Dave and I woke up to a real surprise early in the morning. We found out that the real snoring culprit was Brock, not Seth! The snoring was so bad that I made Dave get up and go tell whoever it was to roll over or something. He went and listened to Seth, and it wasn't him! It was Brock who was snoring so loud. We laughed so hard! The solution was easy though - we just told Brock to roll over every time he started snoring, and just like clockwork, he would roll over and the snoring would stop. We had a good system going.
This was an early morning day for us. We had a tour of the White House set up for 7:30, which is early enough when you don't have to consider the traffic heading into DC every morning. The traffic was always horrendous, so that made driving a little more difficult. We were late leaving the hotel anyway, and when we got a few miles out we realized that not all of us had our I.D.'s, which we definitely needed to get into the white house. We had to send in all of our social security numbers 6 months ahead of time so that we could get screened and accepted for a tour. So, we had to turn around and go get everyone's I.D.'s. Then, we had NO idea where we were going to park once we actually got into DC. We were all hoping there would be a spot open close to the White House, but we weren't really counting on much. Once we got there though, we found a meter about 2 blocks away. We got SO lucky. We even made it on time! While we were going through the screening process, there were signs all over that had pictures of the prohibited items in the White House. Things like cameras, cell phones, food, etc. While taking in these signs, Scott whispers into Dave's ear, "Yeah, and Arab Terrorists are prohibited too!" We were all DYING of laughter.
The actual tour of the White House wasn't as great as I think we expected it to be. We could only see 4 or 5 rooms, and the one room that Dave wanted to see was closed off so we couldn't even see it. It was the Press Release room, and that's where President Roosevelt had his fireside chats with the nation. It was a very pretty building, and the few rooms that we did get to see were awesome, but overall, it was a little disappointing. We did get some good photos afterwards though.
After the White House, we made the long drive up to Gettysburg. Gettysburg was also one of my favorite things about our trip. As you may know, I am a HUGE fan of Abraham Lincoln, so naturally, I love Civil War history. Gettysburg was absolutely incredible. There were 52,000 casualties at Gettysburg alone. It was a very reverent place, and there was a really neat spirit there. It definitely looked like a battlefield. We bought an audio tour that led us to different stops, and taught us about what happened at each spot. Again, we wish we would have had more time here, because there was SO much to see, and not nearly enough time to see it. That was pretty much the story of our trip. We always needed more time to see things.
Before we actually drove around Gettysburg, we went to the Visitor's Center and watched a movie about Gettysburg, and then watched this thing called Cyclorama. Sounds cheesy right? I was pretty skeptical, but it was really neat. It was a giant circular painting of Gettysburg, and it had music and lights and narration in the background. It was kind of a panoramic view of how the battle unfolded. It was really REALLY cool.
Watching the Cyclorama
Dave was SO excited. This was the stretcher that carried
Stonewall Jackson when he was shot
General Lee's bed and table that traveled with him throughout
the Civil War
This is one of my very favorite quotes about history in general,
and the Civil War in particular.
The Eternal Flame monument. It is always lit to
remember the sacrifices made at Gettysburg.
Most of these cannons were authentic from the Civil War
We loved Gettysburg!
This view is overlooking a place in Gettysburg called Little Round Top.
The union soldiers held this ground in the battle, and this may have been
what ended up winning the war for them. Because they had the high ground
they could see the enemy advancing, so had time to prepare and meet them
in battle.
A view from Pickett's Charge area
This could be one of my favorite pictures of the entire trip. Dave really wanted a picture of this wheat field because this was where one of the bloodiest parts of the battle was. He wasn't really picturing a family picture, he just wanted one of the wheat field. RaNae had a different idea. She wanted a family picture. So she made everyone get out of the car and everyone was NOT loving that idea, as you can tell in the picture. Seth is dying, RaNae is pushing Lauren, Brock is yelling at RaNae, Scott is actually IN the wheat field because he wanted us to be there for the picture and is irritated that nobody is coming back there with him,
Brittany is fixing her sunglasses, and I am just laughing my head off. Dave took the picture.
The picture actually turned out really nice, once all the drama was over. :)
Dave found a geocache that led him to the first person
that was killed at Gettysburg. Finding his grave was
really cool.
I think what amazed me the most about Gettysburg was that all 52,000 of those men were husbands, fathers, brothers, and friends. When you think about it in that light, 52,000 is not just a number anymore. When I thought about all of the people mourning the loss of those soldiers, it made me SO grateful for their courage and bravery, and for the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. Gettysburg is an amazing place with an incredible spirit. We were so lucky that we got to go.
Driving back to the hotel was where the quote of the day came in. Scott had to go to a conference for the next few days. That's actually why we were able to go on this trip. Scott had to be out there, so he and RaNae decided to make it a family trip. So, we were talking about what to do for lunch the next day, and Scott told us that he would buy us a loaf of bread to take with us. RaNae about died when he told her that. Can you just imagine her pulling out a loaf of bread while we are at the national mall and saying, "Here you go children. Enjoy your bread!" Haha! It was SO funny. So RaNae piped up with this comment, "You worry about yourself. I'll worry about the family. Just leave me your credit card." I think Scott has a mortal fear of leaving his credit card with RaNae, so that didn't go over well. :) When we got back to the hotel, sure enough, Scott went to buy us a loaf of bread and that was to be our lunch the next day. Luckily, RaNae must have sweet talked him, because early the next morning he gave us his credit card, so we didn't get stuck with a loaf of bread. :)
When we got back to the hotel that night, we had an exercise session with all the kids. All of us went down to the gym, and exercised for a little bit. I couldn't believe it, but Lauren did 30 push ups! She told me she could do 30, and I said no way. I can only do like 5 before my arms give out, but she did 30 right in front of me! She is a tough lady. And, she just got back from China so she knows Kung-Fu. In other words, you better watch out. The push-up/Kung-Fu master is pretty tough!
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