Elder and Sister Butler

 The 4th day, we planned on hooking up with Elder and Sister Butler, aka, Mom and Dad, Grammy and Grandpa, aka, the reason I came on the trip!  (along with seeing Amy)  We were going to go thru the Museum of Natural History, but there were GPS snafus, and believe me, Mom and Dad, you need to be glad you weren't there.  Every school in the entire state was going on a field trip that morning, that museum!  So incredibly crowded and loud!   Here's some action shots:

Flat Stanley gets fed to the hippo.

Flat Stanley gets fed to the T-rex.

 Aislynn and I went to the butterfly exhibit while the boys hit the gemstones, then we went to the Ronald Reagan building to meet Mom and Dad for lunch!  It was so great to see them!!   I remember taking at least 4 or 5 pics during lunch, but I can find only 2 and your eyes were closed in the one where we were smiling Mom.
   
BTW - that's NOT my coke in the pic; I'm clean and sober!  It feels really great to say that, and it was awesome not to have to worry about where my next fix was coming from.  Roger and Arek on the other hand - Did! (snicker)


After lunch, we went to the mint, and had a really interesting tour on the actual place where they print our actual money.  There was hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars RIGHT THERE BEHIND THE GLASS (No pics allowed.) Recently I read a true story about a counterfeiter called "The Art of Making Money"  - (the guy's name was Art Williams)and it made me so much more impressed with what the guy accomplished SOLO, when I saw how incredibly much was involved.  

Then we walked to the Jefferson Memorial, and stopped to get all photogenic with the blossoms.

Whats with the darn Flat Stanley?

It was Jefferson's birthday that day, hence, the guy from the parks and rec dept. and the flowers to help celebrate.  The man came over and introduced himself as a fellow member of the church.  (He saw Mom's missionary badge)

These kids are STILL getting a kick out of their heli-spinner toys!  Here we are at Mom and Dad's apt.  The complex included a hotel section where Roger and I got a nice cute, clean room for $40 a night, waaaaay better than Motel 6!  See how green and rural it is?  Quite peaceful. It was reassuring to see my parents in a nice cute little missionary apartment, and be able to put a mental picture to their last year.  I wish we had been able to take pictures before we all came in and dumped our junk around, or let the KIDS in, for that matter!

Gotta publish, will finish up ......... sometime.