About a year and a half ago my mother in law told each of my kids that when they turned 12 she would take them on a trip of their choice to anywhere in the United States. They of course were so excited. Steve and I decided that I would go with them on the trip. So each of the kids started to talk about where they were going on the trip.
Shawn immediately said Washington DC. He loves anything to do the history.
Alyssa wanted New York. She loves theater and movie stars. She wants to see a Broadway play.
Cameron said Brazil but quickly realized that it wasn't in the United States... so he is still thinking.
Ashley said Disneyland but then realized it is too close so she change to Disney World. (I am sure that hers will change with in the next six years... we'll see?)
So... Shawn turns 12 in two weeks... I can't even believe it. He will be in young men's, passing the sacrament, going to seventh grade... oh my gosh... so many things. Anyway back to Washington DC... we went on our trip this past weekend.
We left on Thursday at 7:00am and flew directly to Washington Dulles Airport. We got to our hotel at about 2:30pm. When we got in Shawn immediately organized our whole room. Each of our bags had their own space. When we were checking in we mentioned to the front desk guy that it was Shawn's 12th birthday. Two of the managers came up to our room with a tray of Tortilla Chips, Salsa, a fancy bottle of Lemonade and a Godiva Chocolate Bar. Isn't that sweet. He thought that was one of the nicest things. He was so polite and thankful.
Then we were off for some dinner at Chili's and a night tour of Washington DC.
The famous sites at night were AMAZING. We have some pictures but we couldn't get great ones... we tried but they are just okay. We saw the Washington Monument, United States Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, and the White House... oh my gosh... AMAZING.
Friday we went on a 10 hour tour of the city. We of course had stops along the way. We went to some of the same stops but I liked them in the day a lot more because we could take pictures. We also stopped at a whole lot of museums. At the Smithsonian National Mall they have a whole bunch of museums and they are all free. Super Super cool.
Saturday we were on our own... no guided tours. We got on a double decker bus and started for the sites that we missed the day before. Our first stop was the Holocaust Museum. WOW! I can't believe how sad that one was. It was so powerful. There is one area that gives you the perspective from an 11 year boy. Just being with Shawn and seeing this made me even more sad for these kids and families that lived through this. I have always been interested in this subject but after being there I bought a couple of books on it and can't wait to read them... (Anne Frank being one of them, I haven't read her story sense about 7th grade and can't wait to read it again).
We went to the Museum of African Art . Shawn is decorating his new room in the basement (when he moves in) in African Motif. He took lots of pictures there and spent some birthday money in the Museum Store.
It was SO MUCH FUN to be with Shawn and my Mother in Law. I don't typically get to just be with Shawn... especially for four days straight. It was such a great opportunity to have us spend some serious quality time together. He is such a good kid. He used manners, had adult like conversation, hugged me a million times and kept telling Grammy "thank you, this is so much fun". We have lots of pictures so I will just show you a few.
Thank you Grammy... we had such a GREAT time - We love you!
I love you Shawn... you are a great pre-teen.
12 comments:
that looks like a trip of a lifetime --how fun for one on one
with your cute Shawn-
PS I might get back to DC sometime
my brad is going to Graduate school in Virginia this fall and it is close to D,C. yahoo!
Your kids are very lucky little people.
Glad you all had a good time.
What a fun tradition. Parker's would be D.C. as well he is also a history buff. When they turn twelve it is amazing how fast they grow up. It is a fun age.
Wow, how fun! Reminds me of when we would turn 8 we would get to choose too. I got Disneyland, I don't think Katie chose...she ended up in El Paso!
What an awesome thing for your mother-in-law to do. That will be a great memory for him to have spent time with just you guys and his grandma.
HOW FUN! Maybe Karen will adopt my kids too? NO? oh well, it was just a thought.
Welcome back. I was beginning to wonder where you dropped off to - a whole week without posting - I missed you:)
As Annie stated, I didn't get a choice. I got dragged to El Paso with my mom and Lou. We spent a day in Juarez where we almost got killed.
Shawn is such a cute kid...soon enough he will be driving and dating. You have a great family, both yours and Steves. I would love to go to DC someday. A 10 hour tour sounds horrible though.
I went to DC with Annie when I was 16 years old. Good thing I had Annie there as my tour guide. I would have been totally lost. DC is such a humbling and spiritual place. Did you guys visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?? That was my fav.
I love Washington D.C. There's so much to see and do there. We toured some of the monuments at night and they were stunning! We've been a couple of times, but I could visit there several times each year. That place is really cool.
What an awesome experience. The Holocaust Museum floored me. It totally puts a new perspective on it.
I might need to adopt that tradition....how fun.
What a fun trip! I can't believe Shawn is going to be 12! The first time I saw him was at Trent's Brothers wedding and he fit on Steve's forearm and he was peacefully sleeping.
Shawn, What a great choice for a trip. Happy Birthday in a few days!
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