Pages

Monday, May 28, 2007

Photo taken at the Vietnam Memorial - May 28, 2007

Our Memorial Day 2007
Our day turned out to be great and quite unexpected. We woke up exhausted with no plans to do anything but sit at the pool all day. Then at 9:00 am Jeff packs up lunches and puts the bikes in the back of the car and says - we are going downtown. Within minutes we were all ready to go. (we never schedule anything and are so last minute and I think why we end up doing more than if we planned it out)

Our families favorite song is the Jonas Brothers "Year 3000" Whenever it comes on Caroline says, "It's the Jonas Brothers" even Sally Jane knows the words. So i had to take a photo of the song when it came on Radio Disney. (if you have not seen the video it is so cute!) We of course love them even more after we saw them perform live on the White House lawn at Easter.

As we were getting ready to pull of the GW parkway we noticed a low flying helicopter. Traffic seemed to be stopped anywhere it was flying over, we got off the parkway and pulled right into the city in front of the Washington monument the block before the White House. We had at first thought that the President was in there getting ready to land on the White House lawn, then we figured it was just securing the area and that the motorcade was getting ready to drive by. We were about 5 cars back from the line of vehicles that drove by.
I could not get a good shot of his car so I turned to take a photo of the girls peeking out of the car to wave to him. They were so excited! We figured he was on his way to Arlington to make his Memorial Day speech.
We were so lucky to get a street parking right across from the Vietnam Memorial. We got out our bikes and then started at the Lincoln Memorial to head to the Capitol and then back.
Most of my photos were taken today while I was biking, so they are not that great but so lucky to have a sleek small camera to use. This was the line to get down to the Vietnam Memorial. There were news cameras everywhere and broadcasters doing live broadcasts.
Photo of the many flowers of the Vietnam memorial the black wall is right behind my back.
We felt lucky to be able to maneuver our bikes through all the people on the sidewalks. Jeff was nice enough to pull the trailer today. You can't tell from the photo but all the flags around the memorial are flying half mast. On Memorial day you fly flags half mast before noon and then rise them to the top. So when we came back around they were flying high. Kind of cool.
we rode past the Smithsonian Carousel and just had to stop. something we had never done before. The Carousel is directly across from the Red Castle that now serves as a visitor center for all the Smithsonian museums.
Annie Kate on the Carousel that has been there since 1967 but was built in the 1940's.
This could be one of my favorite finds of the day. It is a mailbox in the visitors Center that will get a hand cancelled post mark. The post mark is what is shown on the sign. (kind of like what Jill talked about at the Eiffel Tower) Ok, so my heart started racing thinking... I am going to bring my Christmas Cards here to get this postmark. I studied the box to see if could hold 250 cards. Jeff thinks that it is too much to drop off, but I am highly considering it!! But if you visit D.C. send yourself a postcard from this box for sure.
In front of the Castle is the Kathrine Dulin Folger Rose garden. It is beautiful.
I loved this photo of Jeff putting on Caroline's helmet. The red, blue and green seem so vivid.
There is a Memorial Day parade and we saw the whole thing. Only it was not moving. We rode our bikes along all the floats and bands waiting to march on the way to the Capitol. It was the best way to see a parade, it took about 10 minutes.

We then came back down to the Lincoln Memorial and then went across the Memorial Bridge. The Memorial Bridge is kind of symbolic in linking the north (Lincoln Memorial) to the south (the Arlington House, which belonged to Robert E. Lee and now where the Lee Memorial is)
I have wanted to walk, run or bike across this bridge since we moved here, so I was thrilled. It is a bridge that goes across the Potomac.
We had parked close to the Albert Einstein memorial and finally got a chance to stop and let the girls climb on. We were the only ones wanting a photo, which was nice, usually it is so crowded and busy. This memorial is directly across the street from the Vietnam War Memorial.

The Rolling Thunder Alley was where our car was parked and I had to snap a shot. All the Harley's were parked out front and walking by it smelled like leather. It had a bunch of booths selling Harley/biker items.It was just another great D.C. day. And to think we were going to just sit by the pool. (which we did do later in the day)
I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day!
the rest of my 121 photos

15 comments:

Anne said...

What a great way to spend the day. My friend and I attempted to go to Arlington Cemetery this morning but it didn't work out. We got to Memorial bridge literally seconds before they closed it off to traffic, but traffic getting into the cemetery was a mess so we turned around. Unfortunately we were on a time limit and couldn't go find a spot further away and walk over. I love the flags on each headstone in Arlington cemetery, it's very sobering, awe-inspiring and just plain neat. I hope to get down there one of these time to take pictures.

Wow I should probably be posting these things on my blog instead of in your comments. Oh well!!

Jill said...

How in the world do you wake up exhausted and planning to sit by the pool and then end up riding bikes downtown?? You guys are fun, and your definition of exhausted must be different from mine.

The pictures look great, especially considering you took them while riding your bike! I love the girls' red, white and blue dresses and shorts, so cute!

Jill said...

I forgot to comment on that postmark, it looks cool. You should ask them about mailing your Christmas cards from there, what a great idea.

Tasha said...

What a great day! I love the pictures. Where are the girls' outfits from? They are darling!

There is a great place in Philly that still handcancels postage with Ben Franklin's signature or stomething. When I went, there was a lady bringing all of her wedding invites there to be mailed out. Definately take your cards there!

carlo said...

love that your heart was racing at the sight of that postbox...

Holly said...

Thanks for sharing all of the special sights on Memorial Day.
Ya'll were so smart to travel around today on your bikes, you could get through where cars couldn't.

A great spontaneous outing...and you had time for the pool too!

Price Cream Parlor said...

LOVE, love, love that you spent your holiday like this! This is an amazing place in which you live and you totally use that to your advantage. I love it! Love all the photos, the matching patriotic outfits (hello, Ms. Clever!) - I really enjoyed the photo of your little with Albert Einstein. I would blow that up and put that in her room. So awesome!
What fun parents you are - making wonderful memories for your littles and photo documenting them as you go!
I'm exhausted reading this! ha!~

Chanel Palmer said...

I love that I get to experience all these great DC activities and monuments vicariously through you!

Not to mention that I exercise vicariously through you too.

melanie said...

I am so tired thinking about all the riding and seeing you did. I love all the photos you took and you definitely deserved to end up at the pool! Your girls look adorable!

Rachel said...

More excellent pictures and DC history! I feel so educated after visiting your blog! I love the girl's outfits...so cute! Our day unfolded in a similar way...no plans, but then wham! It's always so much more fun to be spontaneous! :)

donna said...

What a wonderful day you had in DC. We where in DC for the 4th of July. It was so great. What a fun place to visit.

Mrs. McDaniel said...

what great experiences you are providing your children. I wished we lived somewhere cool like DC~I love reading your blog!

Ashley said...

Have I mentioned that I LOVE how your coordinate your girls' clothes, and match them to the occasion? Also I can't believe you send that many Christmas cards! Wow!

michelle said...

I agree with Jill, your definition of exhausted must be different from mine! You went from wanting to sit by the pool to riding bikes (and pulling kids in a trailer)?? Seriously. Sounds like you guys did a ton of fun stuff.

annalisa said...

Wow what a weekend. Your kids are going to be teaching their history classes :).
I love the slip dresses, what a find. I printed off the toothfairy pillow you made to give to my mom in hopes that she'll make one for Alexis. That was how long ago and it's still sitting on my desk.