Until Next Time

The time always seems to just fly by when we have family visiting and, before we know it, it's time to say goodbye. That is never easy!

We all love having Uncle Bryan here and, as always, we filled up our time making fun memories!

Favorite memories of Uncle Bryan:
Savannah - watching H20, singing the title song and doing hand motions of mermaids swimming Xander - laughing a lot; going to Barnes and Noble
Noah - when Uncle Bryan babysat me; going to Barnes and Noble; being goofy; singing songs; reading Sisters
Tracie - lunches of sushi and noodles; having the guy sitting next to us at Noodles think Bryan was yelling at me when he was actually just very animated while telling a story; fun day trips to Phili and DC; political discussions
Love ya, Bry! Can't wait to see you again!!

Fun in DC

Bryan and I decided to spend a day in DC and it ended up being an absolutely gorgeous day for us to explore our nation's capital!

Last year when Bryan was here we visited a bunch of the memorials at the National Mall. This year we both picked a museum we most wanted to see and started with Bryan's choice in the morning: The National Museum of the American Indian.

They had some really neat exhibits, my favorite being the animal statues and masks from the various tribes and groups of people throughout the Americas.

Very cool!

The Mayan calendar.

I loved these gorgeous masks!

Although there were some really wonderful displays, I was left wanting more. I would really love to see more information displayed regarding all the tribes in North America; maybe a huge map showing who lived where, what they were like, etc. Anyway, we had lunch there and then headed across the lawn toward the National Gallery of Art, my pick for the afternoon.  As we walked there we checked out the Capitol which is obviously getting a facelift.

We also spent some time chatting with the friendly seagulls. We always need to make animal friends when we are in DC.

The National Gallery of Art was also under renovation and all of the artwork had been removed from the east building and was being showcased in the west building (or vice versa, I can't remember specifically). So, we headed to the west building via this cool underground walkway.

Wow! What an amazing place to spend an afternoon! Such beautiful statues from Degas...

and Rodin.

We spent a long time really analyzing each one carefully, ha ha!

"We're here to view the tapestries!"  And they were magnificent!

And the paintings...oh, the paintings!! I could not believe I was able to walk through these rooms, viewing so many paintings by the masters. It was awesome!
Some of my favorites included Toulouse Lautrec;

Degas;

Van Gogh;

(definitely not a favorite by Van Gogh but had to include this painting of this ugly little baby...if I were the parent I would not have been pleased!)

Monet;

my favorite, Vermeer;

We both had such a wonderful time at the National Gallery and I can't wait to go back!

A Day in Phili

It's been several years since I've been up to Philadelphia and Bryan has never been so we decided to make a day of it. After all the freezing cold weather and snow we have had, it was wonderful to actually see the sun shining and only need a light jacket. What a beautiful day to spend in the city of brotherly love.

Unfortunately there were several Philadelphians who forgot all that good brotherly love and got pretty snippy with us but thank goodness we had "Big Smiles" Larry as a tour guide at Independence Hall. He was fabulous!

That most amazing of rooms, where our independence was discussed and decided upon. Is it terrible that all I could think as I stood there, in that sacred place, was "Will someone open up a window?" And I might have misheard but I think Bryan muttered at some point: "Sit down, John!"

And it was here on this stairwell that Mr. Adams declared that he could not write a declaration of independence because, "...if I'm the one to do it, they'll run their quill pens through it, I'm obnoxious and disliked, you know that, sir." He then fought back and forth over the quill pen with Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson.

I tried to get Bryan to do the dance scene on the stairs but there were too many people around. "Combustibility, combustibility, combustibili..." I know, I'm totally irreverent.

We were allowed to wander around various rooms upstairs, rooms that are normally off limits during the peak season of visitors which is definitely not in March.

A few more pictures outside...

a quick look at the Benjamin Franklin Museum...

and then it was time to see the Liberty Bell.

We then headed off through the streets of Philadelphia

until we got to Reading Terminal where we decided to have lunch.

Striking a pose!

We crack ourselves up!

Bryan introduced me to Lebanese/Mediterranean food - it was delicious! Falafel, babaganoosh, pita...mmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Yes, we totally have fun together! After lunch we even picked up some fudge from an Amish candy store. Living the high life in Phili!

We grabbed some pictures with Rocky...

and the Phillies mascot before heading to our car.

It was quite the ordeal to get our parking ticket paid for and all I can say is I am so grateful the ticket machine guys happened to be working there at the exact moment I needed them. Then we drove around and around and around the parking garage, trying to find a ramp down. Thank goodness that finally worked out as well. Ugh, city parking, I tell ya. Anyway, there were some really cool things we spotted as we were driving through downtown - this sea serpent statue,

beautiful old buildings,

and the bus station. What a name - Yo, Bus! I was cracking up!!

We had taken a slight detour through downtown just so I could see this:

the beautiful LDS Philadelphia temple that is under construction. When I spoke with the people at the Visitors Center about where the temple was being built and how I could get there, we ended up having a wonderful discussion about Mormons and temples. The lady seemed very interested in the temple and I encouraged her to attend the temple's open house next year when it was completed and before it was dedicated. She said she would and I truly hope she does. The temple can bless lives, I know it!