ever feel like some things weren't meant to be?

 Sorry for the long post, but the day really was that crazy!

Since we got here, I have been so excited to go to the Washington DC temple. First of all, it is beautiful and it's always exciting to see a new temple, but also I really start to feel it if I go longer than a month without the temple. I am just not as nice. We decided to make last weekend work (June 30).

The plan was to spend the night at my Aunt Mary's house in Maryland, go to the temple first thing in the morning, and then head into the city to see a couple museums. The crazy lightning that night should have been our first clue - there was mischief afoot. (That was the most insane lightning I've ever seen! It was constant, like a laser show, flickering the lights every few minutes)

We woke up as planned and were out the door only 5 minutes past our 7:30 goal. Mary and her girls were in a car ahead of us, coming to babysit our kids outside the temple. About 10  minutes into the drive we got news that the power was out at the temple and it was closed. Major bummer.  Mary turned around and we went on ahead to at least see and walk around the temple.

Then we entered Armageddon. Massive trees were sprawled all over the streets, trailing power lines everywhere. For the next hour-long drive we only saw 2 working stoplights. The others were completely dark. Our cellphones didn't work and we went at a snail's pace. At one point a giant tree was blocking all 3 lanes of our road, so caution cones directed us to go in a single file line into one of the lanes of oncoming traffic. Madness. I wish I'd taken more pictures - I feel like these are pretty mild.

Imagine your world in complete upheaval and all of a sudden this comes into view:

With the world being in such chaos, the temple was all the more radiant and stunning. They had a generator but were using it sparingly, allowing only weddings and live ordinances. We walked around the slightly uprooted grounds, occasionally throwing branches and leaves back into the woods.

The boys found a mini-excavator (their highlight).

After calling the Smithsonian to make sure they had power in DC, we found a metro station to get us into the city (on a train for the boys). Unfortunately the metro station also didn't have power. The metro was running so we could get on, but the station was completely dark. And 4 stories underground. This picture was with my flash - I tried without, but it came out completely black.

Sitting in the dark tunnel almost completely by ourselves - our little family huddled on one of the benches - it really did feel like we were in an end-of-the-world movie. Plus side? we didn't have to buy tickets :)

Oh yeah, and Henry had to go to the bathroom (of course) and there were no bathrooms anywhere (of course), so Jimmy just held him up and he peed over the outer edge of the station (where the lights would have been, not where the train comes). The boys did LOVE the train, though! Probably the best part of the day.

We got to the city and up into the light! And the heat. It was 103 in DC that weekend. It was 1:00 and we were getting hungry. Bad news - we didn't have cash. So we walked in the heat for blocks and blocks to find an ATM. First one was out of money. Second one was closed. Finally, desperate, we went into the museum and paid way too much to eat at their food court. I had done a few "lessons" with the kids earlier in the week about space, so we chose the Air and Space Museum. The boys liked it, but a lot of it was lost on them because of their age and the absolutely insane crowds.Turns out everyone preferred to be inside that day. I swear there was a homeless man napping in one of the exhibits. Smart man.

The child in this picture looks cute. Don't let him fool you. That's what I thought, "Oh, he's tired, how precious." Nope. He's pooping.

And that was it. One museum and we were ready to go home. By the time we got back to the metro station, we practically had to mop the puddles of melted boys off the sidewalk.

We made it to our only transfer and waited for our next train. And waited. And waited. Wouldn't you know they had some malfunction on our line, so we stayed with our 3 boys right next to the track, trying to keep Archer from falling in and each other from going crazy for OVER AN HOUR. Of course Henry had to pee again, with  nowhere to go, so I, being the resourceful (or desperate) mom that I am, just put a diaper on over his underwear.

We finally dragged ourselves into Aunt Mary's house and had dinner at almost 7. Right before bedtime, someone pooped on the floor. We were willing that day to be over, but it just wouldn't end. Oh, and after all that, I had to run out at 10:30 to grab diapers because I hadn't brought quite enough. Sheesh!