Honest Abe

On Wednesday, we (my dad, Riley, Ella and I) headed to DC to meet up with my dad's brother and his wife (my Uncle Jim and Aunt Nancy) who had flown into DC the night before from Oregon.  Our first stop was walking around the Tidal Basin and visiting the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.

My dad and his only sibling.

Next stop:  Lincoln Monument

The view of the Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Monument. 

My Aunt Nancy prefers to be behind the camera instead of in front of it, so she's not in this picture, but she enjoyed this day with us!

From there, we headed to the Ford Theatre.

Here is the exact spot where President Lincoln was shot, exactly 150 years ago.

Riley and Ella looking at the President's Box.

My dad has been to DC dozens of times.  But this was the very first time he'd been to Ford's Theatre. So, here is getting as close as he can get to where "it happened."

From there, we walked across the street to go inside the house where Lincoln was carried after he shot.  He was unconscious, but he lived through the night and died the following morning.

Here is the bed where he died.

Every single book in this tower is about President Lincoln.  Isn't that amazing?  The impact of his life.....

To commemorate the 150th Anniversary, there was a special exhibit we got to see which was absolutely amazing.  It contained the actual top hot and overcoat Lincoln was wearing when he was assassinated, as well as all of the contents of his pocket as well as Mary Todd Lincoln's outfit.  We also got to see the revolver that was used to shoot Lincoln as well as a blood-soaked flag that was draped in front of his theatre box and someone grabbed to support his head and stop the bleeding.  And many other original artifacts related to the day.  It was so, so neat to see all of those artifacts together.  The women said that the overcoat is so delicate, that after this exhibit closes in a couple weeks, it will likely be put away and not be on display again for a very long time.  So, very cool we got to see all of that.  Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take any pictures, but still wanted to document what we saw.

Brothers

We got home from DC ~4:00, grabbed a bite to eat, picked up Lacey and Dave's parents and headed back out again.  Not only was this past week the 150th Anniversary of Lincoln's Assassination, it also happens to be the 50th Anniversary of the Sound of Music, my dad's all time favorite movie.  To commemorate this event, it was shown in select theaters throughout the country for only two days.  My dad, convinced it would sell out, bought these tickets online WEEKS in advance.  He was SO excited.  Absolutely giddy.  The hills are alive......

Highlights of the past couple of days:  1) Introducing Dave to my Uncle Jim for the first time.  Also introducing them to my kids.  Neither of them have met Ella.  Tanner was a baby the last time he met them and so was Riley.  Lacey was three.  2) Spending time with family in beautiful weather doing some very fun, memorable things.

Lowlights:  You may notice that my mom is not in any of these pictures.  That is because she has been completely bed-ridden since her injury last Saturday and was not able to do any activities we had planned to do together.  This made me so sad.  Sad, that I wasn't able to spend time with her as I was gone all day every day.  Sad that she wasn't with us experiencing DC.  Sad she was in pain.  Worried about how she was going to get home.  But, with the help of a wheelchair and some heavy duty pain killers, she was able to make it safely home on Thursday and meet with an Orthopedic Surgeon yesterday morning.  She will have surgery on Thursday and hopefully she'll be "back to new" soon!

A Little of This and That

 Riley's favorite thing in the whole world is going to Annapolis to feed the ducks.  She's been asking me for months if we can go, but since we had the Winter that would never end, she has asked in vain, getting tired of my "it's too cold" response.  On Friday, the weather was beautiful, so she finally got her wish as we headed to Annapolis with my parents in tow.

Once Dave got home that evening, we ordered pizza and enjoyed eating outside.  Fun day!

Saturday morning, we headed to T's first baseball game of the season.  He celebrated by losing his "other" front tooth.  Look at that toothless grin......  oh that baby tooth grin.  I can't get enough of it.  Big teeth, I hope you take a LONG time coming in.

Once we got home, we got the baby down for a nap and headed out to the yard for a bit to start our garden.  My mom was in her element showing us what to do and sharing her expertise with us. Sadly, this is the last picture I have of her walking. Shortly after I took this picture, she severely injured her right knee.  She has no idea how it happened.  She was in the yard bending down and felt a shooting pain in her knee.  Next thing she knew, her knee buckled and she couldn't walk or stand.  

We have a doctor's appt tomorrow and will be getting an MRI first thing in the morning :(

Thankfully she rallied today so that she could still be a part of the dinner we had planned.  We invited my cousin and his family up from Virginia.  I LOVE seeing this "next generation of Cardalls" get to know each other.

Second Cousins Rock!

Maya (sitting next to Tanner) is a girl (obviously) and 11 years old.  No Matter.  Tanner took to her like a bee to honey.  They live well over an hour away (far enough that we rarely get together, but close enough that it's a shame we don't do it more often), but he's already hitting me up for playdates with her.  Love it!

Oh Say Can You See

We spent today, the 150th Anniversary of the death of President Lincoln, at Fort McHenry, the birthplace of the "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Checking out the exhibits

At dawn on Sept. 14, 1814, after a long day and night of intense British bombardment, Francis Scott Key watched as American defenders of Fort McHenry hoisted a huge American Flag.  It was then that he realized the Americans had withstood the attack and defended Fort McHenry.  Defended Baltimore.  Defended America.  It moved him to write the words which would become our National Anthem.

Today, that flag (replica) was flown at half mast in honor of the 150th Anniversary of Lincoln's death.

We've been here many times.  My parents have been here as well.  But they requested to go back during this visit.  And we were more than happy to oblige, especially on this beautiful day!

I'm not a great photographer.  But I am rather picky about what is in my pictures and therefore I'm not in many of my pictures - I want to be behind the lens making sure I get what I want to get.  This is why.  I asked a woman to take a picture of the 5 of us.  The only thing I cared about getting in the picture (aside from us) was the flag, which I communicated to her.  This is what we got.  And this after the second take.  Sigh!

But it's always nice to take advantage of this wonderful historic site that is just 20 minutes from my house. 

Poplar Island

Lacey's class went on a field trip to Poplar Island today.  This is the very first field trip I have chaperoned for either of my kids.  I've always wanted to but for various reasons (I had to work, I didn't have child care for younger kids, I volunteered but they didn't choose me, etc) but it has never come to pass until today.  

We were on a bus for about an hour and 40 minutes and then boarded this boat which took us out to Poplar Island.

Lacey exploring the wetlands.

Poplar Island is located on the Chesapeake Bay.  It covered over 1000 acres in 1847 but by 1990, erosion had reduced it to less than 5 acres.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began reconstruction of the island in 1998 and by 2005, had built the island back up to 1,140 acres.  It also hosts the nation's largest terrapin research project.  Lacey's class got two baby terrapins at the beginning of the school year.  They have spent the year "raising" these terrapins naming them, feeding them, measuring them, etc.  So, it was fun for them to see where they came from and where they will be released next month when it gets warmer.

Loved spending the day with my girl.  The other kids who had parents on the trip were running around with their friends the entire time.  Lacey never left my side.  Maybe it was just because it was such a novelty to have me on one of her field trips, but she literally sat with me, walked with me, stood next to me every minute of the day.  So glad I could do this with her.

And so grateful to my parents who stayed home with these two crazies so that I could go.

Hole in One

I should actually have Dave write this post since he is the one who actually experienced this, but alas, I'm the one that blogs, so here goes.  About a year ago, my sister Lindsay enlisted the entire family to all try to get Masters tickets.  The Masters is held once a year, in April in Augusta, Georgia and is THE premier golf tournament.  Well, one of the top 2 or 3 anyway.  Tickets are extremely hard to come by and are done using a lottery system that people entire nearly a year ahead of time.  Anyway, now that Lindsay lives only an hour away from Augusta and because my dad is an avid golf fan and dying to go to the Masters (which he has only been to once in his life and that was 40 years ago), she talked all of us into entering the lottery for Masters tickets.  If your name is drawn, then you can purchase up to 4 tickets.  Anyway, low and behold, my name was drawn and my dad's name were drawn for the practice round the day before the tournament officially started.  Lindsay and my parents were ecstatic.  My cousin Seth is also a golf lover, so he flew out for the day and Dave drove down to meet up with the crew.  

The 8 lucky ticket holders standing in front of the world-famous Masters Scoreboard.

Phil Mickelson, one of my dad's favorites and a 2-time Masters Champion

Tiger Woods, the youngest player to ever win the tournament.

Rory McElroy

And Jordan Spieth, who ended up winning the tournament at Age 21, the second youngest to ever win the tournament.  

Buddies

And amidst all these world-famous golfers, the highlight of the day for my sister was seeing former Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice.  

Unfortunately, Condie was made "off limits" but Lindsay found a way to get her attention and here she is smiling directly at them.  I'm with Lindsay on this one.  LOVE Condie.

And she finagled her way into getting a picture "with" her after all ;)

And so did Dave.

I'm sure these pictures don't do it justice, but they all raved about how this course was the "Garden of Eden" (my mom's words) and one of the absolute most beautiful places.

I wish we had gotten more pictures.... Dave didn't bring our camera.  He figured he would just take some pictures on his phone.  Well, phones are not allowed on the course, so of the 8 of them, my dad is the only one who ended up having a camera and it's just a little point and shoot.  But oh well, at least the day is documented!

My parents

I wish I had a picture of Kevin holding up his signed Jack Nicklaus picture.  Kevin's grandfather was a golf coach at Perdue over 50 years ago.  As a result, Kevin ended up with an old-school picture of Jack Nicklaus golfing during some college golf tournament.  Kevin has wanted to get it signed by him ever since but never knew how.  Well, he carried it around with him all day.  Toward the end of the day, there was an opportunity for kids to get autographs.  But you had to be 16 or younger, so Kevin was out of luck.  Luckily his 14 year old daughter pulled through for him and was able to get Jack's attention and get him to sign the nostalgic picture.  Kevin was THRILLED!

Perfect Day.