Family Summer Vacation

Dinner in the famous Bunker! What a trip it was to dine in such a place of historic significance. It was a little surreal to think that people would have been locked in here during a nuclear attack and here we were, enjoying the music, food and magic show. What a trip! Check our the dresses that Grandma made for the ladies...she's so talented!

Time together was the best part of this trip. Yes, Charlie worked while on vacation, and I would have loved to have Grandma along to enjoy the trip and allow us to have a date together, but we really enjoyed ourselves, and our wonderful "Hotel Fairies!"

Happy 4th of July! We completely enjoyed our trip to Alexandria, VA and Washington D.C. to celebrate the nations birthday and visit with the Charlton family relatives! The cousins stayed cool in the shade of 100+ year old trees on the Mt. Vernon Estate. Brass band, loud canon, military drills in period costumes and daytime colorful fireworks made this day feel special. There's nothing like being in the birth place (I know Philadelphia is really where it all began...) of America on the 4th to really appreciate the pride and joy we feel in being Americans.

The next generation! I was so proud of all of the kids! They all played together nicely and seemed to enjoy the party on the boat traveling up the Potomac River. The dancing was so hilarious!

This is the first year Andrew started to understand the significance of, and ask questions about, the various memorials we visited. With all the travel books and preparing we did for this trip, I still felt inept, and my words incomplete, as I struggled to explain tough concepts such as: war, sacrifice, duty, honor and bravery on the level that is appropriate for a 5 year old. We both believe it's important for our youngsters to begin understanding and appreciating these concepts at a young age so as to instill a sense of pride and patriotism. We did our best to answer questions that came up in a matter of fact, short and sweet, yet meaningful way. This was the first time we told Andrew that his Great Grandpa Charlton is represented in one of the 4000+ bronze stars at the WWII Memorial. Each star represents 100 service people who died fighting that war. I get choked up every time I see it. I feel the same about the VVM wall too. Andrew witnessed a couple who must have made a pilgrimage to feel a name etched on that wall. The emotions for them were overwhelming as they paid their respects to their loved one.

I struggle with not wanting to burden the young mind with more than they can handle or more than they need, but I also feel that the pictures and memories of youth are important and powerful. I think it's important that Andrew and Kate see that these things are important to their parents and to the rest of their family and it will help them to feel a sense of connection and belonging here in this great country.

He's playing the Star Spangled Banner on the piano right now!

President Lincoln's Memorial. The kids loved the steps, the view of the Reflecting Pool and the Washington Memorial.

The fireworks on the 4th of July, and our visit with Josh, were a huge highlight of our trip back east. We really loved the view from the air-conditioned office building and the yummy dinner!

After the fireworks, Charlie paid an expensive cab fair back to our hotel instead of making us drown in the sea of sardines cramming their way into the cans that are the metro train cars. Thank you again, Daddy, for taking good care of us and helping Mommy avoid an anxiety attack!

We made it home without our expensive case of children's DVDs (Dad left on plane, apparently he isn't as perfect as we thought)...total bummer as those were our favorites of course... sigh... mommy's sanity will be in question until we can replace the necessary ones!

This trip was entirely too short and too much work. But it was wondeful to see the sights and the family. We are looking forward to seeing family and friends again soon, albeit in a much more relaxed time and space.