1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply,

Their trip to Washington DC.

They picked up Benjamin at his dorm. Memes told me they were very happy to see him, seemed like they hadn't seen him in a long time. They got in the car and drove about 4 years to DC. They had a nice time driving through the beautiful Virginia countryside. They stopped at a small town and ate at the Tasty Freeze and the weather was so nice they ate outside.

Finally, they got to the very lovely hotel. Here is a picture of the lobby.




The next morning, Papa and Uncle Benj mapped out a travel plan on how to use the metro subway to get into Washington DC for the Tea Party march.




They followed the plan and got on the hotel shuttle bus, drove through the city, pass the Pentagon were dropped off at the subway stop.


It was like a big party because so many people were going to Washington DC to be part of the Tea Party march.




They arrived at the station, went down a lot of stairs until they were - under the ground - there is a huge tunnel going under all the roads and the subway, which is kind of like a train, drove under the ground on the subway tracks. Here Papa and Aunt Elisa and figuring our which ticket they need to buy to get to the right place.




This is the long tunnel under the ground. Above the ceiling is dirt and above the dirt is the road where the cars drive.



Here is a picture of the front of a subway train. Lot's of people get off and on these every day.




I don't know what Uncle Benjamin is going to push.





Here comes the subway train. It has a light because the long tunnels that are built under the ground, under the roads are dark. There is no sun or daylight under the ground.





The bus is so full of people going to the tea party march that they had to stand while the train drove. They held onto the bars so they wouldn't fall down.




Here are Memes and Aunt Elisa. They finally got seats. While they were riding in the subway, the train went into the very dark tunnel that was under dirt which was under water - the Potomac river to be exact. It's the very same Potomac River that George Washington, our very first President, boated on.




It's a packed train.





Here are all the people getting off so they can go to the Tea Party march. The people are all still in the tunnel, under the ground, under the roads that have the cars on them. All the folks went up the stairs, back up and outside into the daylight.





When they finally got up onto the street, Pennsylvania ave, this is what they saw - people every where. People where holding signs cause they wanted our government to know that they need to quit spending all the money.





Papa was so happy to be there. He loved it. He was around so many people that believe the same thing he does. Papa believes that our country was founded or started by men and women who prayed and asked God to bless them and lead them in the right way to go. They wrote the Constitution - That is a document (paper with words on it) that explains to everyone all the rules of how our country is supposed to be organized. We still have that document today. It's the rules we all live by. Sometimes people forget what the Constitution says and that's why the people went to the Tea Party march, to remind people to follow the Constitution, to follow the rules of our country.





Here are some young boys that were excited to be at the march. Good job young men.







They had a lovely breakfast break. The streets were crowded and so were the restaurants but they didn't care, it was exciting to be part of a big group.






Here is what they could see as they marched. The Capital is the big building in the picture. It looks little in the picture because they were far away when Uncle Benj took the picture, but it's really a big building.







Here is another picture of the Capitol. In that building laws are made. That's where we, as a country send our representatives to represent the needs of our communities and towns.






This is the view when you come down the huge, stone steps of the National Art Museum
http://www.nga.gov/kids/kids.htm a cool site for Aubrey




This is the next day, Sunday. On their way home they drove to Alexandria Virginia. That is the town where George Washington and his friends went shopping or out to eat.














Some old wooden doors and cobble stone streets.





Then a quick drive through the monuments. Here is the National Monument. Memes says she has been to the top, not quite to the point but just below it. In fact, she tells me, that she has pictures she has taken from way up there while she looked out the windows. I think she said she did that when she was about 12 or 13 years old.




Lincoln Memorial. Uncle Benj has done a good job taking most of these pictures.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovlYtZVKfMU&NR=1 video about Washington DC


http://bensguide.gpo.gov/index.html a neat site that teaches about our country



After they drove Uncle Benjamin home, about 4 hours drive, they finally arrived at his dorm room at college. He was glad to get back cause he had a lot of school work to do. So, one time he went up to his dorm room to get something for the two girls - Aunt Elisa and Memes are not allowed up in his dorm so they waited outside.

But they were happy to wait outside cause when he came out Aunt Elisa and Memes had a BIG surprise for him. When he came through the door, back outside where Memes and Aunt Elisa were waiting .... They waited awhile in the bushes, other students came by and looked at them wondering why a mom and a sister where waiting for someone in the bushes but Benjamin found out as soon as he came out of his door. Memes and Aunt Elisa pelted him with the marshmallows, over and over, throwing marshmallows at his head, his chest, his back any where they could hit. Laughing and have a lot of fun.
But then, Uncle Benj started picking up the marshmallows that they were throwing at him and threw them back at them!!!

There were marshmallows flying all over the place. All over the grass, under the bushes - everywhere.
They had a lovely time. It was a good way to say good bye for now.
Good bye to Uncle Benj until the next time they would see him.