Washington DC - Day 2

Day 2 actually started at 1 in the morning. We had gotten back from a movie and James was complaining of an upset stomach. Ben went and got some Pepto, hoping that would help. It didn't. The poor kid threw up and then promptly fell asleep. We hoped it was just something he ate and not an actual sickness. Luckily he felt perfectly fine when he woke up, so off we went!

First up was the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. 

 

 Ben had to be on a work call so James and I just wandered around. He took a picture of every single animal there. I asked him what his favorites were and, of course, he couldn't pick one. 

After seeing all the animals we headed over to the gems and minerals. James gave me a lesson in how volcanic rocks were formed, which I promptly forgot. I told him that my brain doesn't hold on to the information that isn't of any use to me. That's why I have him and Ben. They remember facts and I remember the important stuff, like what to take to school and where they are supposed to be at any given time. 

The Hope Diamond

After seeing the bone room (all skeletons, kind of cool), the Egypt room (surprisingly lackluster, especially after seeing King Tut in Seattle) and the live bugs (gross). We walked over to the Air and Space Museum.

Smithsonian Castle. I have no idea what it is, but it sure is pretty.

I liked the Air and Space Museum because it was really bright and open. Plus there were all sorts of air crafts hanging all over the place. 

They had a whole room dedicated to the Wright brothers. It was fascinating reading about their story and the challenges they faced. It's amazing to me what people are able to invent.

They even had a piece of the moon that you could touch!

After that museum closed we did the requisite White House photo thing.

And the Washington Monument. Again.

Then it was off to dinner and another movie!

Washington DC - Day 1

Ben had a conference in Washington DC last weekend. It was always the plan that I would go but we decided to take James along as well. 

 

He was super nervous during take-off and I didn't help the situation when I said it was kind of like being on a roller coaster (he HATES roller coasters). Once we were in the air though he was all good! 

The time change threw us off a bit. It was hard going to bed at a decent time because our body clock was three hours earlier. It was even harder waking up in the morning! We headed to Mt. Vernon first thing in the morning. This is where George Washington lived. There was a movie we watched that explained the history of the house and Mr. Washington. 

After waiting in line for an hour we got to walk through and learn what all the rooms were used for. Unfortunately we weren't able to take any pictures inside.  This is the view from the back patio though.

James wasn't really impressed by anything until we got to the bed that Mr. Washington died in. Of course he thought that was cool. Not only was Mr. Washington a General and our first President, he was also an innovative farmer. We spent hours walking around his plantation. James got this  adventure map that had a bunch of clues to go searching for. It made the day even more informational.

We decided to go to the Arlington National Cemetery after Mt. Vernon. That was completely sobering. There are 362,297 people buried at this cemetery. Everywhere we turned the white headstones just seemed to stretch on forever. We got there in time to see the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. 

 

We found out that the tomb has been guarded, 24-7 since 1937. Inclement weather, terrorist attacks, etc do not cause the watch to cease. The tomb guards are soldiers of the United States Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment. It is considered one of the highest honors to serve as a Sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknowns. There is a meticulous routine that the guard follows when watching over the graves

1. Marches 21 steps south down the black mat laid across the Tomb.
2. Turns and faces east, toward the Tomb, for 21 seconds.
3. Turns and faces north, changes weapon to outside shoulder, and waits 21 seconds.
4. Marches 21 steps down the mat.
5. Turns and faces east for 21 seconds.
6. Turns and faces south, changes weapon to outside shoulder, and waits 21 seconds.
7. Repeats the routine until the soldier is relieved of duty at the Changing of the Guard

We then headed to the Iwo Jima Memorial. It was a lot bigger than I expected.

We wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial before the sun set. Just like everywhere else we went, there were mobs of people. 

Gettysburg Address

I let James have my SLR camera the whole trip. He took over a hundred pictures. 

Catch up

I had every intention of keeping this blog up to date but have fallen behind! Here is a summary of some of the things we've been up to since January.

We had enough snow to shut our city down for a few days. It was glorious, letting the kids play in the neighborhood with their friends. We sent them off with walkie talkies and they would check in every couple hours when they needed hot chocolate. Ben built a massive igloo that kept them entertained as well. And yes, Briella did try and ride her bike in the snow. She didn't get very far.

Ben and I usually plan something fun as a family for Valentine's night and then go out on a different night. We thought it would be fun to have a chocolate fountain dinner and expected the kids to be super into it. They weren't. We should have taken into account the amount of sugar that had already been consumed that day. They barely ate anything and we haven't used it since!

The Reptile Man visted Briella's class. When I first walked in, half the class was backed in a corner because they were so scared of the cobra on the ground. Briella buried herself in my lap with every reptile that was brought out. So I was extremely surprised when she was the first to volunteer to help hold the python. Go figure. 

We surprised the kids with a trip to Great Wolf Lodge. It was so hard to keep it a secret and so worth it when they screamed in excitement. They were the perfect age for all of it. Avery and James went on all the slides together and Briella was happy just lounging in the wave pool.

Ben's quick thinking saved us from a major disaster. I know that James is probably too old for the tooth fairy but I don't care. I think it's fun for kids to have some magic in their life. We've decided that this will be the last year of it for James though. Anyways, for the first time in our lives we completely forgot and the tooth fairy didn't visit. When it's the weekend, Ben sets out his motion activated game camera to make sure the kids don't get out of bed too early. (Sounds crazy but it totally works). He quickly came up with the excuse that since the camera was on the tooth fairy couldn't go to his room. She didn't want to get caught "on camera". It worked. She wrote a super apologetic note and all was forgiven. 

The kids had two weeks off for Spring Break. We took some of that time and went up to Bremerton to see this darling family. I wish they lived close to us again! The kids all get along so well and are all so fun. 

On another night of Spring Break we had 17 of James's school classmates over for a "late-over" party. They ate a ton of junk food, played tons of games and made more noise than I thought was humanly possible but it solidified our standing as cool parents.

We ended our Spring Break with a trip to my favorite beach - Newport. It was rainy and cold but perfect. We took the kids to Ripley's Believe or Not thinking they would love it. Yeah, not so much. They were totally freaked out. It was almost comical how quickly they would leave a room. We're going back to Newport next weekend and will stay far away from there!

After our disastrous April Fool's prank last year we played it easy this year. We lined up all their stuffed animals to face their respective doors and switched all their school uniforms. So all the girl's clothes were in James's closet and vice versa. We didn't get as good of a reaction as we got last year but it did make us realize that we're done buying stuffed animals. Forever.

We got to watch Jack a lot. The kids absolutely love when we get to keep him for a weekend (after fighting my Mom for him). They don't ever want him to go home and take such good care of him. I don't even mind the massive holes he digs in my backyard.