Sunday, July 27, 2008

I'm a total idiot or yipee we have another day in DC



So we booked our flight quite awhile ago and I swear we were supposed to fly out on Sunday. That's how I marked it off on my calender. That's why I promised two different friends I'd watch their kiddos on Monday. That's why when my brother called to see if he could book a White House tour on Sunday we said we couldn't. Sooooo, it was quite the shock to us when after a fantastic brunch, and a nice ride to the airport from my brother, we got to the ticket counter and the agent kindly informed us that our flight out was actually the NEXT DAY.
I have never never been this stupid in my entire life! Seriously. I can't tell you how organized I was with every freakin' detail of this trip, I even had a trip folder with lots of little pockets, for ID's, Tickets, confirmation numbers. I booked hotels, attractions, rental cars and then I do this.
So rather then calling my very nice brother and his lovely bride, we used some 'Hilton Points' and are staying at the Embassy Suites by the Hotel. (Seriously J & G, we figured you'd want to spend some time with Luis without the craziness of four other people, I KNOW you wouldn't have minded...)
Did we decide to cram in one more day of sights? NOPE, we played in the pool, we're going to have room service and watch movies.
So, my second post of the day....but hey, I have plenty of down time right now to play on the computer....so I will post pictures of our very last...ok what we thought would be our last...full day in D.C.
oh and....this hotel does not offer HGTV and so I'm going to miss the finale of Design Star (gasp - the horror.....)



My two brothers, Jason, Jake and Me. Isaac was less then thrilled with the East Wing Tour that morning that he decided to go swimming with Aunt Gina while the rest of us went. We couldn't take any pictures of the inside, but let me just say the Oval Office was so COOL.

The press room

The entrance to the West Wing. When you go to the White House you enter by whatever wing door you arrive by...so if you come from the east you enter by the North East door, that way no one is offended by arriving from the "back" door. All the doors are equal. What did Jake find most interesting? How loaded down some of the gaurds were with weapons. He's nine, he's a boy, maybe some day he'll realize the great honor we were given to be able to visit the part of the White House where policy is set and things happen. Well a mother can hope can't she.








17 comments:

Ken said...

I bet your family won't let you forget this boo-boo. After seeing the fake White House in many movies, it would be nice to see how the real White House looks like.

Angela Johnson said...

T-
LOVE the pics! Sounds like you all had a great time! Can't wait to get our fam's together and catch up!
-A

tz said...

Scott...it was so awesome...
daddy forever...you're so right, I won't live this one down
A..can't wait!

Sitting In Silence said...

TZ...Those are fab pictures...I love them...makes me want to visit the USA even more...

Have a safe flight home..

D xoxox

Rock Chef said...

Well at least they didn't say the flight had been the day before!

I go with the Yipee interpretation - what a great bonus, being able to visit those extra, wonderful places!

tz said...

sis...this area is so worth the visit...now colorado would be a great place to visit for the natural scenery and for your blogging buddies in your adopted neighborhood ;)

CRC---oh it got worse...the youngest developed a fever in the afternoon so we stuck around the hotel...he seems to be doing better this morning, I just hope it's not a sinus problem and he'll be okay on the plane ride home....

Jenelle said...

LOL - You are not alone on date mix ups. This was a trip to remember and you just made it extra memorable. I'm sure the memory will come up often.

What a privilege to see all the places you did. Yes guns are exciting, but someday your son will have a greater appreciation of what he saw... when he sees those places in film or on TV, when he's elected as president, etc.

Hope you are safe and home, catching up from your whirlwind adventures.

Gina Grace said...

You are so busted!

I have done the same thing before- well, almost. For my trip to Spain last year, I got to the airport in plenty of time for my 1PM flight to Miami, where I would then board a plane to Madrid. There was a huge long line, but no problem, I was there the necessary 2 hours early. For some reason I decided to get my tickets out as I was waiting in line and realized that 1PM was actually the time my flight left MIAMI. And my flight was leaving DC in 15 minutes. It was nerve wracking to say the least.

Hopefully you're out enjoying a bit of the day before you have to head *back* to the airport (and before it gets too hot...)

readsalot said...

I've never been to DC but it would be great to see the sights. Arriving a day early is totally something I would do. At least you got another vacation day!

tz said...

Gina...haha, yup so busted...be even gladder we didn't call you guys to come back for an extra day because Isaac is sick...take lots of vitamen C...or whatever and cross your fingers since you probably have a ton of isaac germs around your house...

reads a lot..that's funny, of course i never thought i'd be someone who would do this...but guess i am....

anymommy said...

Your picture make me miss DC - I used to live there and a lot of my family is still in the area. It's an incredible city to visit - sounds like you made the most of it. Too funny about your flight, but a day to relax before vacation ends isn't all bad.

Vanessa said...

I've always wanted to visit DC rather than fly through it! Looks like you are having a fabulous time. Seeing the White House is on my life list too!

Martha said...

Tis always better to be a day early than late...

And yet, why is it I knew you weren't coming home until today because you said you'd miss the meet/greet at school...I just assumed that meant you were flying in today not yesterday?

Regardless, it looks like you've had a lovely vacation...and through the photos it's nice to see how some things don't really change much over time (having been on the similar "history vacation" when I was not much older than Jake!)

PS: if I haven't told you the story about when we took my in laws to the "Mall" area, remind me and I'll tell you...it really puts that whole "immigrant experience" into perspective for me.

Anonymous said...

Sounds to me like that extra day was a blessing in disguise. I'm glad to hear you made the best of it and made it a good, relaxing time for everyone!

tz said...

martha...i thought the meet and greet was going to be last week...didn't know it was on monday...

i'm interested to know what your in-laws thought of the mall...i think sometimes we can forget about how great our country is and it's good to see it through new hopeful eyes...

terri, glad you are up and about and hope you're feeling better!

Anonymous said...

Believe it or not, I did this TOO, this summer, when Kendall and I went to CA. Fortunately for us, I caught it before we left... Glad you had some downtime before coming home :)

Lisaopolis said...

Glad our St. Lucia connections could hook you all up on a WH tour! Looks like a nice visit with everyone.