Our Time in D.C. Day 1 & 2

Faith and I have had an amazing time in D.C., everyday we have seen and experienced something new and amazing. Our trip here started with a bang. Faith has always wanted to fly "first class", she wanted the leather seats. We flew South West and you get to chose your seats, Faith was very excited because we had an "A" ticket. Unfortunately, it was A-50, so a large group went before us. Faith was not to happy! As we boarded the plane, there was a good looking man sitting in the front row by himself. I asked if the seats were taken and told him how my daughter really wanted to sit in the front. Well, to make a long story short, they played Faith's guitar hero on her DS and they had a great time. Faith felt like a princess. When we arrived, we both ran through the airport to find Gregg, it was so nice to be together again. Our first day adventuring into D.C., we saw the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial and the White House. As you are at these places you get a sense of such overwhelming pride and I found myself choked up at times. All your life you read about these places but to see them and touch them brings on a whole new meaning.



Faith experiencing the Metro, Federal Triangle was our stop to the Monuments.

Washington Monument and the World War II Monuments

The frozen Reflecting Pond and the Lincoln Memorial ...88 steps to the top.
Views from Lincoln Memorial and The Veterans Wall Statue

Catching a hot dog on Constitution Ave. in front of the Federal Reserve.

The White House and the Review stand before tear down. G being interviewed in front of the White House by Norwegian T.V. about the Inauguration.

Cell Phone

My daughter, Faith, has a newer cell phone that she got this Christmas. Well actually, she had my old Blackberry Pearl, that is, until my SIL talked her into trading. She loves her cell phone because my oldest daughter, Kali, helped her download her favorite songs as ring tones. She took pictures of her nephews and even a few videos. It has really cool games on it because my SIL is a gamer. Faith has this thing about turning it off when she goes to gymnastics or runs it down until it has one bar. This morning, I am getting things packed for D.C. because we leave tomorrow. We are going through our checklist to see if we need anything before we run errands. Faith comes in and says, "Mom, where did you put my cell phone?" I did not touch it and actually reminded her to plug it in before she went to sleep. We both go there and no phone. She is insisting I had it...yes, because I love to tear my house apart looking for a cell phone. Hmmm, maybe we shouldn't turn it off so we can call it! We looked in all the obvious places and even the not so obvious. She went and checked the truck and the front office where we live. Meanwhile, I call the restaurant where we ate and her gym. By this time, Faith is starting to lose it and the devastation has set in that her cell phone may be gone. The gym called back after there first search and found it! Hallelujah! Funny, the first thing she did when she got home was to plug it in. I am sure that ringer will always stay on. Although, I felt bad for her it was a good lesson in responsibility.

Forts & Adoption

Every kid loves that secret space where they can crawl into and feel that they have some privacy. I had the woods growing up and I took full advantage of building forts. We have done the blankets over chair thing. After awhile, they are sagging and she is calling me in repeatedly to fix it. I was at Target and saw this little tent and knew it was perfect. It was easy to put together and now she can have a great place to read her books and sleep in it if she wants. She puts her pet clay lizard to guard the entrance when she is gone.

Today, for History, she had to write a report on taking a safari. We are studying Kenya, but she loves Snow Leopards. I know they are located in Asia, but she insisted writing on the leopard. When we were doing research, we came across a site that lets you adopt a leopard. So, for a $25 donation you get a fact sheet, certificate with their name on it and they mail her a stuffed animal of the leopard. I printed out the fact sheet and the certificate, she was so excited! Now, she can't wait to get her leopard and we will get a frame for the certificate.

Stars Gymnastic Spectacular

Warm-up/Stretching

Today, Faith's gym had a fundraiser and put together a great show. They started of with a dance to "Beautiful Girls" that was very well choreographed. Then they picked certain girls from their levels to show their stuff. Katey & Faith did their level 5 routine in perfect timing together. To finish it off they did a fashion show with leotards representing local college teams and the Buccaneers. Faith was excited because she won one of the larger raffle prizes. It was very well put together, I was very impressed.

Faith in a back tuck

Faith's Space

As most of you know, we home school Faith. We love the freedom it gives our family to travel and the education possibilities for Faith. We are able to work at her pace and not be slowed down by kids that aren't ready to move on. We have a chance to do all the experiments, art projects and take off on random field trips on something we are studying. Since we came to Florida, Faith really didn't have her own space for school. So last night, I surprised her by setting up her own desk and chair. She has a beautiful view of palm trees and flowers. We will still take those times on beautiful days to sit in the cabana by the pool or pack a lunch and school by the beach.

Happy New Year-2009

For New Years weekend, we usually book a room on the coast in Gold Beach, Oregon where it is very cold and windy. We would always bundle up and just enjoy the beauty of the rocky coast.

New Year's in Florida is like Fourth of July! There are firework stands everywhere and it is warm outside. We spent a great day together at Clearwater Beach. They have a carnival like atmosphere with people doing street shows and booths where you can buy all kinds of souvenirs, get your hair braided, or even get henna tattoo's. They have activities for kids like big water slides or the trampoline where Faith loves to do somersaults. We finished our New Years Day by eating at Crabby Bills, which is Faith's favorite restaurant. I rather enjoyed my first New Years in sunny Florida.