yummy waffle and pancake breakfast, packed lunches, and headed to the Capital. My aunt served as an incredible tour guide for two days, not to mention cook, hostess, and so much more. Its pretty good when you can endure four hot and whining children!
We toured the Capital building, and Matt made friends with Joe, our tour guide who was an incredibly knowledgeable man. He spoke 57 languages!
Next we headed to Ford Theatre and the house across the street where Lincoln actually died. The National Park Service has taken over these buildings and there is a museum and a ranger talk and scheduled times to tour the building. It was air conditioned which was a welcome change! From there we walked to the old post office building and went to the top of the tower. First on a glass elevator, then up some stairs. The view was quite impressive! Then it was time to find some souvenirs and head back to home base.
The next day, we decided to conquer Arlington National Cemetery and the changing of the guard. Next we saw Iwo Jima, ate lunch along the Potomac River, and did a self guided walking tour of the monuments, finished off by popsicles that melted more quickly than we could eat them. Later that evening we took a swim at the neighbors house and had supper with my cousin's family.
Our final day of touring brought us to the zoo to see the panda bears and many other cool animals. My cousin and his family were our tour guides this day. We also got a picture in front of the White House and then checked out the Air and Space Museum for a bit. We rode the metro home - our kids' first time on a subway. We finished off the evening with my other cousin's family and some swimming and playtime for the kids.
We had a wonderful time. Thanks guys for making it such a memorable trip!
