A Day in the City

Mark Wills singing "Don't Laugh at Me"

We hit the ground running on Monday with a big day in DC.  We started the morning with a group breakfast, so we had a chance to meet some more Champion families.  We enjoyed having breakfast with the family from New Hampshire.  We were treated to a musical performance by our new friend, Mark, who sang "Don't Laugh at Me".  That song gets me every time, but it was even more moving given the company we were in.

Jayla and Mark showing their teeth!

After breakfast, we all boarded buses and headed to the Capitol.  The kids got their first group photo in front of the capitol... boy did that take awhile!  They also each got individual shots.  After the photos, we all headed to the Dirksen Senate Building.  Once there, we enjoyed a box lunch and official welcome.  We spent some time getting to know new friends from Mississippi.  Dylan shared his opinion of politics by having a massive blow-out diaper all over his Dad.  Fortunately, Jason had brought an extra pair of pants, so we were back up and running in no time.  Massive diapers would, however, remain a theme throughout the week!  A representative from Blaine Luetkemeyer's office came down to greet us and apologize that Mr. Luetkemeyer would be unavailable to meet us.  After lunch, we visited the impressive office of Senator McCaskill.  She also wasn't in town as Senate wasn't in session, but someone from her office took us over to the capitol and got us set up for a tour.  We even got to ride the underground tram that the senators use to travel from the capitol to their offices!

Champions at the Capitol

Dylan was there too, but he was asleep!

Jayla striking a pose in front of the statue of Freedom

The capitol tour was very impressive.  Jayla enjoyed it for awhile but lost interest by the end.  She was very impressed with the statue of Freedom as well as the statue of Helen Keller.  She learned all about braille.  She also really liked the point in the catacombs of the capitol that is considered the exact center of the city and the point at which all roads intersect.  We caught a taxi back to the hotel after our tour which was very exciting to Jayla as well.

Jayla standing at the intersecting point and absolute center of Washington DC

"Reading" the braille on The Helen Keller statue

After quickly freshening up and doing therapy, we were off to our official welcome reception at the Smithsonian's Air & Space Museum.  What a treat!  We had open access to the whole museum after hours, so it was just our group.  There were lots of great snacks, and we were allowed to wander through the museum at our leisure.  It was very important to Jayla to check out the gift shop (another reemerging theme throughout the week!).  She picked out a toy Discovery rocket which she loves.  She and Jason had a wonderful time checking out all the airplanes and rockets throughout the museum.  It was really fun to watch them be so excited!  Jason especially enjoyed the museum as there was lots of information about the battles his grandfather was in during WWII.

Jason and Jayla at the Air & Space Museum

It was a late night by the time we made it back to the hotel, but a truly wonderful day.  We had so much fun exploring and learning today.  We had to catch some quick shut-eye in preparation for an action packed free day on Tuesday!