Honoring Our World War II Veterans

Wednesday, October 12, 2011 was a very special day for a large group of Oklahomans. Waking at about 4 AM was brutal but everyone was excited about the day-long trip to Washington, DC to honor our local World War II veterans.

Buddy and I skipped the trip to Midwest City for the police escorted bus trip to the airport in hopes of getting a few more minutes of sleep. We would need all the energy we could get. Once we arrived at the airport they let us slip through security without delay. All 103 veterans gatthered for a group photo and a brief send-off from the Lieutenant Governor, Todd Lamb.

We spent most of the day on an airplane or a bus traveling around Washington DC through traffic from one monument to the next. After an event-free trip we arrived first at the World War II Memorial. Representative James Lankford greeted us on the bus at this stop to welcome us to DC and to thank the veterans for their service. This monument was a highlight for me. Even after being in DC several times while we lived in Virginia I had not seen this one yet. We spent about an hour walking around the monument taking photos, looking at bronze reliefs, the fountain and even trying to find Kilroy (look it up if you dont know, "Kilroy was here"). All of the vets enjoyed this stop as the rain held off long enough for us to enjoy our time without getting wet or having to hurry.

Next, we did a very brief bus tour of some of the other monuments including the Korean War memorial, Jefferson memorial, and the new MLK monument. We arrived next at the Marine Memorial or otherwise the Iwo Jima memorial. This is my favorite staute/memorial in DC by far. I have always found the photo and statue of the flag raising to have a deep impact on me and the sacrifice our veterans have made. Most of the vets didn't get off the bus for this one as our time was limited and it was starting to rain again. I did snap some good pictures though.

Our next stop was Arlington National Cemetery. Now it was officially raining! Many of the veterans decided not to attend the changing of the guard due to the rain. After a bit of a discussion, Buddy and I did get off the bus and head over the tomb of the unknown soldier. We were both very glad we did despite the wet pant legs and shoes. There were 2 special ceremonies for other groups that were there with the playing of taps both times. It was a very moving experience with the gentle rain, the dark clouds, the somber music and the quiet crowd. Here is Buddy in his rain get-up...

Next, it was time to head back home. Fortunately for us the timing of this trip corresponded perfectly with afternoon traffic in DC. It took us a while to get back to BWI Airport but we were able to see the Capitol and the White House along the way. There were several Nancy Pelosi jokes which lightened the mood a little but it did not improve the traffic flow.

Overall, it was a great day. I was able to meet and talk to several real heroes. It was a long and tiring day but I enjoyed it thoroughly and would do it again in an instant. Another one of the memories with my grandpa I will remember forever!

My Birthday

I had a GREAT birthday!  I got to have dinner with Kelly, Elizabeth, Kari, Wendy, Anthony, and Scott.  It was honestly so fun and I laughed the entire time.  Scott got me a new camera which is awesome and here are some of the pics we took with it.  I told him I loved it but my favorite gift was the GIANT pencil that Kari got me!

Ellie Belly

I am finally ready to get back to the blog!  I have been a crazy person this last month and apparently I officially have too many children to keep up with all of my hobbies!  No, seriously, I have too many kids to even remember their names and continue to call Ben "Charben" which he responded to yesterday by asking "mom, why do you call me that?"  I just laughed and shrugged at him and then he said, "OK, Scottash!" 

What's new.....well...would anyone believe that in the last 6 weeks Ellie has become the crawl master!  She is good I tell you!  It all started at the beach with a military crawl in combo with a log roll to get her were she was wanting to go. Since then she has focused and really gotten to business with this "hands and knees crawling".  She is now a wonder woman, following me and the boys all over the house.   Oh, did I mention she is talking too!?!....No, I didn't because I haven't blogged in soooooo long!  She started at the beach with "momma" and  "dadda".  Now, she is stopping mid-crawl to throw her hand up in the air and say "HIIIIIII"!   She claps and waves frenetically saying "HI"!  I will attempt to get a video of this but in the meantime, here is a video of her just giggling and being cute!!!!

Here are some pics of the boys feeding Ellie.  Ben will do it if I beg but Charlie considers Ellie his personal responsibility and LOVES feeding her.  He feeds her food as well, which we are working on regulating.  I am a fan of him helping out but not a fan of her eating pizza yet!!

So, the bicycle helmet....I do not really have a good explanation for this, we were not riding bikes or anything like that, he just likes to dress up.....What can I say!!!!  In fact they have several new super-hero costumes and have been sporting them around.  I had to get some variety, that spider-man costume was starting to smell!

Today was absolutely beautiful!  We went to the park and Ellie is finally big enough to swing!

Tonight we read about the USA.  The boys love this book, which is strange, but they love learning about the different states, etc!  Tonight we learned about Texas and New York in honor of our favorite little girl in the WHOLE world...Carter and our new favorite "uncle"  Anthony, who just left this morning from spending the week with us!