Washington D.C.

One of the great things about living in Pennsylvania is being so close to so many great places to go see- Philadelphia, NY, DC, Niagara, Hill Cumorah, Boston, etc. are all within 4 1/2 hours of our place. There is still so much I want to see that I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to fit it all in (so if anyone wants to come out and go check these places out with me you'd better hurry). Back in April I was able to take a trip with my Mom, sister and kids (again, sorry Dallin) to DC right when the cherry blossoms were out. We loved it! We were impressed with how clean the main part of the city was and for a major metro area it really wasn't that bad to get around in. There was a lot to see and do and the weather was gorgeous. I personally would have loved to have spent more time in the art museums, but with a three year old and a baby that just wasn't going to happen.

I made sure we made it there for the cherry blossoms because that was one of the things that I absolutely loved about Japan and I didn't want to pass up an opportunity to enjoy them again. We were lucky, the timing was perfect and the blossoms were beautiful. I definitely was reminiscing about Japan.

Of course we tried to get to as many monuments as possible and they were all wonderful. The Jefferson was beautiful for me architecturally, but the Lincoln and the new WWII monument were very special and particularly sacred.

We also took in some of the Smithsonian which, little did I know, is actually a whole bunch of different museums. There was some cool stuff, but again, not quite as interesting to the kids. Kaia much preferred to ride the Merry-Go-Round as many times as I could afford.

We did a lot of walking and all got our souvenir T-shirts. A bunch of kids were playing with the branches of a weeping willow tree, so of course Kaia had to do the same.

The DC temple is actually the temple we are assigned to (even though Manhattan and Palmyra are both closer). I had already been a few times before, but we ended up there "accidentally" because I was following those directions just to get to DC and then forgot I needed to switch to the directions for the hotel. Oh well, it's never a loss when you find yourself at the temple.

Well, it was a great time, and if you don't believe me you can come on out and I will gladly go back and show you around!