Had a really nice vacation this year - something we'd been talking about doing for a few years now. We took a trip to see the sights in Washington D.C. What a great city to visit! We took the 5th-wheel trailer and parked it in Bull Run State Park in Virginia. That is a very beautiful park and campground, though we didn't actually spend a lot of time there since we mostly wanted to see Washington. We spent two full days in the city. Parked the truck at Union Station each day and explored from there.
The first day we did a Duck Boat tour that took us through the city and then also went into the Potomac River to show us the view from the river. Very neat! It was quite funny when the tour driver was commenting about how the traffic in the city was the worst he'd ever had to deal with of all the cities he'd ever been to. We figure he's never been to Paris cause there is still no comparison! (Paris is our personal benchmark for bad traffic and drivers - lol) After that we walked to see the Capital, the National Mall, and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
The second day we booked seats on one of the double-decker buses that allows you to get on and off as needed to see the sights. We visited the Museum of Natural History, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Memorial Wall. It is amazing how quiet everyone is at the Wall. Seeing all those many, many names is a very somber sight.
The weather was beautiful, the city was wonderful, and the trip was definitely worth it!
You can see pictures of the trip here - http://picasaweb.google.com/Benhausen/WashingtonDCTrip?feat=directlink
August was also filled with getting ready for back-to-school and getting ready for Mandi's moving out (for the 2nd time). I was asked to teach the Basic Tax Course for H&R Block again and those classes started on August 25th. Joey starts his Senior year of high school on Sept 8 and Mandi also starts classes again in Kalamazoo on Sept 8. On August 31st we loaded up all her belongings and moved her to an apartment in Kalamazoo that she is sharing with three friends. Today we needed to bring a couch and a couple floorlamps down there for them so got to see how the apartment is coming together. It's looking pretty good. We hope and pray that everything works out well for her and her friends now that they are living on their own for the first time like this. (Considering one of them had stuff stolen out of his car while they were moving in!) At least it's only 30 minutes away if they need our help for anything. :-) Do have to say that the house feels different with only one child at home with us. But I'm sure we'll adjust. :D
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