A Bedtime Story | D.C.

Note to the reader: I go out of town for conferences and training with my jobs. With younger children, I don't always call home. It sounds like a great idea and of course we all miss each other but the little ones always seemed more upset. Then Colin was stuck with angry children that were hard to settle down. So now, depending on what they're doing, I let Colin call me when or if it's good for them. Thankfully, they're getting older and so this isn't as much of an issue for us.

But to get around it, I came up with this idea instead. I LOVE to take pictures and I usually don't print the ones I take. Since I have a blog, I post pictures of things I see that think they'd like and they can use it like a bed time story when it's time for bed.  Then I get to save them!

It's really hard to do on short trips like this one. It's easier when you're alone on your trip. If you're with others, you might want to reserve this activity for trips that are 3 days or longer. (That way you can visit with them and work on this too.) This is also a great way to use up that layover time! Sophie told me that she likes this better than any of the loot that I bring home from the conferences. :)

If you don't have a blog, they are free and there are ways to make them 'less public'. If you don't want to try a blog, I would NOT recommend email. The pictures may jumble and the message may be too big. Try typing it up in a word doc, then making it a PDF and emailing it as an attachment. :D



****Now, to the Fam!

Hello Lovies!!

So here's the first day. Paula and I are finally off work. Of COURSE we had to take a picture. As it turns out it was "National Woman Road Warrior Day" so we had to make this picture fancier than normal. After all, we are women traveling on the road!

I couldn't get into Snapchat to see if there was any kind of warrior filter (like the puppy dog faces) and so I eventually gave up and searched for another ap. I found ArtEffect instead. Oh my goodness, I love it. We kind of look like warriors in this picture, don't we? It's the winner!

So then we drove for a while...

[A couple of hours later]

We're here! Here's a peek at my room!

There's also a little writing spot with a couch. 

That's where I'll be putting this together.

This hotel has a rooftop restaurant. -Super Cool!

Hey Look- it's the Washington Monument way over there!

I had fish tacos and Caprese salad! mmmm

The next day we walked to our conference.... [Digital Summit]

It turns out the Fire Dept is at the bottom of our hotel.

Here's a pretty cool playground that I thought you'd like.

Look Jaxie. I haven't seen any combine harvesters here but check out these cranes.

There is a lot of construction taking place around here.

Our conference is at the Arena Stage at the Meade Center. It's a crazy cool place.

They do a lot of shows here. I'd love to come back and see one.

The inside of the building is neat too!

Here's a hallway...

The Ceiling

This is where I sat for one of the sessions while we listened to a speaker.

That black row down the center is a bunch of large river rocks. No, I didn't get one to paint. :)

Sophie, this part is just for you. I know you'd want to do this when you saw the stage. 

So I did it for you since you weren't here!

We walked through town some more on the way to dinner.

Here is a beautiful old church.

Oh look, A TRAIN!! 

I couldn't tell if the train is permanently in this place or just parked 

but I had to grab a shot just for you!

-This one is farther away, so that you can see how high it is. Pretty cool, huh?

The Washington Monument

The Capitol Building

"The City"

This is just the sidewalk. I thought the trees looked really cool. So, I took a picture. 

They don't look as cool this way. 

oops- got a shot of my foot.
"I was here."

Here is a bunch of people getting a professional picture taken outside of the Trump Hotel. Yes, the guy who's running for President. I almost yelled "You're Fired" when we walked by... hoping to make them laugh but I decided to behave.

The City is a fun place to look around.

This picture isn't great but it shows details around the windows. Maybe you can zoom in.
I just love looking at the buildings.

Here's a revolving door.

It spins in a circle and people pop in and out of it to enter and exit the building.

And just for you Ethan, here's a picture of the White House. :)

Here's a bad picture of one of those double-decker tour buses that we used last time we came up.
(Note to other readers, night tours on the top of that thing are pretty cool way to see the monuments.)

Then we ate at a place right around the corner from the White House called "Old Ebbitt Grill".

The food was amazing! (Reader: put it on your list if you haven't been.)

And look boys- There's all kinds of dead animals on the walls!

Sophie, they even had these girlie chandeliers too!

I had hanger steak for dinner and It was so, so, SO good.

The meal-- well, the whole place kind of reminded me of Uncle Michael (well except the dead animal part). There is a lot of art on the walls and the ambiance (or way the room feels) just seemed like him... One of his favorite wines was on the menu, which they don't serve in Gloucester. Then I found a few orange tomatoes on my plate like he used to grow. He would always save a few for me. I don't always see things that make me think of him so much but he loved the city and art. I even thought I smelled his cologne earlier... It just felt like he was here. That made it extra special. Kind of like if you were here too!

This trip was shorter than some of the others. So, I won't have much more to show you.
Besides, I need to sign off and get home so I can squish you. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Remember that fun app that I used earlier, well look. I used it on a picture of you guys too!

This picture is the original.

Then here are only a few of the art effects in the ap! (Scroll down)

Cool, huh?! YES, we can install it on your ipods...

I'm sure that like this picture, you guys are all in my bed now too! So you give Daddy some extra kisses for that! Steal your snuggles while ya can, cuz this big ole' booty will be all up in that pile soon to --interrupt!

And finally, I saw this verse today: May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. - 2 Corinthians 13:14

Fellowship kind of means friendship and hanging out. Just like I was hanging out with Paula tonight while we were at dinner. It might even include how, if good ole' Uncle Michael really was hanging out with me on this trip... After all, you know, how much you like hanging out with your friends too, right? Think about why that is...? Is any of that different than when you and I hang out?

Anyway, we can mull over some of those similarities and differences after I am back home. So think about it and see if you have questions. :)

The good news is, just like you and I are family, we are also part of God's family and he loves you (us all) and wants to hang out with us too. I pray we all get a little closer together! Sweet dreams my loves. See you soon!