Washington, DC - My daughter's leadership conference

When my daughter was nominated for a leadership conference in Washington, DC, my father and I decided to tag along and make certain she made it to and from the conference ok as well as spending some great one-on-one time together wandering around the Smithsonian.

I posted these photos of our trip to my parents website, though I admit, I have not updated the rest of their site in quite awhile.

We were there Mar 24th -29th, 2008 with about one day with my daughter on either end of the trip. Since we left DC when she was just 2, she really wanted to go back to the Smithsonian Zoo downtown(<-map link) as that was one of her favorite spots as a child. We went there first (after getting a Starbucks across the street of course). We pretty much wandered through the whole zoo that first day. Then we took about half a day the next morning at the Museum of Natural History. After that, it was time to drop my daughter off for her conference at the National 4H center.

Dad and I spent the next couple days wandering around the Smithsonian, including looking at more of the things in the Museum of Natural History, checking out the Museum of the American Indian, and spending a great deal of time in the Air and Space Museum. Dad and I wrapped things up by visiting Congress with a private tour from one of Denny Rehberg's aides.

I also caught up with some friends, both from when I worked for National Energy Group (main Info Tech offices were in Bethesda/Rockville even though I was in Portland, OR) as well as when I was living in DC working for the Air Staff. Dad and I had great company for a couple of our meals. Due to the meds he was taking, Dad was watching his diet while he was there, so I was "forced" to accompany him to the Cheesecake Factory several times so he could get their spinach. You'd be amazed how few places actually serve the stuff these days and to find one that also served monster slices of cheesecake was a huge plus in my book. If you ever need a laugh, ask my parents about my phase of only wanting to eat lobster and cheesecake every meal (hmmm, should have mentioned that I used two of the dinner meals in my previous Disney World post to eat a twin lobster tail dinner on two differnt nights. Maybe I'm still not out of that phase?). But I digress...

With tired feet and full bellies (and another Starbucks coffee), dad and I went back to pick up my daughter. She was elected to give the speech for her group at the end of the conference, though we didn't get to see it. The conference is about the young adults and developing their leadership abilities, not humoring the bursting with pride parents. ;-) My daughter, of course, really wanted to see the Air and Space Museum and dad and I gladly went back with her as you could probably spend a whole week in each museum if you really looked at everything.

All-in-all it was an incredible trip! You can't replace such quality time with your father and daughter. I highly recommend finding time to let the storms of your life swirl around you. Pay attention to the fact that you're really in the eye of the storm and can choose to pause and enjoy the time with your family. That's my new year's wish for any of you who read this.

I would have to say most of it wouldn't have been possible without my mother chasing down hotel reservations and coordinating with Rehberg's office for us. We often lamented that she should have been participating in the trip with all the work she put in to make it happen for us. We love you mom!