We had such a great vacation back east. We were able to go to Baltimore and Washington DC and Virginia. We got to hang out with friends from California (some whom I hadn't seen in 17 years)! We hung out in Baltimore for a day, went to the aquarium and then walked around admiring all the old buildings. Baltimore is a pretty cool little town. Unfortunately on my way to DC I lost my camera...ya, my nice one. Anyways, luckily I brought my little point and shoot for Rhett to use, so we still had a camera to use. But unfortunately all the pictures from Baltimore are up in picture heaven. We got to DC and had about a week to bum around see everything we could possibly see. I have to say, we pretty much saw everything that we wanted to. It was spring break and there were a BAZILLION people everywhere, so it made it pretty crazy. Some of the museums would have an hour long line to get inside and then lines for each exhibit inside. It was crazy. So we chose not to wait in most of the lines, unless it was something we REALLY wanted to see. Like the Declaration of Independence. How cool is that? It's so faded you can't really see anything anymore on it. Luckily they have replicas. After hanging around DC for a week we went to Virginia and hung out with the Wellings. That was probably our favorite part. They are all so much fun and it was so easy talking to them, even after so many years. The last day we drove down to Williamsburg, which is an old colonial town and they do everything like they did back in the 18th century. They had blacksmiths and coopers and millenaries. I loved it. You can even do apprenticeships there. I wish there were more places like that around...places that would teach you how to do that kind of stuff by hand. Not with industrial machines. Anyways, here are a few pictures of our trip:
The Wellings: Jonathon (who just got off his mission), Aaron, and Brandon.
This seems to be one of the most famous statues in America. It's huge! Someone said it's the largest bronze statue either in the world or America. But it really is gynormous!
Strange as it seems, the botanical garden was one of my favorites. They had the coolest plants. I took a million pictures there, but I know you all don't want to see that. I'm thinking of making some type of collage with them all.
This is the capital building and cool bronze statue that's across the street.
The cherry blossoms were GORGEOUS! Loved them.
The Washington Monument.
The Jefferson Memorial with some cherry blossoms.
The two of us at the Lincoln Memorial with the reflecting pool and the Washington Monument behind us.
The man himself. I love Lincoln.
Not only were the cherry blossoms in full bloom, but there were tulips everywhere. I LOVE tulips. It was like flower paradise for me.
Arlington Cemetary. The grounds are just amazing. If I were general Lee I would have fought harder to keep my land. It's just perfect.
The first day in DC I was SUPER bummed about just losing my camera. We weren't planning on going to the zoo, but our hotel was within walking distance, and I didn't feel like doing the whole DC thing yet, so we went to the zoo. One great thing about DC is 90% of everything is free, including the zoo. It's all part of the Smithsonian Museum. So you just walk right in. This tiger was AWESOME. There was some type of barrel in the water that he was pouncing on and playing with. We watched him for about 20-30 minutes. It seems like every time I go to the zoo or wild animal park the tigers and lions are always hiding or sleeping. I had never seen a tiger so active. It was such a treat. 
