D.C. Vacation-last day!

Before heading to the airport...we decided we'd try to see Arlington National Cemetary again. The first day to have the sun shining upon us and it kicked our booties! The Cemetary is kinda uphill...at least to get back in there to the Kennedy gravesites and the tomb of the unknown soldier. Luckily we had a bottle ready for david and we were well hydrated before beginning our tour. It's a very solemn place, but quite a sight to see. Sydney was a bit bored with it and whiney about walking...but she liked the tomb of the unknown soldier where they have displays of medals of honor and other artifacts including the flags from the caskets of the unknown soldiers. It was a neat place.

Now, I thought ALL the tombstones were like the ones in the previous pictures...but there was a ton that were just like any other cemetary...many also had the Washington Monument as a tombstone. Like the one in the middle of this picture.

You can't read them well here...but this is where JFK and Jackie are laid to rest.

The Tomb of the unknown soldier...guarded by a soldier day and night. (Though if they close to the public...do they really still guard it at night?)
Bottle break...can you SEE how sweaty Josh is...it was H-O-T! Some of the artifacts at the tomb...

After a great final stop before leaving D.C....we got to the airport and boarded our plane only to be told that due to the effects of Tropical Storm Erin which had stalled up in Ohio and IL and was causing bad weather...we had to deboard the plane (after an hour of sitting on it...luckily David was snoozing). Ater another 2 hours they said that the "ground stop" had been lifted and we were going to board again and wait in line to get into the air...we waiting about 30-40 minutes on the runway for our *turn*. We got to our Chicago stop...and of course we had MISSED our connecting flight to Houston...so guess what...we got ourselves booked on the first flight in the morning (b/c Erin had to work that day at 3pm...I was supposed to be home already and asleep w/plenty of time to rest)...but because it would have taken too long to get into a hotel then wake up early to get to the airport 2 hours before the flight...we decided to sleep in the terminal. I really felt like a refugee. The set out cots for those staying at the airport...I guess this is a regular thing...w/airplane blankets and pillows and we settled in for an un-restful sleep. People kept getting in from their flights and would stomp past us chittering about every hour or less. I woke up each time and would wrap my leg around our stroller and tuck our bags up closer to me. I am pretty sure they had a security person watching over us...but I could not sleep well thinking that my stuff was so vulnerable. Getting David to sleep was the hardest part...but once he was I felt better. They woke us up promptly at 4:30am to get the cots moved before the airport was truly open for business. It was truly an interesting experience...and I'd rather not deal with that again...non-direct flights suck I've decided.

Sydney getting ready to sleep. Did I mention that it was almost as bright as daylight as we tried to sleep?hehe.

Picking up our stuff after being rudely awakened! Oh...and we almost made the worst mistake of our entire trip. Sydney had been sleeping with "Huggy" (her teddy bear) and she left him on the cot when we left for our terminal. They went back and no one was there...so they had to hunt down someone to find out where they may have put lost items. Luckily he was still there and he was saved. Sydney was a wreck at the thought of loosing him. Huggy got her through sleeping in her big girl bed alone since she was about 3 years old. He's a good friend. Things we DID loose on this trip-her jacket at the Indian Museum in the restroom...and a souvenier lunchbox from the Zoo that she set down to tie her shoe and forgot about. Not too bad considering. hehe. All in all we had an awesome trip!