MY TRIP TO

AUNTIE SARAH’S

HOUSE

November, 2004

by

Flat Hayden

DAY 1

Auntie Sarah’s House

Alexandria, Virginia

(thumbs up)

Dear Hayden,I arrived at your Auntie Sarah’s house just fine. She is sooooo nice. She’s a busy lady, so I asked if I could write this letter describing our adventures instead of her. I think it will be more personal that way. Plus, I can tell you what I really think!! As soon as I arrived she let me

relax on the couch and watch TV. I I think she’s a bit of a health nut because she only had grapes and diet root beer. That’s okay.

DAY 2

ErrandsAlexandria, Virginia

(thumbs down)

Dear Hayden,Auntie Sarah took me with her on errands today. We did a lot of the same things that you do at home. We went to the grocery store and the Target. This is a picture of me in her car with the seat belt on.

p.s. How come you didn’t send me any extra clothes?

DAY 7

Orioles baseball game

Baltimore, Maryland

(thumbs up)

Dear Hayden,Today I had MUCH more fun with Auntie Sarah than I did the other day running errands. We went to a Baltimore Oriole’s baseball game. It was COOL. I even got to eat barbecue sandwiches and baked beans and drink root beer.

While I was there, the BEST thing happened…

. . . Your Auntie Sarah CAUGHT a

baseball. It was awesome. She

had to fight the guy next to her, but

when he saw the fire in her eyes,

he decided to let go of the ball. I

think she’s going to send the

baseball home as a present for

you.

p.s. The ball was hit by Johnny

Damon, the famous Boston Red

Sox player…

DAY 15

Airplane ride toPalm Springs, California

(thumbs down)

Dear Hayden,

Today, Auntie Sarah and I took a

plane ride to California. My tummy

felt a little queasy on the airplane,

so I kept the barf bag close by…

just in case.

They don’t serve food on

airplanes anymore, so I drank

soda water and ate pretzels.

Auntie Sarah didn’t have to pay

for an airplane ticket for me

because I was able to fit in the

pocket in front of her seat. Cool,

eh? She’s very thrifty, I think.

DAY 15 (Later that day)

Relaxing at the ResortLa Quinta, California

(thumbs up)

This resort is AWESOME. It’s

more awesome now that Auntie

Sarah’s room was upgraded. She

had BUGS in her bed. It was

gross, but the hotel staff happily

put her in a beautiful new room.

These pictures show me in the

cactus garden riding a terracotta

mule and sitting on the steps

leading to Auntie Sarah’s suite.

This place is GREAT!

Here I am at one of the 42 pools In the resort. I lounged most of day with Auntie Sarah beside the pool. She read books and chatted with the other nice ladies.

I spent quite a bit of time on the inner tube. By the way, I REALLY need to have some color on my backside!!

P.S. I also need some swim trunks!

Here are more pictures of me. I

met some cute little girls who

wanted to take a picture with me.

mm MM mm.

Those cactuses are really prickly.

Auntie Sarah thought it would be a

cute picture, so I didn’t mind. (I

think she may be going a little

overboard with this project, don’t

you?? OH well, I’m having a great

time, anyway.

. . . More cactus pictures.

OUCH!!

Here’s a picture of me in bed. It

was HUGE bed for such a little

guy like me. Auntie Sarah let me

stay up VERY late. Like I said, she

is SOOOO cool!!

You are very lucky!

This is a picture of a roadrunner. I

was surprised that it didn’t look

ANYTHING like the cartoon.

The mountains are beautiful, don’t

you think?

DAY 21

The National ZooWashington, DC

(thumbs up)

Today was great! We went to the

zoo with some of Auntie Sarah’s

friends. The elephants were my

favorite.

. . . More pictures of me at the zoo!

The camel was neat.

The turtle was just okay.

But then, Auntie Sarah laid me

down on the ground and a

caterpillar crawled on my face.

If you look carefully, you can still

see the caterpillar juice. It doesn’t

seem to wash off.

DAY 26

Redskins GameWashington, DC

(thumbs up)

GO

SKINS!!!

We had a great time, here, too.

We ate hamburgers and chips and

yelled and sang and did the wave.

Sadly, they lost.

The big guy in the red shirt was

Auntie Sarah’s date to the game.

(JUST KIDDING!!)

DAY 29

SightseeingWashington, DC

(thumbs up)

Auntie Sarah taught me a LOT

about Washington, DC.

This is the Jefferson Memorial.

Thomas Jefferson was our 3rd

president (after Washington, and

Adams). He was a brilliant man –

an inventor, writer of the

Declaration of Independence,

founder of the University of

Virginia, architect. . .

(She can talk for hours about this

stuff…. *sigh*)

Here is the Washington

Monument.

It is 555 feet, 5 and 1/8th inches

tall. When it was first opened to

the public in 1888, it had a steam

elevator, and only the men were

allowed to take it. The women

were forced to walk the 898 steps

to the top. They said it was “much

too dangerous” for ladies.

Women are strong. I don’t think

they cared.

These are all Smithsonian

museums. The picture in the right-

hand corner is of the National

Museum of the Native American. It

just opened a month or two ago.

Hayden, the next time you come

visit Auntie Sarah, you HAVE to go

there.

Here is the Department of

Education. It wasn’t much to look

at, but I thought your teacher might

like it.

. . . And of course, the Capitol.

It’s an AMAZING building. It was

finished in 1800. As you look at the

picture, the left side of the dome is

where the Senate meets, and the

right side of the dome is where the

House of Representatives meet.

There are 435 members in the

House and 100 members in the

Senate.

You WILL be tested. *wink*

. . . I made Auntie Sarah take

pictures of a bunch of statues. I

thought they were cool.

The one on the bottom is of

President Grant. (I THINK he was

ambidextrous. –Do you know what

that means??)

. . . More cool statues.

Can you find me?

This is the Supreme Court

building. It’s the highest court in

the land.

Quiz question:

Who was the only President to

also be a Supreme Court Justice.

Hint: He was also the fattest

President of the United States.

Library of Congress – It’s HUGE!

In fact, I believe it’s the

largest library in

the WORLD!

. . . Auntie Sarah had to stick the

camera out the sunroof of her car

to get this picture of the White

House.

Yep, that’s where President Bush

and his wife live.

Question: Who was the only

President NOT to live in the White

House?

Hint: He had false teeth.

DAY 15

Auntie Sarah’s OfficeWashington, DC

(thumbs down)

Auntie Sarah made me come to

work with her this weekend.

BORING!!

DAY 35

Auntie Sarah’s Boss’

officeWashington, DC

(thumbs up)

While Auntie Sarah worked, I

played a little in her boss’ office.

He has a VERY comfortable chair.

It hardly seems fair that he won’t

buy such a nice chair for Auntie

Sarah! She works SOOO hard!!

Bottom right is a picture of THE

BOSS!

Here we are at the end of our day

in Washington.

I was POOPED after having seen

so much.

*sniff sniff sniff*

I miss you, Hayden; and I miss

Riley and Tyler Anne, too.

I had a great time with Auntie

Sarah but now I think it is time to

come home.

I’ll see you at Thanksgiving.

Sincerely,

Flat Hayden