When planning this trip, it seemed as if the hardest decision would be where to stay.  Dh wanted to stay some place kind of close so that there wouldn’t be a need to rent a car.  He can be very fastidious when it comes to lodging destinations, so this was a monumental decision for me!  When I called Travelocity they highly recommended the Hyatt – they said that it had the highest service rating in the D.C. area.   I was skeptical that maybe they made a bigger commission and thus the high recommendation. 

It’s hard to pick a hotel, sight unseen.  When I finally had to choose, I picked the L’Enfant Hotel.  Some of my reasons were logical; some reasons were to fill the children’s wish list; and others, were rather shallow.

The Logical:

• ·         It is close to the center of things – I was told that you could see the Washington Monument from your hotel window.

• ·         There is a subway train in the basement of the hotel, and the train will take you anywhere in D.C.  (and since we weren’t going to rent a car, I figured this would be a good thing.) 

• ·         This was the only hotel I could find with two attached rooms to a living room (a suite). I wanted to be together as a family – that’s the fun of being on vacation – watching the kid’s excitement about all the little things.

For the kids:

• ·         A pool

The shallow:

• ·         It was French – “L’Enfant Hotel” and I love all things French (“Antoinette Lefaivre”…)

• ·         The hotel was named after a French developer – and that is the profession of my husband.

When we checked in, there was some confusion on our check-in date.  Whose fault was this?  Mine?  They had already given our room away.  D-i-s-a-p-p-o-i-n-t-m-e-n-t.    No connecting bedrooms. (However, by Wednesday afternoon, we were switched to the rooms that I had originally reserved.)

The rooms had some issues.  Matt and Kristi had to move to another room because of a black mold problem.  Several of our rooms had a window/door that wouldn’t close – on the eleventh floor, this wasn’t a small problem. 

I had a kitchen in our suite so we could eat in our room.  That’s a nice amenity for one with a large family such as ours.  But it turned out to not be so helpful as the refrig and the microwave didn’t work.

The restaurant in the hotel was excellent.  That was a good thing since we ended up eating there a lot. Everyone was very pleasant.

There was a Starbuck’s in the lobby – since several of us are Starbuck addicts, this, too, was a good thing.  The barista from Ethiopia serving us every day was exceptionally nice.

The best part of the hotel was the beds!  Down feathered pillows, comforter, and mattress pad made it the best sleep I’ve ever had away from home.  I’ve been to more hotels that I can count that I couldn’t sleep at. Sleep is a precious commodity and its value cannot be underestimated.

The pool turned out to be a bust.  They closed it for several days, and the other two days, it was rainy and cold.

We never did get that great view of the National Monument.  We directly faced the offices of HUD (Housing Urban Development).

 We did use the train in the basement several times. At first, it seemed kind of neat.  But after a few times of having difficulty getting tickets from the machine; and then a trip to another part of D.C. to eat where we encountered what seemed like D.C. thugs looking for trouble, we decided we’d rather walk. This was at times difficult for seven-month pregnant, Kristi, and Grandma.

I did find out something about the person that the hotel was named after.  L’Enfant was hired by George Washington himself to plan and develop the new capital of our nation.  Did you know that it was George Washington that planned our present day Washington D.C.?  We looked at the original plans that George had drawn out to scale for the new capital.  Amazingly, the city still holds true to this drawing.  In the end, though, L’Enfant was fired for not keeping deadlines.

I’m glad we stayed at the L’Enfant Plaza, even with its room deficiencies.  The convenience to the center of everything; the excellent restaurant (food and service); the comfortable beds; and the amicability of almost everyone in the hotel makes it a fine place to stay. 

We spent part of our day at church working the Post Office Food Drive.

Ever wonder what happens to all of the food the mail carriers pick up off your porches every year?  Well our church gets the food that is collected from our neighborhood.  It is a lot of food!  We bag it up and give it away to the folks who come to our annual Day of Hope celebration.  You can see photos from last year here. 

Kalene managed to get a few pictures. 

It was a lot of work.  But we worked as a team and got it all done. 

*Kristie*

With my new quest to get healthy, I found out that I really should be eating more fish. 

I have to admit to you that I have never been a huge fan of seafood.  Really any kind of seafood.  I am trying hard to like different kinds of fish.  But that is only because I know that it is really good for me. 

I have always been the odd one out in my family as far as seafood goes.  growing up, while everyone else was feasting on some form of seafood or another, it was all I could do not to get sick from the smells.  I remember how weird I thought everything looked too.  I mean things like Gulf shrimp, clams, and sardines. 

But I have to say that the worst thing they ever ate in my house when I was growing up is oyters!  Now I do not mean to offend any of you oyster eaters out there.  It is just that whenever I even think of the slimy things my stomache turns.  I can still smeel them right now as I type this.  That is the worst smell ever! 

So although I am trying to be a grown up and like things like fish.  There are just some things that I do not think I will ever get over. 

*Kristie*

     Well, we're in the process of moving into the bigger house now.  I'm at the clinic working today, but I've made several trips with bins full of stuff in the past 2 days.  Dh is hoping to move the beds and the rest of the stuff that would be necessary to live with today, so we can be there tomorrow over the sabbath.  Unfortunately we woke up to 3-4 inches of snow again.  It will be a muddy process.  Also ds18months is having a hard time with the move and he is crying a lot and clingy.  Poor little guy.  It makes it hard to try to pack and move when he isn't cooperating much!  He's lived in our current residence for his entire short life, so I think it is hard for him to understand.

     Then on Sunday morning dh will be getting on a train from Grand Junction to ride to Lincoln, Nebraska to get a van that my brother is selling to us.  He will drive it home on Monday, and get home Monday night or Tuesday sometime (if he's too tired to drive all the way through).

     Next Friday I will be flying off to Vicente Guerrero, Baja, Mexico for two days of medical work at an orphanage.  I'm looking forward to the change of scenery and the chance to get to minister in the foreign mission field.

   We didn't do any school on Friday, so it looks like our homeschooling will push into June this year.  Oh well, at least it will be in our new home!

I have recently discovered that I love blogging.  I love getting information out to anyone who may be able to use it.  When I find something I think is great, I just can't help but want to share it.  I just like to write.  Whether it is something simple or something more substantial, I love to blog. 

You may have notice that I have been blogging a whole lot more lately.  Well that is because I have joined a community of bloggers.  The community is called SocialSpark.  It is a pretty neat place to get ideas for blog topics.  In fact I have been getting so many ideas lately that it seems like I am blogging several times a day.  It is also a way to connect with other bloggers who are not necessarily a part of the homeschool community.  I have learned so much about computers from visiting some of the other blogs that have registered with the site. 

Anyways, if you are interested in viewing my profile, you can check it out here.  I am surprised by how much I am enjoying this.  I was not so sure about it when I first signed up as a user.  But I like to check it daily now.  I especially love the way it helps to connect you with other bloggers. 

*Kristie*