Memorial Day 2017

We headed up to the cemetery before it got too hot. Grandpa & Grandma Cooper came down and we met Rob, Charlie and Ashley's families up at the cemetery.

 Then the cleaning up of the graves commenced along with much story telling and general visiting.

It was a good morning followed by a great lunch at the Inside Scoop.

Day 6

For our last day we decided to cram in as much of the want to do list as possible. We Got up bright and early and started with the standby line for the Holocaust Museum. That took a couple of hours but we were able to get tickets!

 Next we headed next door to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. We had grabbed tickets early so it worked out perfectly.  It's really cool go watch them print money. We find it interesting. It's not a super long tour which helps too. Since we were in the neighborhood we went to the Holocaust Museum cafeteria for lunch. It was a good lunch but not cheap. Of course nothing in DC really is. Super convienient. We went from lunch right to our time for the museum.

 The Holocaust Museum took quite a few hours to see. There are always lots of people and students especially but it's still such a good exhibit. After we went through the museum we spent a few more hours at the Smithsonian. I think we managed to fit everything in that everyone was interested in seeing there. Well maybe that's impossible but we made a great dent in it. We decided to head to the GW store for the last hour before our dinner reservation. It was a great way to dodge the  rain too.

 After we got us and Jeff & Rachel some shirts we had a quick rest in the lounge before dinner. We had reservation at Founding Farmers for our last dinner together in DC. We were seated at a table with very little room for all of us and no backs to our chairs. Megan was a trooper and put up with it better than I did lol. It wasn't the best time we've ever had there but it was still fun. After dinner Rachel had scored us some free tickets to the Nationals baseball game if we wanted to go. Most of us were thrilled. It was misting and raining pretty good so it was a little concerning to see people pouring out of the stadium as we pulled up. We arrived rather late but because of the weather that was no problem.

 The seats were close enough to the cover that some of us ran for it but Rachel and Megan & Hayden stayed right out there and embraced it.

It wasn't pouring the whole time and it was easy to get into the game. It wasn't too long though before it was over. We ducked into the team store as fast as we could because we wanted to do a little souvenir shopping. Don't think the employees were too happy with us but we had some shopping to do! So really that was the end of our trip. The next day we headed to the airport and were on our way home before we knew it! We always hate leaving Jeff & Rachel but we know we will return.

And then before we knew it Hayden & Megan were on their way to Nebraska for another summer sales adventure. This time it was only 6 weeks.

 Somebody is having too much fun with the camera!

Day 1

Day 2

Day 5 The Capital and Monuments

Today we had a fabulous Capital tour from Jeff and Rachel's friend Terry. We toured from 8:30-10:30 and it went by super fast. Terry was a fun tour guide and pointed out lots of details and interesting things. I learn something new with every tour I take. We actually arrived early at about 8 so we huddled under the portico at the LOC until they opened to get out of the rain. After they opened we took the tunnel to the Capital and met Terry there.

 The tunnels are always like and adventure and this morning they were deserted.

 Loved the detail of the corn on the column. The Capital has lots of interesting details.

 The old Supreme Court.

 The corridors were often deserted during our behind the scenes tour.

 Our group picture.

 This time the rotunda was uncovered and the restoration had been completed. It was gorgeous.

After our tour Terry gave us some tickets to view the House. We waited in line to get in and just before it was our turn they recessed so we decided to call it quits and just viewed the empty room.

 After our tour we headed over to the Supreme Court to look around. They were seated at the time and just coming down with a judgment so we couldn't get up into the court for awhile. So we took that opportunity to have a snack in their cafeteria while we waited to get in. They finally finished and up we went to peek into the court room.

 I love the ceilings there.

 After we toured the Supreme court we went back across the street to walk around the outsider of the Capital. It was misty and beautiful.

As many times as we've been there we haven't really noticed the beautiful lamp posts.

We next went over to the Ford Theater and were lucky enough to get right in.

 Of course there was a line. But it wasn't as horrible as it appeared once we got in.

 

Since we were pretty close we headed down the street to the Mall and saw some interesting sights along the way.

 We spent the rest of our day touring the monuments at the mall. 

We toured the WW 2 monument which we love.

 We also went to the Vietnam Wall.

It's always so much more fun when we can show someone these wonderful monuments for the first time. We enjoyed taking Megan around to all of it.We also went to the Korea Memorial and that's where we met up with Rachel. We ordered an Uber to take us to Old Alexandria for dinner. That was kind of a disaster since we could see the driver trying to get over to the Lincoln Memorial where we were waiting and he couldn't make it work. Finally he cancelled and we started all over again but this time we got a black Cadillac Escalade full of all the trimmings. It was pretty fun riding in style. We headed to Gadsby's Pub and had a wonderful dinner together.

This time we had dessert there instead of walking for ever. But again we did log alot of steps today!!

Graduation #2

Our second graduation this month was for Jeff. He graduated from George Washington Law School. We couldn't be more proud! It was on a Sunday which was weird but that seems to be how things are these days. His ceremony for the entire University was right below the Washington Monument which was super cool. It's not everyday you get to graduate right there on the Washington mall.

 Riding the Metro.

 Ok let's light this candle. On the way to the ceremony. One of millions of people.

 Right after the first ceremony we took some pictures with the white house in behind. 

Quite a backdrop! We walked up to the campus and looked for a place to eat on the way. Because it was Sunday there were lots of places closed which was surprising but nice to see. We did find a great sandwich shop called Taylor that ended up being a fantastic find. It threatened to rain off and on all day and was a little chilly for me. So we went to Starbucks next door and indulged in some hot chocolate. Then it was off to George Washington and the next ceremony.

 The Law School graduation was really long.They had alot of students to read through. We enjoyed the speeches more though I think.

 Jeff getting his Diploma!!

 Hayden & Megan didn't have tickets to the graduation so they spent the day at Arlington National Cemetery and did some bike riding to some sites. 

 We texted them to come over because after awhile people started leaving and they were able to come in. Darrell and Nowrette had to leave just after Jeff got his diploma. It was fun to hang with out them. After the final ceremony we took some pictures with hordes of people all around.

 We had fun torturing Jeff with lots of picture taking. What a day. We are so proud of Jeff for surviving Law School and for Rachel supporting him all these years to help make it happen. There are good things in their future.