Family

We were blessed to have Matt's parents and younger sister Emily come out to visit us for a week at the beginning of April. (Thank you to Shelly and Christina for letting us borrow beds for them!) It was so much fun to visit all the sites with them. Here's a TON of pics of our time together.

The first day they were here we went up to the heart of DC and watched the Blessing of the Fleets. Its a time when an Admiral in the Navy speaks (this time it was about the SeaBees (CBs - Construction Batallions) which is what Matt will be on our next tour) and blesses the Naval fleets. Water is collected from the 7 seas and then poured in the fountains that line the Navy Museums in DC. It was a really neat experience. We then went into the SeaBee Museum and had yummy free navy bean soup (I'll post the recipe later). Luke got to play in this cool fort.

The SeaBees symbol is a Bee w/ a gun and a construction worker drilling. Their motto is Can Do. We build - We fight. Matt is very proud to be a SeaBee and we are too!

Left to right: Me, Matt's younger sis Emily, Matt, Luke, Matt's mom Gwynn, Matt's dad Dave.

Another day we visited the SeaBee Memorial which is right across the street from Arlington National Cemetery. Its a beautiful memorial and Matt's favorite thing we did. ;)Thank you SeaBees for all you do!

We rode around all day on bikes with Luke in a trailer. Dave (Matt's dad) was sweet to walk with Lydia half of the time because she was too young to go in the bike trailer. Thanks dad!
Washington Monument
Beautiful view of the Cherry Blossoms. The National Cherry Blossom Festival was the same week that they came into town and it was seriously PACKED everywhere! We had to walk our bikes half the time because it was so packed.

Lukey was kind of nervous riding in the bumpy trailer. Oh yea, it was SUPER windy that day too. Annoying. Luke just wanted to get out and run. Poor guy was stuck sitting down or being dragged along while we all looked at the "boring" (to a not yet 2 year old) sites.
Taken on the steps of the Lincoln memorial.
Lincoln Memorial. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. Did you know that the guy who made this statue was deaf. When he made it he made Lincoln's hands in the shape of his sign language initials. So one hand is doing an A and the other is doing an L. Pretty cool huh? Thanks for teaching me that one mom! ;)
WWII Memorial. Very beautiful and humbling. WWII Memorial

Changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. For those of you who don't know (like me before I went) the Tomb of the Unknown is where they keep those individuals who have died in combat and were not identified. They stand guard at the tomb 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week. During tourist season they change the guard every 1/2 hour (Normally its just once every hour on the hour). Its an amazing ceremony. Definitely a must see. They ask that you all remain standing, even young children during the about 10 min ceremony. One young boy was sitting down and they stopped the ceremony and the guard said "young man, please remain standing". Once he stood they resumed the ceremony. So humbling. Seriously we need to remember to respect those who have died in combat fighting for OUR freedom!Arlington National CemeteryThe eternal flame at John F. Kennedy's tomb. I believe this was at Arlington National Cemetery.

We also hit a lot of other sites. A lot of the different Smithsonian museums, a tour of the Capital building, the Naval Academy (which is GORGEOUS) in Annapolis, etc. It was SO much fun. Thanks mom, dad, and Emily for making it a fun one! Please come back soon!