Brady, Brooke and Boone at the Air and Space Museum. Probably the best museum for young kids. They loved it!
Styling and Profiling in DC in front of really cool planet exhibits.
Our NC Congressman Mel Watt. He's a Democrat, I'm Independent and Pam is a Republican. I saw her writing in the guest book for about five minutes. Pam had a wild look on her face as she wrote. I think it had to do with high taxes. Go Pam!!
The second leg of our trip consisted of 4 fun filled days in Washington DC! Here are the highlights:
* Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum was the big hit of the week for our kids. They had the most interactive and fun play area, but extremely top secret that we couldn't even take ANY pictures! They had guards walking around to make sure everyone was following the rules about cameras. So all we have is our memory to remind us of the "make a muppet face" wall, "be a muppet" stage with puppets and a video screen to see yourself, big muppet dolls to play with, and a cartoon creative area where you fill out your own storyboard with their art supplies. VERY fun and I highly recommend, it's on display through October 2008.
* The Washington Zoo was just a 2 metro train rides away and another adventure day for the kids to see all the animals, take pictures, meet their new friends Alex and Joshua, and eat ice cream and other treats. They even had a cockroach display, I'm not even kidding!
* Speaking of the metro, that in itself was a highlight. Each morning we would leave the hotel around 9 am, walk about 3/4 mile to the metro station, buy our tickets and hop on. The kids absolutely LOVED it! It was also a nice break for us not to drive for 3 days straight. I can't believe how much walking we did - on Wednesday, George and I estimated that we walked for about 9 miles! The kids too!! It was 95 degrees! We would get back to the hotel each day around 5:30 exhausted, and the kids would sit and rest for about 3 minutes, before jumping up and yelling "we're ready for the pool now!!" George and I would take turns watching them swim like crazy while the other one rested. : )
* Of course it was exciting to go to the White House, and all the other monuments and museums. We saw the Natural History Museum, the Air & Space Museum, the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Iwo Jima Memorial (right across the street from our hotel), Arlington National Cemetery, the Marine Corps Museum (in Quantico), the Marines Tuesday night evening parade and silent drill team, a protest parade about Christian Egyptians being persecuted outside the White House, and we took our picture with our House representative, Mel Watt.
* One night, my cousin Gregg and his wife Sarah took us out to dinner in a cute area of Arlington. They live and work in the DC area and gave us lots of hints about where to go and what to see. It was so great to see them and catch up on everything that's going on in all our lives. Our big impression when we left dinner: they're so smart! Their probable impression when they left dinner: they're so loud!
* We talked to a man who works at the Treasury Department. George thanked him for our $2400 check we received 2 weeks ago. I told him to thank President Bush for us for the rebate. Then I told him we were big supporters of a flat tax rate for all incomes. He said it would probably never pass. I also told him that I was in support for abolishing social security. He said, "Oh you mean that you want to privatize the accounts where the funds go?" I said, "No, I want the whole program scrapped and abolished." At that point he sort of tilted his head and laughed. Don't worry Mom and Dad, he laughed because he knows it will never happen and I KNOW you both turn 62 this year, I'm excited for you!
This picture was taken between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument. I was sooooo proud of my kids. They smiled for every picture and I know they were sick of Dad's constant desire to capture the perfect kodak moment.
Break time after walking through the Air and Space Museum. Brennan is a happy camper with Mom.
Boone, who I've dubbed a future General or Navy Seal, is proudly standing by one of the many artistic dislays at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Can you tell me what war this was from?
In front of the Capitol. The Chinese man taking this picture had a million dollar camera and actually had trouble focusing with my cheap Canon. With four kids one out of every ten shots is a winner. Notice Brennan with the stale milk bottle. Poor little guy - it felt like a hundred degrees and he had to drink that stuff.
Boone, peering through a T-Rex skull at the National Zoo. The best thing about the zoo is it's free!! And they have the hairiest and funkiest looking bears I have ever seen. I mean really, it looks like bears mated with the hippies back in the 60's and this is the offspring. They are extremely hairy and unkempt with super long claws that look like elephant tusks hanging out of a paw. They mope and look depressed too; which would explain the generational drug use that was passed down to them.
