Travels With Teens: Take Two “I Can Organize This Trip in My Sleep!”BC Dee in DC Roti & Fini p. 40

[hill6]

Congrats on Nate graduating and the scholarship. I was surprised that he graduated so early in the month. I thought it would have been much later in June like it is around here.

 

[natebenma]

Congrats on Nate's graduation! So exciting!
And congrats to Nate on getting a scholarship, that's fantastic!

Thank you so much!

We were really pleased Nate got some recognition during the ceremony with the scholarship. We weren't expecting anything.

I know I've said it already but congratulations again to Nate in his graduation I wish we did something like that here when kids leave school but we don't do graduation until you get your university degree. We do have a leavers night but it's not the same as the students getting a personal well done! Nate looks so grown up in his gown and you and mark look very proud indeed as does Ben. Brilliant to get a scholarship too .

I didn't know that!

I have been thinking, 3 more graduations to go.

Ben in 3 years.

Nate in another 4.

Ben in 5.

And more if either goes for additional degrees.

Your comment about Nates food bill made me laugh out loud. My son of the same age has the most expensive taste in food of all of us even though he is the plainest eater! Why have frying steak when there's fillets to be had

Mark totally indulges the boys.

Nate originally wanted filets and lobster stew for his graduation party next Saturday. But he is starting to realize the value of the dollar and the cost of college.

He changed his mind to pizza.

Congrats on Nate graduating and the scholarship. I was surprised that he graduated so early in the month. I thought it would have been much later in June like it is around here.

Thanks!!!

I think we are the earliest graduation in the area. There were two on Saturday and one yesterday was rained out- postponed until tonight. The other area high school graduation is next week.

Ben has 3 more weeks of school. He gets out Friday June 24.

 

[natebenma]

Tuesday- April 19, 2016

After getting ready for another busy day, we decided to see if we could find the food court for breakfast. Once again we went through the hotel lobby doors to hallway, past the elevator to the parking garage and to the doors at the end of the hallway. Which were still locked!


We doubled back. We must have looked confused because there was a man and a woman dressed in business suits who asked if they could help us. We told them we were looking for the food court and they said we needed to take the elevator up to level “F” for Food Court.


D’OH!


We made it there and everyone else must also be having trouble finding it because the place was empty.

Or maybe they were eating at better joints.


But there were some interesting selections at the one place that was open.

I got a bagel sandwich with lox, cream cheese and spinach. Ben got an egg sandwich. Mark got a waffle and Nate got a pastry and fruit.


We finished breakfast, then started walking towards the Mall.

I have mentioned my boys are history buffs. Ben is particularly interested in World War II. He watches movies, tv shows, documentaries about the war. For Christmas and his birthday, he requested models of tanks and a couple versions of the board game Axis and Allies.


The World War II Memorial is impressive and sobering. It is “relatively” new to the Mall, opened in 2004. We arrived before the tour groups and class trips and families got there and that was really nice. I think there may have been one or two other people there while we were there, including a custodian.


I took this picture at 7:58 am, so I will call it 8. Nobody guessed 8 exactly. 10 points to luvpoohandcompany for closest (8:40) and 5 points each to annie170 and afwdwfan for 8:45. No points for 9 am or later!

This was the right way for us to start our monuments tour and it was great to do it without the crowds.

Once the first tour group arrived, we made our way to the Lincoln Memorial, walking along the reflecting pool.

It was already getting hot!


It was a little more crowded here, but not too bad.

I don’t think there are many bathrooms around the Mall, so I took the opportunity to use the facilities here. Yes, my friends, this was the smelliest bathroom I encountered. I would imagine this is what a latrine would smell like at a Civil War battlefield, so perhaps it was somewhat symbolic.


Continued in Next Post

 

[natebenma]

Continued from Previous Post


The Korean War Memorial is a short walk away. My dad served in Korea. He has not been to DC since this memorial was installed and my thoughts were with him as we walked around.

It was at this memorial that the wisdom of the 8th grade trip our middle school class takes to Disney really hit home. There were some school aged girls at the memorial taking selfies and pictures, with the instruction “Now, look war-torn and ragged”. Someone else was posing in a marching stance alongside one of the statues.


I found this to be disrespectful. Mark observed at that moment that the Disney trip, with some education and a fun atmosphere makes a lot of sense for a group of teens.


As we were leaving this memorial and walking along the markers of the countries that served alongside the US in this conflict, Ben said “Take a picture of Ethiopia!”

Two reasons for this. One is that my dad was stationed with a group of Ethiopians when he was in Korea. The second is that Ben represented Ethiopia in one of his Model UN Conferences this year. He did a lot of research on his position paper and his group was recognized with an honorable mention.


Next up was the Vietnam Memorial Wall. On our last family trip, I was only able to take a couple of pictures while we were there. This memorial, which lists the names of those who lost their lives in this war, is very intimate and emotionally powerful.

This is a good breaking point to finish this update. In the next part of the report, we visit museum(s) prior to lunch and our afternoon White House Tour at 1 pm.


*******************************************

New Contest Questions:


How many Smithsonian museums did we visit before lunch? 10 points


Museum of Natural History-True or False, 10 points each:

1. I touched a rock from Mars
   
   
2. I saw the Hope Diamond
   
   
3. I took a forbidden picture

The Obamas have two dogs, Bo and Sunny. Did we see them during our White House tour? 10 points for guessing whether we saw 0, 1 or 2 of the first pets this year.


Next up: Lunch and White House Tour




Contest guesses:

Step Count for arrival day (see above for a summary of the day)- 15 points

24,026

15 points for rteetz for the closest guess (23,000), 10 points to Wood Nymph (25,646) and 5 points luvpoohandcompany (22,274)


First place we visit after breakfast (food court) is the WWII Memorial. What time do we arrive?- 15 points

8 am

10 points to luvpooh for closest (8:40), 5 points each for annie170 and afwdwfan for 8:45. No points for guessing 9 am or later.


Which Memorial/Monument around the Mall has the worst-smelling bathroom?- 10 points

Lincoln- 10 points to rteetz, annie170, Wood Nymph, afwdwfan

Part of the Korean War Veteran’s Memorial has markers for 22 countries who were members of the United Nations and were our allies during the Korean War. Which country did Ben want us to take a picture of?- 20 points

20 points to rteetz- nice job!

5 sympathy points to SarahDisney.


Updated Leader Board

rteetz: 70
luvpoohandcompany: 65
SarahDisney: 55
Wood Nymph: 50
afwdwfan: 30
annie170: 30
pas130: 10
hill6: 0

 

[pas130]

If it's not $40 entrees, it's $100 sneakers or $40 hats.

it's like you can see my bank account lol Brandon already got his XC sneaks said nice he needs to start training and luckily sports authority has its bankruptcy sale so the hat was 19 bucks

 

[pas130]

Amazing memorial pictures. I know my hubby and I would be very emotional seeing those statues in person. I've got to get my butt to DC. Disney and universal always win for trip choices though.
Ok poll time: true for all three questions and you saw one presidential pup

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Ok I'm guessing 2 museums before lunch then 1.true 2.false 3.true and you saw 1 dog

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

I must say Dee I'm loving all your photos of the various memorials They are so poignant and thought provoking and I'm sure that is magnified many times over seeing them in reality. The reflecting pool is beautiful

 

[SarahDisney]

I don't think I've seen any of the war memorials in DC. Thanks for sharing these pictures - they definitely look like fitting tributes to our soldiers who served in these wars.

How many Smithsonian museums did we visit before lunch? 10 points

3

I touched a rock from Mars

False

I saw the Hope Diamond

True

I took a forbidden picture

True

The Obamas have two dogs, Bo and Sunny. Did we see them during our White House tour? 10 points for guessing whether we saw 0, 1 or 2 of the first pets this year.

I'm gonna go with 0 dogs.

 

[annie170]

Congrats to Nate on his graduation and scholarship! Every little bit helps!

I'm curious. I know your kids started school after Labor Day. We started in the middle of August and just had our last student day today. All my grades are submitted, but I still have to go in tomorrow. We had to make up three weather related days this year and have a required 180 days in Indiana. Is Massachusetts the same? It just seemed early for you to be finished.

Those war memorials are amazing. Great pictures, too. I'm just in awe of the artwork and detail of the monuments. My dad is a Korean War Vet also.

I know what you mean about kids acting disrespectfully in serious situations. I get so annoyed when I show films like "Of Mice and Men" and "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" to my students and have a few who find the endings so funny. There is a Holocaust Museum less than an hour away near Chicago. I would love to take my students there on a field trip, but I know I'd have a few who would not take it seriously and embarrass me.

I'll guess one museum before lunch. 1. false 2. true 3. true and you saw both dogs at the White House.

 

[natebenma]

I'm curious. I know your kids started school after Labor Day. We started in the middle of August and just had our last student day today. All my grades are submitted, but I still have to go in tomorrow. We had to make up three weather related days this year and have a required 180 days in Indiana. Is Massachusetts the same? It just seemed early for you to be finished.

It is just the seniors/graduates who are done. Ben, and the rest of the students, are still in school. Last day at our public school is June 24.

We actually started before Labor Day this year, first time in many years. They started Wed Sept 1, went Thurs Sept 2 and then had Friday and Monday off. We had 3-4 snow days, can't remember. We have a required 180 days also.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Wow Congrats to Nate and the scholarship! What great news!

What a nice tour of DC! I visited most of the same monuments many years ago and they are just stunning to see in person. The only one I didn't get to see was the Jefferson Memorial. I think I couldn't find the route to get there (this was before I had a smart phone and didn't have a map)

 

[rteetz]

Congrats to Nate on graduation! Only 4 more days until mine.

Looks like a great day walking around and seeing the memorials. I need to get to DC at some point in my life to check it out.

I can't believe I'm in the lead right now!

How many Smithsonian museums did we visit before lunch? 10 points


Museum of Natural History-True or False, 10 points each:

1. I touched a rock from Mars
   
   
2. I saw the Hope Diamond
   
   
3. I took a forbidden picture

The Obamas have two dogs, Bo and Sunny. Did we see them during our White House tour? 10 points for guessing whether we saw 0, 1 or 2 of the first pets this year.


Next up: Lunch and White House Tour

I'm going to say 3 museums.

1. True
2. False
3. True

I'm going to say you saw 1 dog and that being Sunny the less popular one.

 

[glennbo123]

Big congrats to Nate on his graduation! (Sorry, there're still a whole lot of chapters that I've missed but I noticed this in the title and had to check it out!)

 

[natebenma]

Wow Congrats to Nate and the scholarship! What great news!

Thank you so much! We were so pleased!

Congrats to Nate on his graduation and scholarship! Every little bit helps!

Thank you!

The money will hopefully cover books and materials for the fall semester. Maybe the whole year. It has been 30 years since I have purchased college textbooks and I think they were about $100 a shot then. Why are they still using text books???

Congrats to Nate on graduation! Only 4 more days until mine.

Thank you!

And once again, Congratulations!!!

Big congrats to Nate on his graduation! (Sorry, there're still a whole lot of chapters that I've missed but I noticed this in the title and had to check it out!)

Thank you so much for coming by with your well wishes.



**********************************************

Thankfully, there was a professional photographer on the field taking pictures as each student received their diploma, because the guy who was standing in front of us is right in the middle of the picture I took.

I previewed the photos yesterday and ordered two pictures. Biggest smile I have seen on my boy in a picture in a long time!

 

[natebenma]

Love Pina Coolavas. Pina Colada made with Raspberry rum and raspberry puree.

The motion is not good when you get the cold sweats on the ride from it. I had my eyes shut quite a bit. e Harry Potter stuff is neat but I think a youtube video will be my way to see it going forward.

I did find out how they do the Hogworth Express. Mike and I were discussing it. I pretty much had it right.

Some of the Universal/IoA really messes with people. I do ok by taking Bonine. Fortunately, I am able to ride Forbidden Journey without any issues.

it's like you can see my bank account lol Brandon already got his XC sneaks said nice he needs to start training and luckily sports authority has its bankruptcy sale so the hat was 19 bucks

On the plus side, Ben doesn't care at all what he wears and I have to beg him to look at clothes. He finally conceded to new shoes when the ones he was wearing had holes and tears.

Amazing memorial pictures. I know my hubby and I would be very emotional seeing those statues in person. I've got to get my butt to DC. Disney and universal always win for trip choices though.

Thanks!

I get it. It is hard to allocate those precious few travel money and available time. We took the boys when they were 9 and 12, and those were great ages for a first trip to DC

I must say Dee I'm loving all your photos of the various memorials They are so poignant and thought provoking and I'm sure that is magnified many times over seeing them in reality. The reflecting pool is beautiful

Aw, thanks!

The monuments are beautifully crafted and there is just so much fine detail.

Those war memorials are amazing. Great pictures, too. I'm just in awe of the artwork and detail of the monuments. My dad is a Korean War Vet also.

I know what you mean about kids acting disrespectfully in serious situations. I get so annoyed when I show films like "Of Mice and Men" and "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" to my students and have a few who find the endings so funny. There is a Holocaust Museum less than an hour away near Chicago. I would love to take my students there on a field trip, but I know I'd have a few who would not take it seriously and embarrass me.

Thanks for your kind words. Thank you to your dad for his service.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this- the 8th grade class at our middle school is at Disney this week. TS Colin, go away!

This year there is a competing trip to Washington DC planned by one of the dads who works with politicians. There are 12-13 kids and around the same number of chaperones. These are good kids, they are all dressed up and have had some amazing experiences (private tour of American History Museum, White House tour, meeting with Massachusetts senators). For this small group, well supervised, the trip is working. I wouldn't want to do it with 100 plus kids.

 

[natebenma]

New Contest Questions:

How many Smithsonian museums did we visit before lunch? 10 points


Museum of Natural History-True or False, 10 points each:

I touched a rock from Mars

1. I saw the Hope Diamond
   
   
2. I took a forbidden picture

The Obamas have two dogs, Bo and Sunny. Did we see them during our White House tour? 10 points for guessing whether we saw 0, 1 or 2 of the first pets this year.

*************************************************************************

Got your guesses!

Ok poll time: true for all three questions and you saw one presidential pup

How many museums before lunch/White House?

Ok I'm guessing 2 museums before lunch then 1.true 2.false 3.true and you saw 1 dog

I'll guess one museum before lunch. 1. false 2. true 3. true and you saw both dogs at the White House.

I don't think I've seen any of the war memorials in DC. Thanks for sharing these pictures - they definitely look like fitting tributes to our soldiers who served in these wars.

3

False/True/True

I'm gonna go with 0 dogs.

I'm going to say 3 museums.

1. True
2. False
3. True

I'm going to say you saw 1 dog and that being Sunny the less popular one.

 

[pas130]

Dee I'll say 4 museums before lunch you're a powerhouse
How did I miss a question lol

 

[natebenma]

I just added the two pictures of Nate receiving his diploma to Post 635.

 

[pas130]

I just added the two pictures of Nate receiving his diploma to Post 635.

Wonderful pictures of Nate!!! Smiling ear-to-ear!