The Gray Report

We had another awesome trip this weekend. This time to Valley Forge and Philly. I am obsessed with blossoms I guess. It was pretty great to see the place where the constitution and the declaration were signed. In the Medal of Honor memorial area there were these really awesome little yellow flowers everywhere. I think I took too many pictures of nature - where are the people anyway?

This was a grand week and though there was some early fog (see pic below) we have had some amazing sites of the beautiful blossoms here in the nation's capital. We enjoyed some time at a view films for the Environmental Film Festival that comes to DC each year and feel we need to treat the resources God has given us with a little better attention. We also went to Mt. Vernon and felt pretty inspired by George Washington and his amazing life and accomplishments. This is a shot of the kitchen area - the mansion is just off to the left of this picture. The blossoms are amazing. This shot is near Georgetown and I hope you can feel a small sense of the awe I have every time I see one of these trees. Next week is Philadelphia ! That should be lots of fun.

Another grand week! We had the amazing chance to go see Gettysburg with the class yesterday. A tour guide boarded our bus and told all sorts of interesting things. In the background is little and big round top - and the area in which some of the largest carnage in American history occurred . Supposedly, here on little round top, if you touch the statue's nose you get good luck. Kassie was filled with instant joy when her finger connected with the special thing (as can be noticed from her expression of supreme bliss). The Civil War is something that seems to stay with us as the years go by. I was very touched by it all - and it was amazing to hear that in the three days of battle here, more Americans died than in the 15 years of Vietnam. This is the view from little round top of Devil's Den (or the slaughter pen as it is called). Little and big round top again.

This week we decided to go to the National Cathedral. It is an amazing building and very inspiring. It took 83 years to build, and is going under construction right now because of the earth quake. However, it still looks amazing! The Gothic architecture is always encouraging you to look up, which I thought was pretty neat. The sheer size of it all was overwhelming. It was interesting to find out that Woodrow Wilson's tomb is in this Cathedral too. We tried to catch a performance at the Kennedy center in the evening, but we were to late and it was all full. However the deck by the Potomac was beautiful and it really started feeling like spring. I like the picture below but Kas says she looks like she is 16 and I am 18. While that is true . . . is that a bad thing? Ha ha It was a stunning and beautiful evening, and we had a great view of Alexandria across the river. I am almost glad we missed the performance so we could walk around in the beautiful evening and I could snap some pic...