Post by Emilysmom on Mar 21, 2005 9:18:48 GMT -5
What a trip!!! We had an absolute BLAST....but it went by all tooooo fast! I wanted to share just a bit about the trip, and will try to make it short. Emily must have told me 50 times before the trip "I'm SO excited". She was less than impressed with all the walking we did........I'll bet we walked at least 50 miles since last Wednesday!!! And the steps inside the Capitol....sheesh!!!
We toured Monticello (home of Thomas Jefferson....what a guy!!!), the Pentagon (more on that one later), the first floor of the White House, Union Station, all the monuments during the day AND during the evening hours too, the Capitol building (My personal favorite), Arlington Cemetery, several of the Smithsonian museums, the National Cathedral, and......I can't remember what else!! We left the hotel early in the morning each day and didn't get back till bedtime.
One negative thing that happened.......I felt really bad for Emily, but don't know how this could have been prevented really. The security measures in the Pentagon were VERY tight!!! The military guys who did the tour for us were very tense, and they made a point of telling us that during the one hour tour, we would NOT be allowed to stray from the group whatsoever. He specified "NO drinks of water, no potty breaks, etc". Well, Emily had just gone to the potty and she does NOT like to drink water, so I didn't check to make sure she understood how important this was.
When we toured the section of the Pentagon that was destroyed on 9/11/01, they took us into the memorial section in 2 different groups. (first group was all the Girl Scouts and the last group was all the parents). That memorial was VERY moving.......I got very teary eyed when I saw that Emily had signed the book they have to honor the people who died. This room was also VERY hot!!! I found out later, that when Em's group came out of that memorial room, she just sauntered over to a drinking fountain and got a nice LONG drink! The tour guide was saying to her "Remember, I said no drinks?? I said we'd have to cancel the tour for all of you if anyone didn't comply with this?????". She totally ignored him and drank, and drank and drank......followed by one of those loud "ahhhhhhhhs" that one does after a much needed drink!! When she turned around and noticed that ALL eyes were focused on her, she got pretty upset and ran to a friend and cried. The guy then looked at her and said he thought he could make an exception in "this case". Without meaning to, my girl had caused a "security breach" in the Pentagon! I'm sure she was thinking "what's the big deal here"????
I do think all the girls learned a lot and really enjoyed the trip.....although it might not actually totally sink in about how significant everything was that we saw until years later. To me, they seemed to enjoy playing soccer and "keep away" on the lawn of the Smithsonian and the 2 nights they all gathered in one room to play cards, do each other's nails and hair and just hang out. I was really pleased with how well all the girls included Emily in everything they did.....but then, she has been in classes with them since Kindergarten. This whole experience has been awesome for all of us!!! Thanks for letting me share it. Now...sigh, back to work tomorrow!
Susan
We toured Monticello (home of Thomas Jefferson....what a guy!!!), the Pentagon (more on that one later), the first floor of the White House, Union Station, all the monuments during the day AND during the evening hours too, the Capitol building (My personal favorite), Arlington Cemetery, several of the Smithsonian museums, the National Cathedral, and......I can't remember what else!! We left the hotel early in the morning each day and didn't get back till bedtime.
One negative thing that happened.......I felt really bad for Emily, but don't know how this could have been prevented really. The security measures in the Pentagon were VERY tight!!! The military guys who did the tour for us were very tense, and they made a point of telling us that during the one hour tour, we would NOT be allowed to stray from the group whatsoever. He specified "NO drinks of water, no potty breaks, etc". Well, Emily had just gone to the potty and she does NOT like to drink water, so I didn't check to make sure she understood how important this was.
When we toured the section of the Pentagon that was destroyed on 9/11/01, they took us into the memorial section in 2 different groups. (first group was all the Girl Scouts and the last group was all the parents). That memorial was VERY moving.......I got very teary eyed when I saw that Emily had signed the book they have to honor the people who died. This room was also VERY hot!!! I found out later, that when Em's group came out of that memorial room, she just sauntered over to a drinking fountain and got a nice LONG drink! The tour guide was saying to her "Remember, I said no drinks?? I said we'd have to cancel the tour for all of you if anyone didn't comply with this?????". She totally ignored him and drank, and drank and drank......followed by one of those loud "ahhhhhhhhs" that one does after a much needed drink!! When she turned around and noticed that ALL eyes were focused on her, she got pretty upset and ran to a friend and cried. The guy then looked at her and said he thought he could make an exception in "this case". Without meaning to, my girl had caused a "security breach" in the Pentagon! I'm sure she was thinking "what's the big deal here"????
I do think all the girls learned a lot and really enjoyed the trip.....although it might not actually totally sink in about how significant everything was that we saw until years later. To me, they seemed to enjoy playing soccer and "keep away" on the lawn of the Smithsonian and the 2 nights they all gathered in one room to play cards, do each other's nails and hair and just hang out. I was really pleased with how well all the girls included Emily in everything they did.....but then, she has been in classes with them since Kindergarten. This whole experience has been awesome for all of us!!! Thanks for letting me share it. Now...sigh, back to work tomorrow!
Susan
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Susan, Proud mom of Michael (32), Justin (25) Emily (22ds), and Jordan (20).
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