Washington D.C Through Zach's Eyes: Volume One

I thought I could do Zach's D.C. trip in one post. Ha! I am going to have to break it up. Talk about packing a lot of fun into five days! Wow! Looking through the pictures he took not only made me laugh 'til I cried, but also impressed me greatly! He saw so much and experienced so much. He just looks so happy to be there, with my parents. And he obviously had a wonderful time wielding the camera!

This trip was an incredible, awesome adventure that only my amazing parents could dream up. Even though they aren't LDS, my mom and dad have always been very supportive of our family's faith. They recognized that the eighth birthday is a big one for us, the age of accountability and responsibility, and thus deserved a special celebration. They suggested that around each of our boys' eighth birthdays they take that one birthday boy for a one-on-two trip, just Nana and Papa and Eight-Year-Old Conlin, to wherever in the United States they would like to go. After much deliberation between New York City and Washington D.C., Zach chose D.C. I have to say, Adam and I were quite jealous as plans developed, and all of our boys are now planning their own eighth birthday trips. Ben wants to go to Hawaii to see volcanoes, and Josh wants to go somewhere there are rides.

We talked before the trip about how very special this was. That Dad and I certainly didn't get to do something like this, his friends weren't doing something like this, really, it is unique to him because his grandparents love him so and want to celebrate who he is. The message seemed to sink in; my mom said that through the entire trip he was very careful about saying a lot of "Thank yous!"

It was a trip for the record books. In our conversation after the first full day there, Zach proclaimed it, "The best trip he had ever taken!" He loved it all, from his time alone with his grandparents to the amazing sights he saw. I don't think the experience is something he will soon forget! Long after all the information he absorbed at all the different themed museums of the Smithsonian he visited has hidden itself in the secret places of his mind, his great adventure will be a treasure he will hold deep in his heart.

Thanks Nana and Papa, for the life and learning, but especially for the love!

How excited are you to go on this trip, Zach? And how thrilled are you that Nana brought along one of her old digital cameras for you to use all you would like? Hmmm...I see:

The day started off VERY early for my boy. We pulled into our driveway from the two-and-a-half day drive back home from Washington in the late afternoon of the 23rd of July. Originally, Zach and my mom were going to stay at a hotel by the airport that night, we could just drop them off on our way through the city. But Zach was desperate, after a long month of travel, to sleep in his own bed; even if it was for just one night. So my kind mother took pity on him, and decided to find a way to get them to their early-morning of the 24th flight from our house. They ended up catching a cab from the house at 5:45am on the 24th, to get to the shuttle stop at a nearby hotel, that would take them up to the Denver Airport. But he didn't care about the early hour. He had slept in his bed and was so pumped for his journey! Nana and Zach...you are never too young to start practicing your long-arm shots!Zach loves pictures like this. In preschool he learned the ASL alphabet. We have countless photos of Zach using his hands to show the letter that goes along with something in the picture. Here's "D.C." Baby! Although someone is going to have to tell Nana what a real ASL "D" looks like.

Guess who had a window seat? This is one of 45 shots taken of clouds through the window of the plane.

Some of Zach's first sights of our Nation's Capitol.

Papa and Zach the next morning getting ready to go. Still thrilled with the camera!

First stop? The National Zoo, which is part of the Smithsonian family! I selected some of the best pictures of animals he took, but I think he photographed the entire zoo, fifteen times over! So here is your small sampling: We have a tiger at our zoo, but it's never very visible. Zach was happy to get such great photos of this one...so he took 25. Thank goodness for digital!

The octopus, an odd, but very cool animal.

Close encounter with the elephants.

And the day's favorite, the Pandas! Zach said that this is the only zoo that has Giant Pandas on exhibit. They were a gift from China. My parents and Zach watched them for nearly an hour. The series of photos taken by Zach of them eating could be made into a nice, long flip book. Seriously, there are over 100 of them, all just eating. He was obviously very impressed! With some of the money given to him for his trip souvenirs (more than he has ever seen all at once in his life) he bought a stuffed Panda, so he could snuggle the memory.

A brief stop by the Air and Space Museum, revisited later in the week. Zach really liked the space suit, as well as the information about the basalt rock found on the moon.

Here's my little man with the White House behind him. And with Nana in front of the Washington Monument.
When we were in Everett, Adam played around with some pictures of the boys using depth perspective. You know, like they used in Lord of the Rings to make the guys playing the hobbits look so much smaller than the rest of the cast. Zach must have remembered that, because here he got a shot of Papa holding the Washington Monument up with all his might! That thing's got to be heavy!
The Capitol Building at dusk. Let me just say that the entire five days of the trip, Zach didn't see his pillow before 10:30pm, and often after that! He held up pretty well though, and it's worth it for those lovely night sights!
Zach with the Refleciton Pool at sunset.

Thus ends days one and two of Zach's great adventure!