Okay, what on earth was I thinking when we made arrangements to go to Washington DC during Spring Break? We just returned from a week in Washington DC along with every other 7th and 8th Grader from the East Coast. It was a succesful trip as I returned with just as many kids as I left with and no one got lost or hurt.
I am pretty sure it is not really what a 2 1/2 and 6 yr old would call a rockin' vacation but we were able to instill a little culture into the boys. Hayden wanted to know why all the women in the Art Museum didn't have shirts on -- Shannon didn't really have a good answer but I suspect that men are just pervs dating way back to th 1400's. He also told me the story of how Jesus died and came back to life when he saw the pictures of the Crucifixion. I'm pretty sure he didn't learn that from a fishing trip so he must be getting some religion at the The Firs which is a good thing.
My Mother and Father-in-law as well as Shannon's Uncle Wade and Aunt Helen also ventured out with us. We saw it all in the 5 days we were there! The Capital Building, Aerospace, Natural History, Art, and Indian Museums. Then we hit the monuments and Arlington National Cemetery. We also hit the DC Ducks (one of those tours in the car that is a boat) and a Washington Nationals Baseball game. We had one day in Baltimore with a kids day at the Kids Museum and walking the docks with a stop at the ESPN Zone for lunch (fyi...great place for kids as it is really loud!). We also spent an afternoon in Columbia visiting with my Aunt Dana, Uncle Dan and my Cousins Allison and Nick.
The kids will tell you their favorite part was the Metro. Riding the train with a stubborn and independent 2 year old is interesting. He must do the escalator himself and he wants to do the ticket and get on / off the train without help. This is all great until it is rush hour and he easily gets lost in the sea of legs. Oh, Fischer will probably tell you he liked the M&Ms too. I used them as a bribe for the better half of the trip. "If you hold my hand across the street, I'll give you an M&M." To which he would often reply "sure!" or my favorite "I know that Mommy!"
Shannon he'd probably tell you the shooting at the Safeway on Friday night or the crusing up to the local liquor store at the same time 3 cop cars pulled up with guns drawn were his favorite parts. My favorite part was just being with my family and getting to order take out every night. Of course, I really had an awesome time at the Capital. We had a special tour, shout out to Uncle Dan for that of course! We were able to take 8 of us and walk to the top of the Capital Dome. I bet you didn't know that the current dome is not the original? That it is not really structurally part of the building but is more or less a facade. Also, I bet you didn't know that you can walk around the top! It was a very special tour. Not to mention that the Capital was buzzing that day with Clinton, Obama and McCain were all "in the house" to listen to General Pateras speak. They travel with a fairly large posse of secret service and police.
