Each February, my national industry association has their annual Capitol Conference in Washington, D.C. This conference provides me the opportunity to join with hundreds of my colleagues from around the country to lobby for health reform changes of importance to me and my clients on Capitol Hill. It is, by far, my favorite industry conference I attend annually.
This year's visit to Washington, D.C. was extra-special. My sister and her husband, who recently moved to Alexandria, just recently welcomed a baby girl into our family. What a perfect way to blend business with pleasure! And now that the kids are getting a little older, we thought it would be a perfect time to introduce them to their cousin and to some their country's history. My conference started on Sunday afternoon, so we arrived into Washington, D.C. on Thursday. That gave us a couple of days to visit with family and tour some of the capitol's infamous monuments, museums and sights. The kids favorite part of the trip was holding their cousin, Mina Rose, and playing with Charlie, Lynsey's dog.
On Friday, we walked around some of the National Mall and visited the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. We thought for sure that Aiden would love this museum, but we were wrong. In fact, he continued to tell us that this was the most boring vacation ever. I guess when your last two vacations have been Disneyland and Disney World, historic monuments and museums would seem boring.
On Saturday, we had brunch in Old Town Alexandria and had the chance to walk around for a little bit. Later in the evening, we took the kids to visit the National Memorials at night. Madilyn was really excited to see the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial since she had just learned all about him in school. Actually, she loved all of the memorials. Aiden not so much. Our last memorial of the evening was the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. As we walked around the memorial, we could hear kids singing. We looked down on the steps of the memorial and there were about fifty students singing and holding candles. Our kids automatically recognized the songs, started singing and asked if they could go closer to the group. Sure, why not. After speaking with one of the organizers, we found out it was a group of tenth grade Reform Jewish students from all over the country participating in a social justice conference. In fact, some students where from some of the Phoenix/Scottsdale temples. That evening on the steps of the memorial they were celebrating Havdalah and Tu B'Shevat. It was so beautiful!
I am so glad that we had the opportunity to visit my sister and her family while also introducing the kids to our National's Capitol. What a great trip!
This year's visit to Washington, D.C. was extra-special. My sister and her husband, who recently moved to Alexandria, just recently welcomed a baby girl into our family. What a perfect way to blend business with pleasure! And now that the kids are getting a little older, we thought it would be a perfect time to introduce them to their cousin and to some their country's history. My conference started on Sunday afternoon, so we arrived into Washington, D.C. on Thursday. That gave us a couple of days to visit with family and tour some of the capitol's infamous monuments, museums and sights. The kids favorite part of the trip was holding their cousin, Mina Rose, and playing with Charlie, Lynsey's dog.
On Friday, we walked around some of the National Mall and visited the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. We thought for sure that Aiden would love this museum, but we were wrong. In fact, he continued to tell us that this was the most boring vacation ever. I guess when your last two vacations have been Disneyland and Disney World, historic monuments and museums would seem boring.
On Saturday, we had brunch in Old Town Alexandria and had the chance to walk around for a little bit. Later in the evening, we took the kids to visit the National Memorials at night. Madilyn was really excited to see the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial since she had just learned all about him in school. Actually, she loved all of the memorials. Aiden not so much. Our last memorial of the evening was the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. As we walked around the memorial, we could hear kids singing. We looked down on the steps of the memorial and there were about fifty students singing and holding candles. Our kids automatically recognized the songs, started singing and asked if they could go closer to the group. Sure, why not. After speaking with one of the organizers, we found out it was a group of tenth grade Reform Jewish students from all over the country participating in a social justice conference. In fact, some students where from some of the Phoenix/Scottsdale temples. That evening on the steps of the memorial they were celebrating Havdalah and Tu B'Shevat. It was so beautiful!
I am so glad that we had the opportunity to visit my sister and her family while also introducing the kids to our National's Capitol. What a great trip!
Madi, Aiden and Charlie
The kids in front of the Capitol
National Air & Space Museum
Standing in front of the Washington Monument
The Capitol
Aunt Lynsey and the kids
Aiden, Madi and Mina
Aiden and Mina
Madi and Mina
Lynsey, Tonny, Mina, Madi and Aiden in Alexandia
The Matenges
Josh and I
Josh and the kids
MLK Memorial
Aiden and Madi
Madi
Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
Washington Monument
World War II Memorial
Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial
Washington Monument
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Tu B'Shevat Havdalah
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