the district

One reason why we love Columbus?

Its proximity to a bunch of fabulous places, including:

Washington D.C.

We decided to take a road trip over Veteran's Day weekend to go and hang out with my sister and her husband. The time passed much too quickly, but we loved every minute we got to spend in such a great place with awesome people.

Playing Settlers

Lindsay is on the phone with my dad in this picture. Turns out, I forgot to tell him that we were going to D.C. for the weekend, and he called my cell phone to find out some info about my sister since she's as terrible at answering her phone as I am. Since I was sitting across the table from her when he called, I handed over the phone straightaway. Needless to say, my dad was surprised.

East doors of the D.C. temple.

Most of the leaves have fallen in Columbus, but we saw gorgeous Autumn scenery the whole weekend in D.C. This is the bridge connecting the entrance/waiting area to the rest of the temple.

Tallest LDS temple from ground to spire.

A lovely way to start the day.

After the temple, we met up with Dave and Jen Holtkamp for lunch at Old Ebbit's. We met them in Scotland last year and love hearing of their adventures now that they live in D.C. while Dave gets his Master's from GMU. Not sure why we didn't take a picture with them, but we loved getting together.

After that? The Mall.

Steve told me to think tall.

So this is me, thinking tall.

And here we are at the WWII memorial between the Washington monument and Lincoln memorial.

More of the WWII memorial.

And some more. We loved the fountains (that's the Lincoln memorial in the background).

My wonderful Buckeye

The monument includes a pillar for each state and U.S. territory involved in the conflict, all of which surround a beautiful central fountain.

Washington monument from the Lincoln memorial.

The Adamses visiting Mr. Lincoln.

Whenever I read or think about the Gettysburg Address, I remember an excellent book that I was introduced to in the 8th grade - Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. If you haven't read it, you really should.

There is a picture like this of me and my siblings when we're all little kids sitting on these very steps. Here's to you Scott, Cullen and Lindsay. Wish we all could have been here together this time too.

Explanation of the Mister's face: Missus' first time cutting hair.

HA!

Nathan was nice enough to show me how to do it, since I'll likely be cutting it from now on and need to know what I'm doing.

A view from the George Washington Parkway, en-route to Clifton for some spectacular scenery.

Here I am, goofing around on the train tracks in Clifton, minding my own business...

And there's Nathan, also goofing around on the train tracks, definitely not minding his own business. He knocked me off at the perfect moment, but unfortunately, Lindsay didn't capture his scheming maneuvers fast enough.

He doesn't know who he's messing with apparently. Christmas break, here we come.

I don't think we've ever mentioned where the name "Team Adams" came from for our blog. Steve came up with it, and I was very impressed with his inspiration. For years and years, my dad has been trying to persuade his daughters to jump on the "Team Irvine" bandwagon: an Irvine pairs/ice-dancing/daddy-daughter ice-skating team. Steve picked up on the Team Irvine references while we were dating and decided Team Adams would be a fitting title for the blog documenting our adventures.

If we can balance this well on train tracks, who knows what we can do on the ice with a little practice...

Maybe a synchronized waltz jump.

Maybe.

Gorgeous Clifton scenery.

Enjoying a raspberry concrete on the way back into D.C.

Yes, that's right, a concrete.

Lindsay and Nathan took us to the Nielson's Frozen Custard Virginia branch - just as good as the Bountiful headquarters. Lindsay explained the family connections and how everything ties together, but all I know is that we enjoyed one tasty concrete in Virginia.

That's me and my sister at the foot of the Jefferson Memorial. A little off the beaten path of the Mall, but always worth a visit.

The memorial is based on Jefferson's design for his home at Monticello, which in turn, was based upon the architecture of the Pantheon in Rome.

The sculpture of Jefferson is cool, but the inscription around the dome (what I was reading when Steve snapped the picture) is even cooler:

"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

-Thomas Jefferson

It was a fantastic weekend and we can't wait to go back.