Vacation Update # 11 - Happy 4th of July from DC!

We began the day with a 4th of July parade!

Then we visited Ford's Theatre where president Lincoln was shot 142 years ago.

Right next door to Ford's Theatre is the Hard Rock Cafe - that's where we had lunch with Don and JP.

We then walked to the Lincoln Memorial to watch the fireworks.

While we waited for the sun to go down we played cards and explored the memorial.

Mike and Linh joined us for the fun!

The show was amazing!! = - )

Vacation Update #10 - Arlington National Cemetary

Vacation Update #9 - ABC Biennial, Washington, DC

The whole ABCLA staff came to the Biennial this year!

We met in the DC Convention Center and worked the ABCLA booth for the 2009 biennial that will be held in Pasadena!

Dr. Chetti invited everyone to come to Pasadena and we showed a dvd promo for the BIG event!

We also had time to enjoy meals together,

sight see together at the Capitol and the Washington Monument,

go to the "Capitol Fourth" dress rehearsal on the 3rd and the kids even had their own group of ABC kids to hang out with and explore DC together.

Vacation Update # 8 - friends and travel to DC

Our last event in Chicago was a reunion potluck with friends from the church Doug interned at during Seminary. The Gills hosted the event and the highlight was the arcade in their family room! Our 4 kids had a BLAST and added lots of stuffed animals to our already full van!

During our LONG drive to DC we stopped in Cleveland, Ohio and had lunch with our friend Heather. She's getting married next year and it was fun to hear about all the wedding plans.

Vacation Update #7 - Merkle's Bar and Grill

My grandfather is Fred Merkle who played baseball for over 20 years in the early 1900's. While we were in Chicago we visited the local bar that is named after him. (that's a pic of my grandfather on the sign).

We made sure to take some time to visit the bar so we could look around and take some pictures. They have a whole wall dedicated to him. The bar owners even gave us some "Merkle's Bar and Grill" tshirts! = - )