Lots of Posts

I've been really bad at posting things for the last few months so I decided to do a bunch of posts today!  If you want to read them all then scroll down!

A few other things though.  Dallin just found out that he got on one of his school's law reviews!! I'm not sure exactly what law review is but I know he gets to write some articles and it's a really good thing for his resume!  He is also finishing up his summer class, his final is this week.  He is excited because it is a night class and it's not very fun being at school until 10 at night, even if it is only 2 days a week.  I am going to be starting my research for my masters thesis this week!! hooray!! Hopefully I'll be able to finish it before Christmas and then start writing my thesis.  The goal is to graduate by May but it's gonna be a lot of work to do it!

Happy reading!

Fourth of July

For the 4th of July we decided to brave the crowds and watch the fire works show in DC.  There was a free concert on the capital lawn before the fireworks but you had to get there at like 3:00 to get seats and there was no way we were going to go sit in the heat for 6 hours just to see a free concert (plus church doesn't get out until 4).  So at about 6 we met up with some friends and took the metro to the national mall.  It was kinda crowded but not too bad... yet.  We found a good patch of grass at the base of the Washington Monument and spread out our blankets.  The fireworks didn't start until 9 so we spent the rest of the evening playing games, eating snacks, listening to the live bands, and chasing down our friends son every time he tried to escape!  As it started to get closer to 9 the crowds around the mall started really getting thick.

Here is a video showing where we  were watching the fireworks.

By the time the sun was almost down, the whole national mall (and probably more) was packed with people, you couldn't see an empty spot anywhere. Then the fire works started.  It was a pretty good fireworks show, and the setting was great! They light off the fireworks from the reflecting pool in between the Lincoln and Washington monuments and we were close enough to see them lighting the fireworks. 

The Grand Finale

   Once the fireworks were over it was time to try and get home.  We decided that the bus was the way to go since the metro was going to be SUPER crowded.  We walked down 17th street for about 8 blocks to catch the bus and the entire time we were just surrounded by a mass of people.  There were people filling the street from side walk to side walk as far as I could see in front and behind us.  For at least half of the walk the street was blocked off to traffic, but a few blocks from the bus/metro stop, traffic was allowed to drive.  The problem was there was still a huge mass of people.  A few cars tried to push their way through, but for the most part they ended up having to pull over and just wait because they couldn't get anywhere.

This was the street right next to the white house as we tried to walk home.

It was a little difficult to find the bus in the huge mass of people, but we found it just before it left! It took us about an hour and a half to get home on the bus, the metro might have been faster, but at least on the bus we got to sit! So all in all it was a really good fourth of July! (next year if we're here though, we'll watch the fireworks from across the river.)

Great Falls Park

A few weekends ago, Dallin and I decided to go and enjoy the great outdoors.  We had heard that Great Falls Park was a fun place to go and see so we packed a picnic and headed down there.  This park is only about 20 minutes from our house and has the steepest waterfalls of any eastern river.  As we drove out to the park we were surprised to see how fast we went from being right in the middle of the city to being almost in the country.  We went from crowded city streets to a two lane highway in the middle of a forest in about 15 minutes.  We got there and parked and then decided to take a little hike to see the falls before we ate dinner. The hike to the falls ended up being really short which was good because it was super hot and humid, but the views were pretty good.  The Potomac is a big river and so it in this gorge that it goes through there are a ton of water falls! We also got to see some crazy kayakers going down the water falls.  Here's a picture of the falls.

And here is a picture of Dallin and a fuzzy little friend that he found on his water bottle after dinner.

It was a fun Saturday and we were excited to find some outdoor things to do close to home!

Texas

In the beginning of June, my mom and I went to Texas to visit with her Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins.  It was a really fun time.  We spent a few days with family just talking and eating and stuff.  I found out that my great-grandma gant's favorite color was purple, just like mine (it must be in the genes).  And we got to share old pictures of our family.  It was neat to see some of the old pictures, and to see the family resemblance between myself and some of my ancestors.  We also spent some time sight seeing and shopping.  I got a cowboy hat! And we were able to meet up with one of my friends that I grew up with and have dinner with her! It was way fun!  O and I got to see a great sun set!  I've been missing sunsets out here in Virginia because there are so many trees and no hills, you just can't get above the tree line to see a good sunset, or sunrise.

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day Dallin and I decided to go into DC and see the parade.  It's supposed to be the biggest Memorial Day parade anywhere so we thought it was worth checking out.  My old room mate Steph and her husband Andy were out visiting family in Maryland so they came into DC and met us for the day.  The four of us chatted and watched the parade for a while, but it was probably the hottest day of the year so far and so we left before the end of the parade to find water and air conditioning.  After a bit of a break from the heat we went to Arlington to see the cemetery and watch the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. It was a fun way to spend Memorial day and it was great to see Steph and Andy again!!

Airshow

On May 15th we went to the Joint Service Open House at Andrews Air Force Base.  It was pretty fun.  We weren't sure exactly what to expect, but we knew that there was an air show and the Blue Angels were supposed to be there so we decided to head down and see what was going on.  We took the metro down to the end of the green line and then got on a school bus which took us onto the air force base while our marine tour guide told us about some of the things that we could do.  When we got off the bus we walked around for a while and looked around at all the big planes and fighter jets and helicopters and things that were sitting around on the base.  Then we got some kettle corn and settled in to watch the blue angels.  They did a pretty impressive show and I was able to get a few pictures, but it is really hard to take pictures of things that are flying that fast!