Lawn Chair Drill Team

Congrats to all the Utah kids and teachers who are done with another year!! I am jealous you are out! We don't get out until this Friday...of course we didn't start until after Labor Day, so I guess it's fair! I always have mixed feelings at the end of the end of the year. In one way, I am thrilled to have a break and get things done that desperately need to be done. I get excited because Jeff is always so excited to go camping. But at the same time, it is always a little sad, no matter how hard the year has been. I always get sad to see my little ones move on. I worry that I haven't done enough for them and then I think about not seeing them everyday and it makes me sad. Even though I have had some hard days this year, I am really going to miss my group!! I had some of the sweetest kids and some of them I won't get to see next year since our school is splitting. So sad. I am glad that I had the chance to have them though and that we could learn together. I always think it's funny though because it seems like the kids have the same mixed feelings I do. I had about 12 of my 18 kids tell me on Friday, "I just need to hug you extra long today because I am going to miss you so much!!" I kept telling them, "It's okay! I am going to see you on MONDAY just like I always do!" They are so cute.

This summer is already packed and I think it is going to go way too fast. We are putting in some sod on the side of our backyard, growing a garden--which so far is doing great!, going to Kentucky to visit my bro. and we are also going to Nashville, Charleston, and the Smokey Mountains, we will no doubt be camping, hiking, and backpacking, and I have a couple of doctor appointments which may turn out to be more than I have scheduled, and of course, there is the going to school and getting ready for the next year.

Anyway, back to my post. On Friday our school had a talent show. It was so cute! A lot of the kids sang or danced or jumproped. A group of teachers also put on a little act for the kids. It was a lawn chair drill team and we did a dance with our lawn chair to YMCA. It was hilarious!!! I had a great time and it reminded me of the variety shows back in the Pony Express days.

The Wax Museum

One of my favorite things we did was go to the wax museum. It was so much fun!! We decided to do it last minute on the last day we were in D.C. The best part was that you could get right next to them for perfect photos!

I have to say though, that the funniest part was that all of the figures looked SO REAL!!! My friend Jaime couldn't stop laughing at me because I kept asking all the wax figures to take a picture for us!

There were historical figures as well as celebrities.

They had the press conference podium and also the presidential desk. Right now I am lecturing the country on saving their money and to stop asking for bail outs! On a side note, my favorite protester sign this year: "Honk if I'm paying your mortgage."

I was also able to help Martin Luther King Jr. with his "I have a dream" speech. and sit with Abraham Lincoln.

And in case you're wondering how the country will ever back the trillions dollars of debt in the deficit, we can just run a few trillion of these babies!

The White House

While in Washington DC, we had the amazing opportunity to take a personal tour of the West Wing of the White house. A former student of one of the other math teachers is in the Navy. He is currently on duty at the White House and was able to get us in for a tour. So awesome! We got to wear these sweet tags, but of course couldn't take them home.

We were unable to take pictures of a lot, but it was so cool! I could go on and on about all of the different areas and rooms, but I will spare you too many of the details. This is one of the dining rooms.

Apparently Brad Pitt has eaten in this dining room. I am pretty sure he sat in the exact chair I am sitting...ha ha. All of the plates had the presidential seal on them. I kept telling one of the ladies we were with to stick the silverware in her purse, but she didn't seem to think that was a good idea.

We also got to taste the most delicious dessert in the whole wide world! The cute little Navy cooks made us what is known as Chocolate Freedom. It was to die for!!!!

We learned loads of interesting facts about the White House. We had fun watching the snipers on the roof and learning about all of the crazy security.

The press room was really interesting. The names of the newspapers were on the chairs, which I didn't know. The room was also a lot smaller than I thought it would be.

We went into the building directly behind the White House as well. It was really neat and historical. Most of the rooms are used as offices now. This room we were in was called the Indian Treaty Room. While we were in this room, we looked out the window and saw the snipers move to a different part of the roof of the White House. Then we saw one of the Obama girls playing with the dog out on the lawn. We couldn't see them really closely, but it was really cool. I was lucky that I went with such a fun group of people! We had a blast!

The Museums

I realized that I am really going to be posting about Washington DC for a really long time. I have so many pictures and so many things to write about! I am trying to weed through the pictures and just put up the most interesting things, but it is really hard.

We had a lot of fun going to museums. The best part is that all of the Smithsonian museums are free. We didn't have a whole lot of time to sit and spend in every museum, but we tried to see as much as we could. We went to Museum of American History and saw Abraham Lincoln's hat, the ruby slippers, artifacts from all of the wars, etc.

We also went to the portrait museum. It was really funny because at the portrait museum we had to carry out backpacks on our fronts. I don't know why, but we could not stop laughing because we looked ridiculous.
The Air and Space museum was really cool. We went there on our last day so we really had to hurry. The last day we were there was really hot! It was 100 degrees when we left, which was a huge difference compared to when we got there and it was cold and rainy. I'm glad it was cooler most of the time!

It was also fun to see the National Archive museum. I loved looking at the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The signatures are getting really difficult to see.

Arlington Cemetery

Okay, Okay, I know I have been a posting machine! I'm sure you are all sick of hearing and seeing my trip, but since my blog is like my journal, I'm just going to keep posting.

At least I finally have something to post! On Wednesday we went to Arlington Cemetery. It was really touching.

The cherry blossom trees were beautiful at the cemetery! We saw the Kennedy Grave site with the eternal flame and my favorite: The tomb of the Unknown soldier.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is where they do the changing of the guard. That was a really cool ceremony to watch and like everything else in DC, it just made me feel even more patriotic than I already am. I am so grateful to all the men and women who have given their lives so that I can live in a free country.



My old teaching buddy, Whitney, came and met me at the cemetery since she lives an hour a way. I was soooo happy she took the time to come out, even though it was a school night! I had a great time catching up with her and trying to find a parking spot! :) She is the sweetest and I am glad I got to see her, even if it wasn't for as long as I had hoped!