Washington DC

Last weekend was a crazy
weekend.  Hannah competed at
Nationals in Norfolk, Virginia.
She did great!  It was  huge event
with 40-50 NCAA coaches
watching and scouting girls for 
their teams.
I need to get the picture from
Kevin and get them posted.
On our way to Washington DC
we stopped here for some
dinner.  It was connected to
a big Sports World store.
The fish taco's were pretty good!

Saturday Hannah wanted to go to
the Holocaust Museum.  By the
time we got there, the last tickets
had been sold, but there were some
other things you could walk around
and look at.

Since we couldn't go through the 
Holocaust Museum we decided
to walk around. Across the 
street was the Washington 
Memorial.

You can't get very close to
it because they are trying
to get it fixed up after the
earthquake they had.

Cool little tree to sit in and take
in all the sites and people.

This was the World War II
Memorial.
Hannah was standing under
Utah. You can see her little head.

Hannah under the Utah wreath.

The World War II Memorial
had a really
pretty fountain and pool in
the middle with all the states
going around with wreaths.

Squirrel - these things are not
afraid of you and will come
right up and eat food out of 
your hand. Ewww.

Lincoln Memorial

This is part of the Korean Memorial.

The next day we went to
Mount Vernon - where
George Washington lived.
Hannah in her Pittsburgh 
Steelers jersey she got for
her birthday - showing attitude.

I told her to be serious for a
minute and - then I cut off her 
feet. 

This is the garden there.  It was
amazing.  It had all kinds of
flowers.

Fruits and vegetables growing.
Their Magnolia trees are huge - 
because it is so humid there.
Not like the little Hannah tree
we use to have.

Here are the spinning wheels they
used for the wool.

This was the Overseer's room -
who was in charge of the 
whole farm. It was pretty 
nice.  I think I read he made
$13.31 a year.

This was the bunkhouse for the
women slaves.  There was one
for just the men also.
It held about 8-10 women and
their children usually slept on
the floor.

Yikes!

Here is the side of the women slave
bunkhouse where they would 
make their own meals.  
They would have to grow their
own vegetables if they wanted
any.
The dark brick in the background
is some of the original bricks 
of the house.

The back yard on Mount Vernon
looked out over the Potomac
River.  It was a great view
from the house.

This is a little brick wall that they 
build around the perimeter of
the house to keep the livestock
from getting in the yard.
It is called the HaHa wall.
Some of the kids would be 
playing and running down the
hill and not see it and fall - 
and then the other kids would
laugh and say HaHa.
It was only about 2 feet tall and 
then dropped to more grass.

This is a little grove of trees
that they think around 316 slaves
were buried that worked at 
Mount Vernon.

This was a grave marker that
was made in their honor.

The back porch of the Mount
Vernon House.  It looked out
on the Potomac River.

This is the Tomb of
George and Martha 
Washington.
George was on the right
and Martha on the left.
Then the little black door goes
back even further with 
family member buried inside.

This was a big bird that had
made her nest on one
of the big posts at the Wharf.
The egg had just hatched the
day before.

The Wharf at Mount Vernon.
You can take little boat 
rides - but it had closed
for the day.
This was Hannah's 
US History Lesson in a day.
Go straight to the source!

Of course we couldn't 
miss going to Georgetown
Cupcakes.  This was top of
Hannah's to do list. 
Hannah ordered a Toffee
Crunch that was 
"To Die For"
I think this place ranks high
on the Cupcake list for Hannah.
They were delish and the 
store was cute and the
girls were wearing their
pink rain boots!

We went to the Spy Museum.
At one point you can go up
into the air ducts like a spy
might do and listen to
conversations.  I got a picture,
but forgot there was no
picture taking - OOPS!
Hopefully life will settle down
just a little now that the
competition season is over 
and so is soccer.
Viewmont lost their first
playoff game and is out.
Both kids were home last
Wednesday - Friday before
3:00.  That was WEIRD!