Monday, September 2, 2013

Labor Day 2013

First week of school is over, and three hours later we're waiting for our flight at DFW.
We've survived another Labor Day.

I have a self-imposed rule that we're not home for (most of) Labor Day. I can handle being home on Sept. 7, but the whole Labor Day weekend routine is tough.

So far we've been to Michigan for a football game, Los Angeles for fun with Gretchen & Anthony, Grapevine & Arlington for the Gaylord and a Michigan game, and now Washington, D.C., for sightseeing and time with Uncle Jim.

This was my sixth visit to D.C. -- once in college, once with Steve in 2000 (when I was pregnant with Cooper but didn't yet know), three times with Steve and Cooper, and now once with Cooper and Katie.

We visited many of my favorite sights plus saw a few new ones:
  • Capitol
  • Library of Congress
  • National Archives
  • National Museum of American History
  • Jefferson Memorial
  • FDR Memorial
  • Lincoln Memorial
  • White House
  • Newseum
  • National Gallery of Art
  • Mount Vernon
It's such a joy to share these places I love -- and places Steve loved -- with two children who are curious and reverent and genuinely interested. Cooper, a voracious reader, knows more about American history than I do. Katie is especially interested in civil rights and her favorite president, Abraham Lincoln. (As we walked up to the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday night, she said, "I've been dreaming of this my whole life.")

Katie & Cooper take photos of good ol' Abe.
U.S. Capitol Rotunda
Dallas Morning News on display at the Newseum

Cooper & Katie on the Capitol grounds
Library of Congress
Cooper, Tyra & Katie at Mount Vernon 
Cooper, Katie & Uncle Jim at Mount Vernon

1 comment:

Sean Craft said...

If your little girl LOVES Abraham Lincoln, you should DEFINITELY make a trip to his library, home and gravesite in Springfield, IL. It is an AMAZING experience ... a 85-90 mile drive SW from Chicago ... and I bet she'd LOVE it!!! :-)