On Thursday, April 14th my cousin Drew's marching band visited DC and played at the WWII memorial. I was super excited to see him and my aunts from Georgia. Since moving to TX and now Maryland, and especialy since my mom and dad divorced, I haven't been able to see them very much. It was a special treat for me and the boys. I planned to take Zech and Gabe out of school that day to go with me to DC but Zech was home sick with tonsilitis anyways. That was a HUGE scare for me! OK, here's the skinny: Zech had been struggling with his after school activities regarding his behavior and focus. Soccer had been especially diffcult. This is his 3rd season and he's never had problems before. After much thought and prayer, I decided that he may need his meds adjusted and took him to the doctor. I've been trying to get him in to see a child therapist for over a year now. What a joke! The people my insurance say I can go to either do not take kids his age or have a waiting list 6 months or longer. WHAT?!? Anyways, I just took him to the dr and we decided to try a different medicine all together. His 1st day on the new meds was Tuesday. Tuesday night he comes home and is complaining about his right ear hurting and says it hurts when he swallows. He then launches into a high fever. It was SO sudden! I was extremely worried he was having an allergic reaction to the meds or having sever side effects. He was up all during the night moaning and I contemplated taking him to the ER. I opted for urgent care the next morn and was very relieved to know it was just tonsilitis. I've never been so worried in my life. There is an element of guilt too b/c I am still not a 100% fan of these ADHD meds. They work though. I took Zech off them for 2 days over Spring Break but had to substitute with 20 herbs a day to keep him balanced! Poor kid!
Anyways, back to my day in DC. My Aunt Sis had told me they would leave their hotel at 10:15 for the memorial so I planned to be there at 10:30 for a 11am perfomance. I opted to take the Metro b/c I drive a tank, can never find parking, and did not want to walk that far from the parking garages. I needed to leave my house at 8:30am in order to get everywhere on time. Aunt Sis called at 8:30 saying their performance was at 10:30! AUGH! Panic mode! We got in the car, drove to the Metro, couldn't find a parking spot so I created my own (and got a ticket at the end of the day------%$#@!) The boys LOVED the Metro! They were SO good. I mean, honestly-they were awesome! I got SO many complements on how well behaved they were and obedient. They were kind to one another and stayed with me. People were asking me how I did it! Man, I was pleased to be a super mom that day! Anyways, we had to switch lines from green to blue and asked for some assistance from a Metro worker who put us on the blue line going the wrong way! We had to get off and back on again. Needless to say, we got off the Metro at Smithsonian at 10:30am then had to walk through the mall to the opposite side to the WWII memorial. We were booking it and got there just as the band was playing their finale. UGH! How disappointing! But, we got to see our cousin and aunts and even went to a few other memorials with them and visited for a little while. We had a picnic and then headed back home. Overall, it was a great day!
Aunt Laura, Drew, Aunt Sis, Zech, and Gabe
Drew all decked out in his band uniform.
Aunt Laura is great with my boys, she's quite the big kid herself!
We had never been to the WWII memorial. It is so beautiful and inspiring.
All the boys (Eli is in the back of the stroller)
Can you see what it says? It reads, "Here we mark the price of freedom". Each one of those stars represented over 1000 men who died in the war. I can't even tell you how many stars there were. It brought tears to my eyes.
Freedom is not free.
Ok, I'm a nerd. I love Abe Lincoln. Ever since I was in 4th grade and had to do this huge research project on him, I've loved him. Here he is! At this point Zech was really tired and cranky-his fever was back. I told him as soon as he read Lincoln's speech adn told me what it meant, we could go. That kid is a fast reader and he's bright. It only took him about 8 mins to figure it all out but I was happy for the teaching moment anyway.
See his flushed cheeks? Fever! YIKES!
Below the WWII memorial is the Korean War memorial. I didn't even know it exsisted. It was haunting. Truly.
My Gabriel thought it was really neat. But he wondered why the soldiers all had a sad look on their faces. I told him that war was hard physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. They probably missed their families and were struggling with the sad things they had to see and do.
On our way back, we stopped in front of the Washington Memorial for a picnic. Aunt Sis had brought a Quantum Leap for the boys so they enjoyed playing with it and eating their lunches.
All I have to say is WOAH! Ammon is too cute for his own good. I cannot tell you how many times I get stopped with people just gushing about his dimples and bright flashy eyes. He is so dynamic and fun.
Elijah likes to explore. Thank goodness for older siblings who can run after him if he gets too far. I see a future problem when this new addition comes. I may have to be one of those mom's. You know the ones with the harnesses for their kids? EWWW! I hope not!
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