I was super excited for Thursday to come. Two of our good friends from high school, Rick and Kylee Colaw, live in the DC area. Rick is an attorney in the Air Force and they moved up there last summer. As soon as I knew I was going with Randy, I knew we had to see them! Luckily for us, our hotel wasn't too far out of their way and Kylee was planning on taking Kaeden to Mount Vernon which I REALLY wanted to go to!
So Kylee came and got me and I was able to spend the day with her and sweet Kaeden! Again, I was blessed with an absolutely beautiful fall day! 
You couldn't take any pictures inside of the Mansion House Farm, but it was really neat. I was surprised by how original pieces were still in the house, how many fireplaces were in the house, and also by how many bedrooms were in there! It was also cool to see the exterior of the house, which is wood, but made up to look like cement blocks. Washington had carved the wood and used sand in the paint.
The back porch is amazing with an absolutely beautiful view of the Potomac River. I can see why he never wanted to leave his farm!
This is the view from the back porch. The land across the river has also been preserved so that the view we see is the same view he would have seen so many years ago.
Another neat feature was that the kitchen wasn't in the house, it was just off the house connected by an arch walkway. And then after the kitchen, there were lots of little "houses".
This was one of the little "houses" known as the wash house. There was also a smoke house, salt house, store house, and others. 
This was the coach house where the stables and his vehicles were stored.
This is a replica of one of his horse-drawn vehicles.
Next we headed down the beautiful pathway to the river. I just had to grab this picture so I could remember just how beautiful it all is!
It was a nice walk down to the river, lots of stairs to go down. However, going back up was quite the exercise! I didn't realize just how far we had gone down until we were ready to go back up! I believe this dock was created when Queen Elizabeth came to view Mount Vernon, but don't quote me on that!
Next we headed to the burial site. This day was Veteran's Day, so all the veterans were given a red carnation to lay at the foot of the graves. 
This is of course George and Martha Washington, but behind those doors are I think 20-some other family members.
Here is another picture of the Presidents casket.
Mount Vernon is still a working farm, and Kaeden couldn't wait to see the pigs. She had been talking about seeing the pigs before we even arrived. The first animals we saw were sheep.
Next we saw the big cows/bulls, which she really wanted to ride.
We were still looking for the pigs when I saw this beautiful garden. I hope to grow a garden someday, but I'm sure it will never look like this!
And then finally, we found the pigs! There was even a baby pig that was so cute! We had such a fun day! Afterwards, we met up with Rick and their other daughter Karsen down in Old Town for lunch. Wow, what a historical city that was! It was built before DC was even created! After that we picked up Randy and then they took us to their beautiful home on the base. That was my first time on a base. We had to show our drivers license to get it! We got to meet some of their wonderful neighbors, help get their boys from the bus stop and then we went to dinner back down in Old Town. It was a fun night and a fun week! Friday morning, we left to come back home. It is always great to come back home to the loving arms of your children! I'm so glad I was able to make this trip- a BIG thanks to my brother Jordan and his wife Jen for taking care of our kids so I could do this. I love you guys!!!!
So, Randy's group was attending a private evening at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. This was one of those nights that I would be alone and had planned on just hanging out at the hotel. Randy was so sweet and asked around to see if there was anyone not attending so that I could go with him. 
Luckily we were in one of the first buses, so as soon as we got off we headed back to the simulators. Randy and I got to ride together. He drove our plane and I shot at the bad guys. Oh man, it was fun and crazy! Randy had us completely upside down! He only found two planes to shoot at, but I hit them both! I was glad we did this first before we ate!
There was food set up all over the museum! We found a table close to this space exhibit. Very cool.
After dinner we headed into the IMAX theatre to watch a show called "To Fly!" I believe. We didn't realize what exactly we were going to be seeing. This was something we should have watched before eating too! The movie was about the first flights and on to now if I remember correctly. Randy and I closed our eyes through a lot of it because it was making us sick. Just when we thought we couldn't take it anymore, it was over! It was cool for a while, but too long.
Randy was on the look-out for Wiley Post. We found a plaque about him, but I didn't take a picture of it. Here is Randy taking a look inside this double-decker plane. They had lots of fun things like this around.
For a while, I was wondering if I was going the right way. I'd always imagined the White House as being off on its own land somewhere. I kept walking along all these old buildings with all the hustle and bustle of people in a big hurry. A lot of the buildings had security that scanned the people on their way in and out. And then all of a sudden I took a turn and there it was! At first I was nervous to walk up to the fence! I didn't know if I would get in trouble for getting so close!
But as you can tell, I warmed up to the idea and stuck my camera in between the fence and took this picture. There were a few protestors around, which I had forgotten that I might encounter. But for the most part it wasn't too crowded, I think the President was still out of the country on this day.
This is one of those pictures I've always wanted to take also.... The Reflecting Pool with the Lincoln Memorial in the background. It's awesome because you know what's right behind those pillars and yet you can't see him. I was so anxious to get there. This was the highlight for me!
And though you can't see him in the picture, this was when I could first get a glimpse of Lincoln. And it was also when I first noticed how steep the stairs were! I had a great 
He here is... in all his grandeur! This statue is 19 feet high.
I loved this saying above Abraham Lincoln, he has always been my favorite President. On the north and south sides of the building were quotes in the walls like this of his Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Address.
So next in line as I'm walking down the National Mall is the World War II Memorial. I was told that this was the newest of the Memorials... but I don't know when it was built. I was there two days before Veterans Day, so there were a lot of men there with their WWII hats and jackets on. It was neat to be there with them.
There were two big Pavilions, this one represented the Pacific Oceans, and smaller pillars with wreaths representing the states and other countries involved in the war.
Here are Utah and Idaho's pillars... two states that I have lived in and attended college at.
And across from the Pacific was of course the Atlantic Pavilion.
So like I said, I had been out for a little sightseeing and craved more!! I was determined to see some of those things that I had only seen on TV or in books. So Wednesday I took the shuttle, alone, back to the Old Post Office and started off on my adventure. I was so nervous about making a wrong turn but I had my map and I could see the Washington Monument from almost everywhere! I figured if I found it, I would be able to just walk the mall and see most of the things I was wanting to see. I wanted so badly to get a picture of the monument with the reflecting pool. I've always loved that picture, and I think I did a pretty good job doing that!
Just down from the Arlington house is John F. Kennedy's gravesite.
Here is his gravesite, along with his wife and two young children. One is a son, Patrick, who was born premature and died after just two days and the other was a daughter who was still-born. Her grave just says "daughter".
His gravesite was a little ways down the hill but had a spectacular view of the Washington Monument. There were also some of his famous sayings on a short wall that also faced the view of DC.
I thought it was cool that Jacqueline was buried next to her first husband.
And here's a pretty cool view of the gravesite with the Arlington House in the background. 
So you are already in awe of all the gravestones, and then you get to the top of the hill to see this beautiful Memorial Amphitheater. American flags circle the arches around marble benches and the podium where leaders pay tribute to those who served. We came a few days before Veterans Day, so we couldn't go inside because they were getting ready for a service.
Just east of the amphitheater is the Tomb of the Unknowns. The inscription on the tomb reads, "Here rests in honored glory an American solder known but to God". Very touching. It is guarded by a sentinel of the Third U.S. Infantry. Everything he does is precise and orderly, its amazing! He paces 21 steps down the mat before the tomb, pauses 21 seconds, and returns.
The changing of the guard was worth waiting around for also. They change every hour (every half hour at other times of the year). Again, you can see the dark lines on the concrete because this is done in exactly the same way over and over again. 
One of the neatest parts is when they click their heels together, no matter what direction they are facing, it is always right in sync. 
I loved when they saluted the tomb. You can feel the respect they have for their fellow comrades.