Memorial Day Weekend

So we decided to go up to Washington, D.C. to spend some with Taryn and Gabriel and do some sight seeing around D.C. It turned out to be a great weekend! The weather was beautiful. It didn't start raining until the drive home on Monday evening.
Friday we drove up with Mom and Dad Ray to the Haley Crew's place in Haymarket and just chatted a bit and just relaxed and watched a movie and then went to bed.
Saturday we all got up and had breakfast and then once we were all ready and gathered, we took off to downtown D.C. We parked and took off running! We all wanted to tour the Smithsonian's predominantly so we took off to the Air and Space Museum. We went to see an IMAX movie where Gabriel got to take a mini nap and then we toured around and looked at all the planes and planets and so much more! They have a display that shows to scale the size of each planet, their moons, and the sun. You don't realize just how LARGE the sun is. They couldn't even show a quarter of it in the display b/c it is just so massive compared to all the other planets and stars. Along with that it was crazy to see how our grandparents, great-grandparents, and for some parents fought in the World Wars. All the planes and how quickly they have advanced. It is so scary to think about. Then we ate lunch and took off toward the Museum of Natural History where we got to see the Hope Diamond :) and of course the giant Elephant! We also went through the Bones Display, the dinosaurs, the butterfly display, and the tropics with all kinds of eery bugs! Gabriel really enjoyed looking up at all the crazy bone structures of the water dinosaurs. :) Then we went to see the Declaration of Independence, Magna Carta, and all the other important government documents. There is so much power in that building when you walk through. You feel the thought and hard work that our forefathers put in to building this country. Let's pray that we can stay true to what they fought and worked for. Then it was off to the Museum of American History. Dad's favorite part was the flag that flew over Fort McHenry when it was being attacked. It is the actual flag, the same flag that inspired the writing of the Star Spangled Banner. It is so powerful, all the history that is associated with so many aspects of our country. We really take for granted just living. We always need to be reminded just how much the people who lived before us did for our country. From there we went back home for the evening. We were all pooped!
On Sunday the gals took off to the outlet mall while the guys (including Gabriel) stayed back at the house.
Then on Monday we did Ford's Theater which is where President Lincoln was assassinated. That is another very powerful place. We also were able to go through the house where he died. Once we took the tour and had lunch we took off back to pick up Taryn and Gabriel so we could take Taryn out for her Birthday Dinner!! We went out for Thai which was very good! Then we sadly had to head back to Richmond. Overall it was a fantastic weekend filled with so many things. Too many to name them all!!! Enjoy the slide show!