Washington D.C.

So as I mentioned before I made a trip to Washington D.C. in the middle of October. This was the first time I have traveled by myself. I was extremely nervous about it, but also excited to show a little independence and figure something out on my own! I left at 6:00a.m. from Kansas City (why I chose to leave at the butt crack of dawn I do not know!) had a hour layover in Chicago then arrived at Reagan International around lunchtime! Once I landed here came my first opportunity to find my own way, the family I was meeting was driving around the airport and I was trying to figure out where the heck I needed to go to meet them. Eventually we figured it out and we were off! I went to visit the Dietz family, I met them while they were stationed at Ft. Riley and I provided childcare for their children (of course at first there was only one my Katie!!!). So that was our first stop of the day to pick Katie up from Kindergarten, I still can't believe my little Katie is in school now! Over the next few days we went to several monuments, the zoo and to D.C. Cupcakes in George Town.

These pictures were taken at Arlington Cemetery; it was so peaceful and beautiful there. I think it would have touched me being there anytime, however being a military wife now I think I saw it in a whole different way. I felt such a feeling of pride for my husband and everyone serving in the military. I know I have only been a military wife for a few months, yet I instantly felt connected to this place and the military in general. It is impossible to explain how I felt. Although I felt many mixed emotions there overall I felt a sense of pride and peace, and was so glad for the opportunity to be there.

On Friday evening we headed out to George Town and stopped at D.C. Cupcaks (from the show on TLC) there was a line out the door and up the road. If you know me at all you know I love desserts anything sweet, with chocolate preferably! So this was the perfect stop to make. After we ate our cupcakes we made a run past the Jefferson Memorial, it was fun seeing it all lit up. However it was also very cold and my already unsteady hands were shaking like crazy making getting a good picture very difficult!

On Saturday we started our day taking a trip on the Metro…and of course I screw up my ticket by putting it next to my phone demagnetizing the strip! The reason for our metro ride was to get to the zoo. The best part by far at the zoo was getting to see the Pandas, next to Dolphins, Pandas are my all time favorite animals!!

After the zoo we headed off for the monuments. We were able to hit the Washington Memorial, the WWII Memorial, the Reflecting Pool, and the Lincoln Memorial. Then an added bonus was that I was able to get descent pictures with a zoom lens of the White House and Capitol Building.

White House Capitol Building

Washington Memorial and Reflecting Pool (up)

WWII Memorial, each pillar had a state name on it!

Just past the WWII Memorial was the Lincoln Memorial with the Reflecting Pool in between the two monuments.

Lincoln Memorial (Up)

The last thing we did on our way to the airport taking me home was stop at the Air Force Memorial. I was really excited to find something Air Force centered! (gee I wonder why?) It was a small memorial but really nice and up on a hill. From the center of the memorial you could see the pentagon and Arlington Cemetery.