Happy Easter!

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier- Arlington

White House- all set up for the Easter Egg Roll

Mom and Dad looking at all the Cherry Blossoms

Lincoln's booth at Ford's Theater

Michelle Obama's inauguration gown at the Smithsonian

Cherry Blossoms! :)

Jefferson Memorial with Cherry Blossoms- and thousands of people

Whew! Those have been the four busiest days since I got here! My family came out to visit me over their Easter vacation, and we have been (and probably walked) all over the city. Let me back up a bit...

Thursday I was in work way too early in the morning, so I would have a chance to join my family when they got here in the afternoon. They got here by the afternoon, just in time for a huge tour of the Archives. After explaining to them over the phone for the past three months, it was nice to be able to show them what I was doing (and exactly what an archivist is). All of my family are history buffs, so it was nice to show them everything I have found; it was so great to seem them excited about what I do. After that we took the large monument loop and headed back downtown for dinner.

The next day we spent around the Capitol grounds. Since it was Easter vacation, the height of the Cherry Blossom season, and it was 80 degrees out, everyone was out and about in DC. We caught two of the three branches of government, and then finished off with the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. My brother was hard to drag out of there!!

Saturday we went to a bunch of museums, and down to the Tidal Basin for all the Cherry Blossoms. It was part of the peak time, so there were people everywhere. It was worth going to see them at that time though, they were georgeous. I have added some pictures of the blossoms, so you can get a little glimpse of them. Since this was the peak weekend, the Cherry Blossom festival had it's annual fireworks show on Saturday night. They were fantastic out on the riverfront, especially with a little bit of seafood mixed in with it!

Today were finished up the grand tour of DC with a stop at the White House Visitors Center and Ford's Theater. It rounded out the three branches that we started with on Friday. We also walked down to Arlington Cemetary in the what turned out to be hot weather! We had a Mexican themed Easter Sunday dinner, which was a little strange, but very tasty! Then it was time to say goodbye to my family, as they have to get back to Minnesota for work and school tomorrow.

Only a couple weeks until I return home to MN. There are still a few things that I want to do before I leave, and a pile of work and homework to finish, but this is what college students do best; pushing through to the end.