We're back!

What an amazing journey our little family has been on! Sorry to leave this space so quiet but we were very busy on the other side of the country taking part in the 2012 Arthritis Advocacy Summit in Washington D.C. A truly remarkable trip to participate in our country's legislative process. 

If you've been visiting here for awhile then you already know that my son Owen has juvenile arthritis. He was invited to attend this year's Advocacy Summit in D.C. to meet with legislators and tell his story to encourage continued support for research and programs that help the over 50 MILLION Americans who have some form of arthritis.

I am such a proud mama! Plus, he's so cute in his shirt and tie!

Of course, we DID fly all the way across the country (no small achievement for me, since I am completely phobic about flying, and it was the first plane trip for both kids), so we decided to add a few extra days to the trip to see some of the sights.

Arlington National Cemetery is a sight to behold. Such a tangible reminder of the great sacrifices made to ensure freedom in this country.

Beautiful architecture abounds in the D.C. area. It's not difficult to find inspiration and beauty everywhere you turn.

We all enjoyed the sunshine and warm weather -  a far cry from our fairly dreary northwest Spring.

And we had a lot of fun meeting our Senators to remind them to make arthritis a national priority.

We made lots of new friends along the way.

We also met with some of our Representatives.

We went to lots of museums.

We got to see the pandas at the National Zoo - a real highlight for the kids.

And while Owen said he wants to work in a space lab when he grows up, Bailey said that she wants to live here at the White House. 

We spent a lot of time on the Metro trains, enjoying the tunnels and the scenery speeding by.

All in all an amazing trip for our entire family. I must admit that in this election year, when I'm already tired of the rhetoric and annoying television ads and debates, it was magical to see our government and monuments through the wide eyes of my children. And needing to distill some of history's lessons into terms that they could understand, I found myself feeling very privileged to be an American. 

 I'll be back to normal crafting posts soon (after I tackle the mountain of laundry that erupted while we were gone). Meanwhile, if you have any questions about juvenile arthritis or what we were specifically advocating for while we were in Washington, please do ask.