I have decided that this year shall forever be known as the year of Washington DC in our family, with New York City a close second. It is the end of May, and we have already made 4 trips to Washington and tomorrow will mark my second to New York City. Which is sort of ironic, since I had never been to NYC prior to April of this year.
Anyway, last Friday I trekked to DC with PB and her class. Luckily, I was assigned her two best friends, and we had a very good time while we were there. We were dropped off at the Museum of Art on the Mall, and were given free reign to go wherever we wanted in the area. I had asked the girls to prioritize what they each really wanted to see earlier in the week, and that determined our course. First, we headed to the Washington Monument, as two girls wanted to see that up close, and one of them wanted to see the White House. Lucky for us, we were able to see the White House, Capital Building and Licoln Memorial from the base, and that satisfied those requirements. The Washington Monument up close is a site to behold...you really can't see the top standing at the bottom and looking straight up. Did you know that there is a line approximately 150 feet up where work was stopped for quite a few years? The marble they used when they began again was a slightly different shade. On the South (I think) side of the monument is a gorgeous old tree. It's several pieces coming out the ground, gnarly and perfect for climbing. The girls enjoyed a little time on these tree before moving on to the American History Museum.
(I'll insert pictures here later these evening)
We were able to actually get into the First Ladies exhibit this time, and checked out the pictures from the inaugaration this year and the invention and play room. I also forced the girls to stop and look inside Julia Childs kitchen. They've rebuilt her set there, and it was very interesting to see.
From there we headed next store to see the Natural History Museum. We headed straight for the gem section, specifically the Hope Diamond. With 3 girls, are you surprised? We looked at a few other gems, then realized that it was too crowded in there to really enjoy the other displays, so headed off to find the gift store. On the way, we came across the butterfly habitat. For a fee, you can go in and walk among the butterflies. We didn't have the time and money that day to do so, but PB and I plan to return and go in.
After hitting the gift shop and the Hall of Mammals, it was time to head back to the bus. All in all, it was a nice field trip. Allowing each group to go where they wanted really made the trip nice, as we weren't constantly waiting for others to catch up. It also allowed the kids to see those things that interested them most. It seems like a fitting final trip for these 5th graders, about to head off to Junior High.
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