Vacation Friday!

Friday was a hard day for waking up!  We had to get up in time to eat breakfast by 9:00, but we didn't have to be anywhere until 2:00.  After slowly getting ready, we were able to get downtown in time for lunch before our 2:00 tickets at Ford's Theater.  (Unfortunately, Josiah got sick and mom graciously stayed back with him.)  Touring Ford's Theater was very interesting, especially after having read Killing Lincoln.  We did not, however, wait in the line to see the house where he died.  We went to the memorials instead.

Checking out the White House on the way to Ford's Theater

The box where Lincoln was sitting when he was shot

Waiting for the ranger to tell us about Lincoln

 

 

We were able to see four memorials:  the WWII, the Vietnam, the Lincoln, and the Korean War Memorial.  There were a few more that we could have walked to, but by that time we were all too hot and tired to go any further!  We headed to Arlington Cemetery to catch the Metro back to the hotel.

 World War II Memorial

Of course Dave found ducks!

 

 

Vietnam War Memorial

 

Lincoln Memorial

 

 

 

 

 

Korean War Memorial

 

What we always need to remember, and why it is important that we have memorials

 



 



 

Vacation on the 4th!!

Since we in our nation's capitol on the 4th, we planned on going to see fireworks!  It was definitely the highlight of our trip.  But before we got to the fireworks, we went to the Air and Space Museum and the Natural History Museum.  It was fun to see the spaceships and big planes at Air and Space; and the Hope Diamond was another must see at the Natural History Museum. 

On the way to the museums, we saw the start of the parade.  Since we saw the big balloons and some cool cars and some marching bands practicing, we decided that waiting to watch the parade was not necessary.

All decked out in red, white, and blue!!

Interesting sculpture!

What a sweet car!

 

National Air and Space Museum



The children put tattoos on their faces...Nathan went a little crazy with his!

Posing with the Wright Brothers

The girls in front of Amelia Earharts plane

 

The Museum of Natural History

 

 

 

We made our way to the Washington Monument area to watch the fireworks and lucked out by sitting right in front of them.  (We thought they would be shot off near the Capitol, but they were shot off from the reflecting pool near the Washington Memorial).  They were amazing!!  The Metro ride back was a little packed and adventurous (Mom and Jenn had to get off one train and wait for another!), but by around 1:00, we were all safe and sound in the hotel.  And a shout out to the Homewood Suites shuttle driver who drove past their midnight cut-off to make sure everyone made it back to the hotel-including Mom and Jenn!

 

 

 

 



 

 

Our vacation Wednesday

We had an early start on Wednesday since we had tickets to the International Spy Museum at 9:00 in the morning.  Note to self and anyone interested, if you have at least an hour transport time to get into DC, don't schedule your tickets for 9:00 if you don't want grumpy family members!  Especially if they went to a baseball game the night before!!

But the spy museum was really cool and is highly recommended.  Lots of interesting spy gear; fun activities; and lots of James Bond movie references!!

Camden, a.k.a, Billy Henderson, in his spy costume

Practicing being able to hang from a beam suspended in the air

 

 

After learning how to spy, we ate lunch, made a stop at the Naval Memorial...

 

 

 

...and then headed to the American History Museum.  My personal favorite.  I like seeing the First Ladies' dresses and the pop culture memorabilia.  And of course seeing the Star Spangled Banner is a must see. 

 

 

We didn't see Bobby Flay when we ate at his restaurant in NYC, but we got to see his picture in the Smithsonian!

Dorothy's ruby slippers

Camden was excited to see Kermit...Nathan was smiling to get finished with one more picture!

Elphaba's dress from Wicked

Laura Bush's dress

After a brief rest....

 

...we went to see the Washington Monument.  Of course with all of the scaffolding around it, it does not make for the best picture.

 

 

For dinner that night we went to Pentagon City and ate in the food court.  It was nice to sit down in air conditioning. 

 







We finally made it back to our hotel with no appointments for the next day!  We were all ready for a good night's sleep!

The kids' beds were made up nicely when we returned.

Camden did not like sleeping with Nathan rolling on top of him...guess where he ended up in the middle of the night :)