I had tickets for us to take a tour of the Capitol building at 11am. Even though Silver Spring is only 10 miles from DC it took us almost an hour to drive down there. Finding parking was a little difficult too, especially since we didn't know the area. Thank heavens for my iphone. It saved us with it's map/gps feature so many times. It took us about 20 minutes to walk to the capitol. I was a little stressed that we would be late. We did miss our tour time, but they just stuck us with the next tour group so it worked out. I'll have to say I got so tired of all the security stations we had to go through on our trip. I understand why they have it, but it sure made me wish for the good old days. The kids were so grumpy during the tour, especially Fefe and Loofa. We figured out why when they perked up after eating lunch :)
J told us about squirrels being called Juicys. There were certainly plenty of them. We enjoyed yelling out Juicy each time we saw one. This one park we walked through was just teeming with them.
The day started out pretty cloudy and cool, but it didn't rain and the sun came out eventually.
The kids really enjoyed having their cousins with us this day. The reflecting pond was one of their favorite spots.
Another little girl there decided she wanted to be Fefe's friend and kept trying to hold her hand. Fefe didn't care much for it, but Ephant decided she was cute.
Arlington National Cemetery was our last stop of the day. Uncle D had to leave part way through so cousin A stayed with us. J took Fefe down too before he could come up to Robert E Lee's house. I was surprised how much the kids enjoyed walking through the home. All the furniture was gone though because they were refurbishing. That house sure has an amazing view of DC. Can't imagine what that property value would be.
On our way to the tomb of the unknown soldier we saw a horse drawn wagon taking a coffin up for burial. Sure was sad, but it was nice to see the decorum with which it was treated. We kept seeing all these grave markers with stones piled on them. Our initial theory was that it showed how many people had visited. I was close, it was a Jewish symbol of respect that people would put up each time they visited.
Wednesday was dedicated to Mount Vernon. It was about an hour drive away. It was the only rainy day we dealt with, but it was pretty minor. We were lucky to get in line for the house tour right before a ginormous school group. The first room in Mount Vernon was truly amazing. J was eying all the plaster molding wondering how he could do something like that in our house. Loofa knew George Washington as the President with fluffy hair since he had a made a picture of him before with cotton balls for hair. So George Washington had fluffy hair and Abraham Lincoln had a tall hat. My iphone fell out of my pocket in the theater. Thankfully someone turned it in AND I noticed it was missing before we got back home.
In the Rotunda
Brother B's name sake.
They weren't actually grumpy in this picture, we just told them to make funny faces. Well, maybe Fefe was.
This was a fun water fountain right behind the Capitol
The air and space museum was next on the docket after the Capitol. We went through it pretty quickly (after spending our life savings at the McDonald's there).
We walked down to the American History museum next. It was pretty cool and we probably could have spent alot more time there. I particularly enjoyed the section on Abraham Lincoln. I wish we had had time to visit the Ford theater. I loved the display of the flag they had there too, but they didn't allow any pictures even without flash. Stupid museums.
We had about 10 minutes to spend in the Art Gallery. They were so rude too when it was closing time. They practically treated us like terrorists trying to make sure we got out of there on the dot. I wish we could have spent more time there.
We did get a picture of one Jacob's favorite Vermeer.
J told us about squirrels being called Juicys. There were certainly plenty of them. We enjoyed yelling out Juicy each time we saw one. This one park we walked through was just teeming with them.
Our second day we had tickets to the Washington Monument. I was excited since it was a place we had missed when I had been to DC as a kid.
The day started out pretty cloudy and cool, but it didn't rain and the sun came out eventually.
The kids really enjoyed having their cousins with us this day. The reflecting pond was one of their favorite spots.
Another little girl there decided she wanted to be Fefe's friend and kept trying to hold her hand. Fefe didn't care much for it, but Ephant decided she was cute.
I sure do love Abraham Lincoln. What a great man. All you people that keep trying denigrate and tarnish him, knock it off!
Peace, Obama.
JFK's tomb. Big deal. Really don't understand the fascination.
Arlington National Cemetery was our last stop of the day. Uncle D had to leave part way through so cousin A stayed with us. J took Fefe down too before he could come up to Robert E Lee's house. I was surprised how much the kids enjoyed walking through the home. All the furniture was gone though because they were refurbishing. That house sure has an amazing view of DC. Can't imagine what that property value would be.
On our way to the tomb of the unknown soldier we saw a horse drawn wagon taking a coffin up for burial. Sure was sad, but it was nice to see the decorum with which it was treated. We kept seeing all these grave markers with stones piled on them. Our initial theory was that it showed how many people had visited. I was close, it was a Jewish symbol of respect that people would put up each time they visited.
Wednesday was dedicated to Mount Vernon. It was about an hour drive away. It was the only rainy day we dealt with, but it was pretty minor. We were lucky to get in line for the house tour right before a ginormous school group. The first room in Mount Vernon was truly amazing. J was eying all the plaster molding wondering how he could do something like that in our house. Loofa knew George Washington as the President with fluffy hair since he had a made a picture of him before with cotton balls for hair. So George Washington had fluffy hair and Abraham Lincoln had a tall hat. My iphone fell out of my pocket in the theater. Thankfully someone turned it in AND I noticed it was missing before we got back home.
4 comments:
What a cool trip! I really want to go up and visit these historical sites, but not until my kids are a bit older...
I'm the same as Kim. My kids need to be WAY older to do this but I really want to do it. I also want to do London with them but that's a whole other savings account :).
That looks like a great trip. I've been wanting to take my family there too. I went a few times when I was a nanny, but Tim has never been anywhere out east.
Now we all call them Juicies, esp when we almost juice them...
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