Our Final Day of an Amazing Vacation~Saturday

Sigh.  That's how I feel as I write those words.  This trip was amazing and perfect in every way.  I'm kinda sad to be done writing about it!  I'm sure you're happy to be done reading about it~for all three of you read this, Phyllis, Wiley and Bill.  ;)

Our twilight tour ended at eleven, so it was almost midnight before we got back to our hotel in Triangle, Virginia and one a.m. before we finally fell asleep.  Needless to say, we did not jump out of bed the next morning.  We took our time waking up and getting out the door.  Todd was so over packing and unpacking the Suburban.

We went back to the National Museum of the Marine Corps.  We saw the actual museum part, which was really cool and the boys just so happened to be able to play with some fancy schmancy robots in the lobby.  The coolest thing of all is the robot they got to drive outside, though, that we saw on our way out.  This is the type of robot that they use in Afghanistan to test if there are IED's in the road.

And they got to drive it.  Two Marines showed them how to do this, looking over their shoulders as they operated these SIX FIGURE machines.  My heart just skipped a beat.

 After this, we left Triangle and headed back into D.C.  Our only stop: The Arlington National Cemetery.  We saw the final resting places of the Kennedy family and we saw the changing of the guards ceremony twice.  I also shook the hand of a WWII veteran who turned ninety-nine years young yesterday!  I was humbled to be able to do so.

Can I just say how much this gives me chills?

Did you know that they pause for 21 seconds before they begin their walk?  And they pause for 21 seconds before they turn around?  And that they walk exactly 21 steps before stopping and turning again, only to repeat the process all over again?  Do you know where that comes from?  It comes from the 21 gun salute.  Do you know where the 21 gun salute comes from?  The year our country was founded...1776.  If you add together one, seven, seven and six, that gives you...

wait for it...

21.  Pretty nifty, huh?

What an honor to be able to watch this.  We left this amazing place and began the long journey home.

We might have gotten turned around a time or four, but we made our way out of this city and stopped an hour later at a Cracker Barrel for an early dinner.  We made two more stops~one at Walgreens for some nose spray to help Noah breathe and one at Auto Zone so Graham could buy himself a phone holder for my car's window for him to use.

And then, we began our journey home.

Some things I haven't written about:

The cool people we met in Williamsburg, a homeschooling family who encouraged us in the years ahead of us, the fact that the boys became quite the players of ping pong, all the moments of laughter, some moments of frustration and the rest of the memories we'll never forget.

We were blessed, indeed.  Thanks for reading about our time away!  I'm happy to tell you that by 4:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon, we were home safe and sound.  By six p.m. the dogs were back home where they belong, Todd was headed to a call out for the sheriff's department, and the boys and I were seated in front of the television eating our combined Wendy's and Taco Bell dinner, catching up on our recorded shows.

All was well with me...we were back where we belonged.

Love to all.