A warm Sunday in December

Today the sun came out so when church was over at noon we decided we'd have to go get out and explore.  Every year around Christmas the US botanical Garden (at the National Mall) has a train exhibit.  Johnny and Gracie were excited to see this. My camera phone struggled with the poor lighting.  But here are a couple of photos anyways.  They really didn't do it justice.  The exhibit was incredible.

 The tracks were overhead as well.  They had several trains going on at once.

 There was a Thomas the train which was fun to see.

 After going through the train exhibit, Paul wanted to go see the rest of the plants.  They had an incredible selection of orchids.

 We still had some daylight left so we crossed the Potomac river to the Arlington Cemetery.  Every year several volunteer organizations lay beautiful wreaths on the tombstones.  At the entrance to the cemetery is a plaque that explains that this place is our nations most sacred places.  It was a neat experience to discuss with the children the importance of this cemetery.

 We walked through the cemetery to the gravesite of JFK.  In front of the gravesite is a memorial with several of engravings from famous speeches. http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/jfk.htm  The girls are standing in front of "And so my fellow Americans Ask not what your country can do for you Ask what you can do for your country."

I have loved living here in VA as there as been so many opportunities for teaching my children.  We hiked down the roads and were in awe of all the people who have made the ultimate sacrifice to provide us the freedoms that we enjoy.  Below is a picture of the Arlington Amphitheater that is in front of the tomb of the unknown soldier.  It's a beautiful marble structure.

 We arrived at the tomb 10 minutes before the end of the hour.  Each hour their is a change of guard which is an inspiring ritual.  The kids all sat quietly, and watched this soldier march back and forth, and then the ritual of the change.  I appreciated the reverence given to our military.  Below is a photo we took.

We took several video that didn't work out.  I found a good video on youtube that shows the process.  If you come to DC then this is a definite must see.
http://youtu.be/DLVzKTyXI_E