Our first stop of our summer vacation is DC, in preparation for Kyle's junior year with US History.  The hotel theme of our vacation is Marriott - we eschewed the AirBnB trend for the ease and convenience of Marriott's, with their lounges! Despite the hot and humid / rainy weather, we hit a bunch of sites, starting with the Lincoln Memorial.  On Sunday, we hung out with the super-awesome Lin sisters and their families.  On Monday, we went on the FBI tour, stopped by the Archives to see the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights, and then went on to the Capitol.  On Tues, we visited the White House (amazed to see a few Obama and Clinton pictures still up) and the Space and Aviation museum.  Perfect few days, before we jetted off to Europe!

The trip made me proud of America but sad about the sate we're in.  Our forefathers fought so hard to create a balance of power, to avoid the tyranny of monarchy...or demagoguery.