Driving to Reagan National Airport back in December we passed Arlington National Cemetery. I was amazed to see that an evergreen wreath had been placed on each and every tomb. I momentarily lamented not having visited as of yet, but vowed to do so before departing the suite life.

As I’ve felt the crunch to complete our East Coast site seeing before we head back to the real life of KC, I had put a visit to Arlington at the top of our “still to-do list”. Conveniently the Friday of Memorial Day weekend was available on our schedule, and so I scooted out of work a bit early and we headed down the Beltway to visit solemn ground during a most solemn of holidays.

The humidity was just thick enough that my girls' feet were soon blistering in their slip-on shoes with no socks. Brandon always reminds them to wear socks but “seriously Daddy, no one wears socks with slip-ons.” I carried their shoes through most of the walk. In this immaculately kept sacred, solemn place it seemed fitting that their bare feet pad gently along the path, so I didn’t fuss. Carolyn reminded me that Moses took off his shoes on holy ground, and this was sacred space, so "it was ok."

Every tomb has a name. A sweet child of a gracious God, created and loved and not forgotten. Some tombs share which war he or she served in, the medals of honor he or she received, or names of a wife, husband or baby left behind. It was absolutely touching and humbling to see so many people who've served our country memorialized so beautifully. And inspiring.

We stopped at the gift shop on the way out of the Visitor’s Center. Carolyn chose a few postcards to send. She composed one to each of my Grandpas who served during the Korean War. Without any help she wrote (roughly), “Hi Grandpa! It’s me, Carolyn. Today I saw Arlington. Thank you for being brave. Love, Carolyn” Last night my Grandpa called to say he'd received the postcard. He and my Grandma have already put it in a ziplock bag to save it forever... the heartfelt words of children have power - I need to observe and listen more often.

Today I am grateful for many things. Not the least of which is good people who do their best to serve others. And children, full of wisdom and simply love.

She learned to email as part of a lesson in school...
this is how our exchange went today.

Good morning sweet girl,

I hope you are not too tired this morning. I want you to learn a lot in school, so keep those eyes wide open! 

I am busy in lots of meetings today. I don’t really like meetings.

Tonight I want to watch a show on TV with you all about the Queen of England. Would you like that?

I love you so much. Please be a good big sister and tell Julia that I love her, too!

Hugs to you,
Mommy
xoxoxoxo

*********************

Hi mommy!

I Riley don't wont to watch that video. Instead I wood love to woch tangled with you.

love, Carolyn,  but we can watch both.

When I got home from work she informed me that "Daddy made me add the last part, I really don't want to watch that show!"

"People don't read books in Anapra" Estela explained on her recent visit. Books are simply unavailable, no libraries (even in the schools), no bookstores, no options. Though the front porches of Anapra look out over the Mexico - U.S. border onto the verdant lawns of the United States, many of the luxuries we take for granted are not readily available to their community. Paved streets, potable water, steady employment, safety, even education - none are guaranteed to our neighbors to the south - and neither are books.

Perhaps we can change that.

Over the past four years various contacts from the United States have been working to provide books in small bundles, on a variety of topics to those hungry for knowledge in Anapra. A first-time mom received "Qué Se Puede Esperar Cuando Se Está Esperando" ("What to Expect When You're Expecting") and soon all the neighborhood moms were passing around the book, health education being as limited as all the rest. A family whose baby was born with Down's Syndrome was told by the local doctors that there was nothing that could be done but to let the baby die - unhappy with this response contacts in the U.S. provided this mother with literature that enabled her to provide her baby with five comforting and beautiful months of life. And occassionally, when receiving a monthly dispensa of rice and beans, children are handed a spanish children's book which is always clutched with pride and ownership.

However, the vision is growing, taking root in the hearts of many in the U.S. and Anapra to provide more literature, a place for community, and HOPE. The next step in the good work being done in Anapra is taking shape, the shape of a library... and I couldn't be more excited!!! A location has been identified, supply costs are being assessed, and a plan is developing {see!}...

A recent article in the New York Times titled "A Book in Every Home, and Then Some" noted, "a massive, longitudinal study examining the educational attainment of 70,000 students from 27 countries found, surprisingly, that having lots of books in the home was as good a predictor of children’s educational attainment as parents’ education levels. In fact, access to books was more predictive than the father’s occupation or the family’s standard of living. The greatest impact of book access was seen among the least educated and poorest families."

And in order to coordinate the efforts that will surely require the compassionate and generous contributions of numerous partners in the U.S. to empower these impacts, the Pan de Libros (Bread of Books) collaboration group has been formed. Our goal: to promote education, community, and hope by providing books to families across the border.

As we develop this initiative you can follow our progress:

twitter

facebook

But for now, here's what's got my heart racing...

{email from Estela after sending some rough plans for her to review}

"I can imagine this library with all your ideas and its BEAUTIFUL!!!!

I am imagining it done. I will want to spend lots of time there..."

Me, too!!!

The Basilica in Washington D.C. is truly remarkable and one of the only places to see a church on the same grand scale of those in Europe. We thought Estela and Luis would enjoy a visit and they were absolutely amazed with the art and architecture. It was a perfect way to wrap up their visit, with a quiet walk through the prayer gardens and then wander (in wonder) at the entire experience inside.

The wind was relentless and cold. We wrapped up in blankets to search for shells. Except Julia who played in the waves for over an hour with Brandon (who did not come dressed for the occasion but relented to frozen cold clothes none-the-less). Luis had never seen the ocean and walked up and down the shore many times. Carolyn stayed under a towel in the tent most of the time. And Brandon caught an incredible sunset photo (whilst driving) over the Bay Bridge... impressive sir.

When visitors come to visit the suite life there are so many things to share. For Estela and Luis we started at the National Aquarium so they could see "real life sharks" (Carolyn) and "of course dolphins!" (Julia) Not only did they get to tour the harbor, enjoy Bubba Gump Shrimp, and see the sea creatures... but they also got to experience crowds (hoards?) of pre-teen school children of every variety (seriously even the Amish were there, it was quite a day!)

For KC girls, the beach is a rare treat. We spent eight hours of sun and sand in the great state of Delaware, a mere two hour drive from the suite life. All that was asked was that we leave a large donation to their local small town police as a measure of oversite when their speed limit dropped from 45 to 25 - d'oh. PS - worth it.

As I watched the videos of Carolyn's day at ice skating I exclaimed "I love watching her skate, it is awesome!"

Julia replied "And you like watching me do art right, especially when I use it to express my feelings like Henri Matisse?"

Um... Mostly I love listening to your brain out grow your small body.

[I really do miss my friends in KC so much, but seriously this place has a thousand amazing things to explore! It will be good to be home, but for now we are enjoying every square inch that we can.]

It was a drizzly Saturday afternoon, but the canopy of leaves kept us dry and guaranteed the island all to ourselves... errr... and a large black snake. The handsome one shot photographs of Teddy R. and his peaceful island where the only disturbance is the fly over of commercial jets every 2-4 minutes (ok, so the peace is not so peaceful). The girls were in heaven getting to RUN and jump and climb and explore, all things difficult to do in a suite. And all the more reason we need our own little piece of paradise when we return to KC, maybe not an island, but at least some space to run.

Tonight I blog from an iPad, like Dr. Crusher from Star Trek. All I am missing now is a tight fitting polyester uniform, great abs, and a good looking 16 year old son named Wesley. But seriously it is pretty darn cool, probably much cooler than a 31 year old referring to Wesley Crusher as adorable.

My handsome photographer "surprised" me with it on Friday. And by surprise I mean I hounded him relentlessly for approximately six months and he succomb on Friday.

The girls have already logged several hours of hysterical laughter with the photobooth app, and hopefully a bit of education as well. I mostly have spent a good deal of time (errrr money) in the app store and walking around the suite logging star dates.

Someday. Someday sweet alpacas will graze on my someday land.
For now I will wander through Alpaca Jubilees with an excited someday look on my face. I will ask questions of the friendly breeders and find out that my suspicions are true, that these animals are wonderful and must be mine... someday.

Martha did a piece on Alpaca farms recently - see the video HERE.

On a weekend road trip we stopped in Pennsylvania to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water house. Julia was disappointed, "shouldn't all of the houses in 'Pencil-vania' be made of pencils?", but alas water falls had to do. Brandon, the architect, enjoyed the tour immensley. I was impressed with the gift shop and the gorgeous area in which the house was tucked, but alas I did not tour the house as they only allow 6 years and up, and it is pricey, so I babysat and shopped.