...now, where did we leave off...
Yes. Sunday. Sunday was a little (read that: a lot) crazy. I really wanted to go to DC 2 to see all my peoples (Kita, Myles, Jules, Jana, Fred, Gregory, Justin, Tristan, Brandon, etc.) but everyone else was down for the 8am family ward with Sara's family. It would have been really hectic to go up to Chevy Chase and then get down to Kennedy and then have to metro back up to Chevy Chase and drive back to Arlington by myself. I could have done it, but it would have been all kinds of messy. I decided to go to family ward. It was fun. (yeah, yeah) Sara's nieces are super funny kids and all morning A wouldn't let Tyler anywhere near her and R was super quiet. After church was a totally different story. We ate some lunch and somehow Tyler had A convinced he was the best thing since sliced bread.
Kat, Sara's sister, "cubed" us. It's actually a neat thing to do, and see how you can read people. Nifty.
We were told that we were only about 10 minutes away from the Kennedy Center and that we could leave at 1:30 and get there on time. Well - little did we know.
Enter Rolling Thunder. We had an exit we had to get off at and as we were coming up on it Tyler said "go!" and I said "I can't!". I was blocked by at least 8 bikes and had cars behind me. We still had hope. Then we hit traffic, and blocked bridges, and blocked roads - all for Rolling Thunder. Tyler became frustrated as this was "his baby" of the trip. The main reason this trip even began to be an idea was to go to Kennedy and watch Craig Jessop conduct the Army National Orchestra and 300-person choir. (don't quote me on the who's who of this but I think that's who he was conducting).
We traveled through L'Enfant Plaza and over the Key bridge twice. We thought we were about to get there when Tyler had me turn and we wound up back on the highway. That's when I had him plug in the GPS and navigate us to my office (the dear ol' Barlow where I worked last summer). Being that it was Sunday and a holiday weekend I was pretty sure I would be able to sneak into Ashlee's parking space for a few hours and be okay. I also knew it was close to Kennedy and we could walk in a few minutes and hopefully make some of the concert. We trudged our way through Georgetown, were witnesses to a cyclist running into a black SUV and then him getting up and being stupid, snaking through traffic again, parked and I wrote a note to Brother Rowberry so he would hopefully remember me and love me enough that we would be okay.
We walked quickly and made it to the Kennedy in time for the last 4 or 5 pieces. I've never seen music have this effect on people but we got up to our tier and the sweetest lady was the usher up there, and she told us we couldn't walk in until the piece was done but she would crack the door so we could listen - Tyler changed. He was no longer frustrated with traffic or antsy, all was simply right with the world. We went inside and all was well. It was beautiful and really moving, especially when they played the songs for each branch of service and had those veterans stand to be honored during their songs. Most of them were older guys but also middle aged and young women and young men. I am grateful for the service of the older generation but it was the younger ones that got me - people my age are putting their lives on the line every day to protect my freedoms. It was not enough but the least I could do was applaud them in thanks for their service.
We left the concert and learned that Jesse had a very eventful trip to Kennedy to. His involved getting lost and two, small bunny rabbits running around his car - We still don't know how they got there. I think it's because he drives a hybrid. :p
We left Kennedy and took our time getting home. We were full of gratitude for many things - Veterans and the Sabbath day. A day of rest from hectic things like getting lost in rush hour traffic (normally) and shopping. We saw a lot of that on our way through Georgetown. Everyone was out shopping, and eating, and spending their Sunday like they do their Monday's through Saturday's. We loved having our day off.
We got back to Arlington and A (Sara's niece) decided " I want to play with that boy " (Tyler). This is when we knew it was serious, she was finally warming up to some of us. As we rested Tyler and A (and R, Sara's other niece) played. We were about ready for dinner and someone told A and she said " Um, well, we need our privacy" and closed the playroom door. She's quite a funny little two-year old. We ate dinner and afterward Kat brought out a violin she purchased in Taiwan. Tyler likes to dabble (haha) in playing so we listened to some music. We played, we sang, we danced - it was fun.
Then we were tired. Some of us (me included) wanted to do some museums at night but a few of us (Tyler) were tired. The more we talked about it the more tired I got and then I dropped out. Sara, Jesse, Katrina, and Mari went and saw some monuments at night while the rest of us hung around at the house.
...and that was only Sunday
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| Finally making our way, on foot, to Kennedy |
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| Outside |
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| Tyler, me and Tori |
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| <3 Georgetown houses <3 |
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| This happened semi-frequently (at least once a day) where I would run across the street, often between cars and then wait for the rest of the group to join |
(1: Sara, Kat, Katrina, A & R dancing while Tyler played. 2: we played "Guess the Composer" - this video is why I put a "haha" in the following post after I said that Tyler "dabbled" in playing the violin. 3: Playing a little Jenny Oaks Baker)
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