Washington, DC

Oct 2010, we had a few days off from school so we decided to take another quick trip to the nation's capital to see a little more than the previous 5 hours we spent there! It was a great trip and while we certainly didn't see everything, we did see a lot of great things! The kids are really into historical things and places and they loved learning about our country! Our first stop was the Washington Monument - which, we didn't know, the tickets disappear lightning fast so if you want to go in it you actually need to plan ahead (who does that???) and book them several weeks in advance....oh, well, it was still cool to see it.



Some highlights of the trip: the Smithsonian! We hit the Air and Space Museum last time, so this time we made a small dent in some of the other amazing museums. If I would have posted this a year ago when it actually happened, maybe I'd remember the names of the museums. Oh well. They thought this old boat was pretty cool. They also loved seeing the Hope Diamond, the doll house, the Hollywood artifacts, and the Civil War weaponry. They loved the science lab where they got to do experiments with electricity and sound!

This kids area was pretty fun, we spent a lot of time here where the kids were able to learn a lot with "hands on" exhibits. This one was making a path to control the placement of a ball, with household utensils. Thankfully they haven't tried this at home, yet!

The Lincoln exhibit was amazing. Very powerful. Araleigh didn't really get it, but the boys were really into it.

This statue of George Washington apparently has all kinds of symbolism and secret meanings, according to Dan Brown....it was cool to see it in person!

This magnetic rock "attracted" our kids for a long time! They were just "drawn" to it! Ha ha :)

We also saw the Constitution and all of the cool documents at the Archives building, which was pretty powerful.

The only thing missing from the Mall is food!!!! The little cafes in the museums were ridiculously overpriced and not very good, so we went on a search for a decent place to eat, which brought us near the Capitol. Dave and I really wanted to go in, but we missed visiting hours by minutes!

Our kids were too hungry and grumpy anyway, as you can see they wouldn't even smile for us!

After food, our children were much happier and energized, so we walked over to the Lincoln Memorial. It was a beautiful night and the boys were so excited to read Lincoln's amazing speeches that are printed on the walls in this impressive building. He really was a very inspired individual.

On our way from Lincoln Memorial to the train, we passed through George Washington University, and had to take this picture for Grandpa Dave who is an alumni there.