Day One- Mama & Misty's Vacation

Today is day one of my vacation with my mom. I started planning this trip back in January after I visited Washington DC for the first time and while there kept thinking that I would really like to take her there. After doing a lot of research I decided that it would be amazing to go during the Fourth of July and watch the concert and fireworks while at the National Mall.
I didn't tell her until I had booked the trip and it was fun to call and tell her. I have to say that as excited as I have been, I think she has been 20 times more excited. I can't count the number of times that she has called me at 7am to tell me that she went to the library and checked out numerous books and movies to learn more about the area.
We will are planning to leave Wednesday, July 2nd and return July 8th. Mom decided that she wanted to come to Utah a little early and spend some time with me in Salt Lake before we left. She flew in this afternoon and we spent the day looking at the local sights.

Our first stop was Temple Square. For years and years I have seen her use a cookbook from the Lion House. The Lion House is one of Brigham Young's residences. They have turned it into a restaurant that makes the most wonderful homemade food. I thought it would be nice if she could finally eat there herself after using the cookbook for so long.

After our meal we walked around temple square.



One of the highlights for me was going to the 26th floor of the Church Office Building. Mom is afraid of heights, but she managed to stick it out and I think enjoy herself. It was an extremely hot day and the roof was even more hot. You couldn't touch anything up there. The view was amazing!



We also took a tour of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and went up the 10th floor which has a great view of the temple. Mom managed herself well there too! :)



The rest of the day we spent riding around in the car. For two reasons, sightseeing and air conditioning! I took mom up to see President Hinckley's grave and we also went to the library to check out books to prepare for our trip. Mom is well read on the subject, but I haven't prepared at all. She will have to be my tour guide.

It has been a great day. Tomorrow we are planning on going to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform their Fourth of July Concert. It is going to be a very patriotic week for us.