Twilight Tattoo

I was really bummed when last year the rain stopped us from seeing the Twilight Tattoo at Ft. McNair so this year I made a point of putting it on the calendar earlier in the season. I wasn't sure what to expect on turn out, but apparently large groups of middle schoolers from all over the country attend so the bleachers were mostly filled when we arrived. Albert isn't shy about these things and he asked the people in charge if we could sit in the left over VIP seating. Lucky for us there was still room on the padded benches so we had a prime comfy spot away from the screaming teenagers.

The weather was perfect and the sunset was beautiful. 

My favorite is always the Old Guard Fife & Drum Band.  They are so good and I can't get over the historically correct uniforms.

the fife solo was fantastic!

the trumpet solo

like always the drums were awesome...it makes we want to learn to play
(maybe my baby sister could teach me)

Here is a video I put together of the fife, trumpet, & drum solos:

The always impressive US Army Drill Team performed:

Here are the soloists:

A video I put together of the soloists and their most difficult trick "dubbed the daring front-to-rear overhead rifle toss.” During this dangerous routine, four members of the Drill Team alternately toss their spinning, 10-pound rifles from the front rank to the back, often as high as 15 feet into the air and 15 feet to the rear. Then four Soldiers in the back rank catch the revolving weapons one-handed in a true demonstration of courage and concentration. In most cases, revolution of the rifle ends as the bayonet arcs just past the Soldier's right ear, and the weapon is caught directly over the Soldiers head with his/her arm fully extended."

They then talked about all the different conflicts in US history and the US Army Band sang patriotic songs.

They also had a Blackhawk all the kids were climbing into that was pretty cool.

I recommened going to this historical demonstration of our military if you have the time, it runs through June.