Klay Family: Celebrate

This will be a loooong post! Chris and I headed to Washington DC to celebrate his completion of an 18 month fellowship program through the Advisory Board. They chose 3 people in the hospital system for this honor, so I am very proud of Chris! Chris traveled to Washington DC every 3 months for the fellowship. He said the experience was life changing and valuable.

Chris was selected to present his project, based on most interest from the fellows.

Graduation Dinner

The 3 HSHS representatives with their facilitator.

The first 3 days, Chris had class, so I was on my own, eek! Thankfully, I had my trusty Frommer's guide, Uber App, and some suggestions from friends and family who have visited DC. My aunt, Vicki, works in Washington, so I was blessed to have a private Capitol tour on my first day. It was a great way to kick off my exploration. The Capitol was currently under renovation, which only happens once every 50 years, lucky me. I was still able to access most areas, but the outside was just not as pretty :)

The Senate building/chambers. They were in session, so we did sit and watch for a little bit.

The teacher in me loved the Library of Congress.... such a beautiful and amazing place! Only interns and representatives are able to be on the library floor, so I felt fairly important, ha!

That's me in the right corner of the balcony

Without entirely boring you, I will run through some of our favorite stops in the city.... Lincoln Memorial at night, gorgeous and HUGE!

Reflection Pond with ducks :) I loved walking the "Mall" area at night. It was breathtaking.

Washington Monument

World War II Memorial

Vietnam Wall/Memorial

Washington Monument Day and Night

The White House

Beautiful Executive Building (Eisenhower)... can you imagine going to work here?!?!

Vicki and I traveled to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. The plantation is huge, so amazing, but also under renovation. We still were able to see the gardens, his grave, and parts of the home.

I would love to have his gardens!

One of the most moving experiences we had, was visiting Arlington National Cemetery. At Arlington, we viewed the Kennedy's grave (above) and saw the tomb of the unknown soldiers. While there, we witnessed the changing of the guard.... amazing to think the tomb is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

We extended our stay by 2 1/2 days so Chris could tour the city as well. We went to the Holocaust Museum which was moving, so difficult (emotionally), but a must-experience.

Names etched in the window of those who were persecuted...

This was most sad... shoes of those who entered the gas chambers, as they showered and prepared to die. Ugh, just can't imagine. The shoes actually smelled, can't describe it, and filled an entire long hallway.

Our favorite museum was the Air and Space. I went without Chris on one of his class days but then brought him back. We went to a D-Day 3D IMAX movie. It was really neat.

I think what amazed me most were the airplanes and space shuttles. They were originals, the actual planes piloted by Amelia Earhart, the Wright Brothers, astronauts, armed forces, etc... across the US, oceans, World,... It was so fun, definitely a place we will bring the boys when they are old enough to tour museums :)

And finally, we just loved our amazing dinners out at fabulous restaurants. Washington DC has such a wide array of flavors, we often met up with Vicki and my cousin Maryann. It was wonderful to see them and catch up as we don't get together very often. My godson, Rieder, was ironically back in MN when I visited, so he is not pictured.

They were crouching so I didn't feel so short :)

Dinner at Fiola Mare on the Potomac River

We missed the boys like crazy while we were away.... they spent time with my parents, including trips to Como Zoo, the Drive In (first experience and Papa's car battery died, hahaha), swimming at the Pool and Yacht Club, and a trip to the Lake Vermillion cabin. Here are some pictures they sent us during the week!