Yet another Washington DC post

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.

Road Trip to Washington, Part II (Easter Egg Roll on the White House Lawn)

Our second trip to Washington, DC brought us to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. We were invited to meet Vice President and Dr. Biden before attending the Egg Roll on the White House Lawn.  For those who don't know, this is the Eisenhower Executive Office Building...

A big behomoth of a building that sits right next to the White House...see?

We had a chance to meet with the Vice President and his family.

I really like Dr. Biden.  She seems like a genuinely nice woman. And I admire that prior to her husband becoming Vice-President, she maintained her own professional life. 

The rest of our visit wasn't so pleasant, and didn't go exactly as planned.  But eventually, after standing in various lines for almost 2 more hours, we finally made it into the Egg Roll...

Unfortunately, in trying to create access for many, the whole thing was ruined for all.  There were too many people, and the lines were so long to do any of the activities.  There were at least 75 people in line just for the egg roll activity.  After spending so long just waiting to get in, and a morning that had to start at 7 am, we were all done.  So we took some pictures, got our posters, and headed out to the egg station.  The wooden souvenir eggs are cute.

Photo taken from the White House official Site.

Then we went to the US History Museum.  Another post of that part of the trip soon.

  

Road Trip to Washington, DC (Part 1)

We actually went to Washington, DC twice during my husbands two weeks leave. The first trip was literally the day after he came home. It was a bus trip arranged by the military 4H club to celebrate Month of the Military Child. It was Cherry Blossom Festival time, and we were dropped off just a block or so from the parade. Unfortunately, it took a little longer to get there than planned, and the parade was about to start, so the parade route was completely blocked by onlookers. We are nothing if not creative, and we quickly decided the steps of the FTC building would make a good vantage point.

See those people up on the high part? That's the rest of the family. It was so windy, and it was pretty high up, and the Monster refused to sit still, so the two of us climbed back down and went exploring on our own. DDS was able to take some nice shots of the parade, and maybe he'll upload them to Flickr at some point. But really, a parade is a parade, and unless I know people in it, I don't get excited. Monster apparently gets that from me, and we had a much better time searching for dandelions, climbing on statues, and just enjoying the day.

Finally, everyone was tired of the parade, and our group adventures began.

We wandered towards the Capital, since that was our next scheduled stop. We had to stop along the way and enjoy the Cherry Blossoms and some large rocks.

Then a visit to the Capital Building.

We gave Monster daddy's point and shoot camera to use while we were in DC and he took some nice photos. But my favorite was when he handed me the camera and asked me to take a picture of him.

After that, we had lunch in the Capital Cafeteria. Then we headed to the Air and Space Museum, since that was our bus pick up site. We explored a few of the rooms, did a few of the hands on activities,

then happily boarded the bus or home, exhausted.