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6:00am came early this morning, but we had a nice breakfast at 6:45am, and the kids in our group did a great job of getting everything packed up and out of their room. Today our little group changed a bit as we had one of our girls to a different bus because of being on a different flight home. This meant that Emma joined us for the day. All of the busses pulled out around 8:00am with a goal of going to Arlington National Cemetery.

Unfortunately due to traffic, and the massive crowds at Arlington, we had to leave shortly after arrival in the parking lot in order to make it to our scheduled time for the Holocaust Museum.

We headed back to DC and took a short walk over to show the group the front of the White House.

This morning we got to sleep in an extra hour and had breakfast in the hotel at 8:00am. The busses left by 9:00am and headed toward the Naval Academy in Annapolis Maryland.

Our second morning began with a lovely breakfast at the hotel and we pulled out just after 8:00am. The first stop of the day was the US Capitol Building. We parked on the front side of the Capitol and then walked up the hill to the back.

From there we walked over to the Supreme Court building and took a photo of the group.

At the start of this post, I want to acknowledge the school shooting that took place at Covenant School this morning just after we arrived in Washington D.C. Covenant School is less than two miles from the Lipscomb Academy Lower School where my wife Olivia works, and less than three miles from the Upper School where both Kate and Sara attend. Learning about this during our day was overwhelming, and difficult to deal with emotionally. This was especially true considering the many connections those in the Lipscomb family have with the families who lost loved ones. While we still enjoyed our day in D.C., it understandably cast a heavy shadow. I cannot comprehend this act of evil nor the loss of these precious souls. My heart hurts and my prayers will be continually lifted for all involved.

This week I am accompanying Sara while serving as a chaperone for the Lipscomb Academy 8th Grade field trip to Washington D.C. I was able to go on the same trip four years ago with Kate, and am thrilled to be going again with Sara. Olivia dropped us off at the airport at 5:30am to meet up with our group of approximately 125 students, teachers, and chaperones. The group was split into two flights (Southwest & United), leaving at two different times, and flying to two different airports (Reagan & Dulles). Even with all of this going on, the process of getting boarding passes and navigating through security was pretty smooth. Kudos to Bob Rodgers Travel, Southwest and United Airlines for having everything ready to go!