One last day of touring...

We've worn the kids completely out each and every day. Last night, this is what we found when we checked in on the boys:
We left early again this morning. With the exception of the rain yesterday morning, the weather has been high fifties and sunny each day. Seeing the day break over the capital city this morning was amazing. We got up and headed downtown to wait in line for tickets for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The kids were in much better spirits while waiting for tickets today, but they were also much drier!
We have been amazed to watch the cherry blossoms develop in the six days we've been here. There was almost nothing on Friday. By today, we got to watch the sun come up over a gorgeous sight. We had a few minutes to kill before our tour started, so we walked a little ways to admire the blooms. The cherry blossom festival starts next week, so we really lucked out! I always assumed people were exaggerating, but seeing the pretty flowers framing the historic buildings is an awesome vision.

We really enjoyed our tour at the Bureau, and I was so glad our ticket time complemented our schedule. Tickets are free, but you have to get in line by 8am and they are usually gone by 9. Aidan enjoyed pondering the stack of a million dollars.
Most days, I would say my children are worth more than their height in 100s. (Not always!)

We left the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and headed toward the Museum of American History. We made a pit stop on the way. A fire crew was staged in front of the museum, and I asked if they minded if Andrew took a picture in front of the engine. They did better than that - we got a picture with the fireman, the boys got to sit in the truck, and Tony talked engines with them. Thanks, DCFD!
We all enjoyed the Museum of American History. It's one of my favorites, and I knew the boys would love it, too. The first exhibit is the actual flag that flew over Ft. Henry during the battle and inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner. It's an astonishing sight, the the new exhibit layout is phenomenal. Andrew was impressed for all the right reasons, and Aidan marveled at it's size. Unfortunately, we couldn't take any pictures. After that, we headed though the museum. I took tons of pictures, but here are some highlights:

The Ruby slippers:

The original Kermit and other Jim Henson puppets

Abe Lincoln's top hat - he wore it to Ford's Theatre (This could have been the single thing that most amazed, astonished and intrigued me on this trip)

Riding around in a stroller is not all it's cracked up to be. Sophie has been up and down escalators leaning backwards, and has seen everything at about hip level. She has found ways to entertain herself when she's not sleeping, however. She practices her dance steps while calling them out and moving her feet ("Shuffle. Try again. Shuffle. Try again." and "Boogie, woogie, who's up, who's up"). She sings "Tomorrow" from Annie loudly and dramatically while throwing her arms out to the side and using perfect pitch (but she only knows one word - tomorrow). It doesn't matter where we are, she keeps herself occupied. By far, her best trick has been figuring out how to remove her shoes by dragging them across the foot rest of the stroller. We've been picking them up all over town for six days. Today, however, she went one farther. Tony got tired of picking up shoes, so he kept them. Sophie then proceeded to pull her socks off and throw them across the Lincoln exhibit, exclaiming "I barefoot!".
Another amazing thing is how what I consider recent history occurred before my children. For example, here are some steel poles from the World Trade Center after 9/11.
And, pieces of the Berlin wall:
I guess we'll have to try to do better impressing recent history on them. We ran into something cool in the transportation gallery. Apparently, Martinsburg, IN, was one of the first places in the United States to use school buses. We found a school bus from Jackson Township, Washington County, Indiana. Hooray for Hoosiers!
Aidan was thrilled that there were three full-sized train engines in the museum.
Of course, the gallery about inventions was a big hit and the kids spent a little time playing.


We left that museum around 12:30 and headed to the Museum of the American Indian. We had heard really good things about their cafe and it was highly recommended that we try it. I'm so glad we went. They don't have a regular cafeteria like the other museums. Their cafeteria is divided into the different Indian tribes and each has indigenous foods. Tony had quail and venison and I had a chicken chipotle taco. We both had yummy fry bread. The kids ate chicken tenders, fries and apples. They tried the fry bread and Sophie was an especially big fan. For dessert, we split some mesquite cookies that were quite good - a little spicy and not such a sweet cocoa flavor.

Lunch was a little more expensive than usual, but I highly recommend it if you find yourself in D.C. We spent about forty minutes touring the museum there, but it wasn't really what we expected and didn't hold the kids attention (or mine) so well. We headed out with one last goal in mind. We wanted to see the capital up close (and hopefully get inside) on our way back to the Metro station. We walked out of the museum, but when we got to the corner, we were stopped by police putting up tape and blocking roads. Tony and I got pretty excited, thinking that we had happened upon a motorcade and the president. We sat the kids on the curb and got the camera out. Andrew struck up a conversation with the guy next to him who said, "The circus is coming." I assumed he was being a smart a**. However, this is what came next:

So, now we've seen it all. In fact, seeing clowns and elephants march right past the Capitol could potentially be more exciting than a motorcade. Apparently Barnum and Bailey were in town and this is an annual thing. Tony and I made all the appropriate jokes. He said that the clowns were in front of the Capitol instead of inside, and I said that the Republicans were taking over. Ha, ha. At any rate, this just goes down as another really cool happenstance on our vacation. I mean, what are the odds that you're going to see elephants walking down the street at all, much less in front of the Capitol building in D.C.???

So, excitement over, we headed on up Capitol Hill. It's called that for a reason. Whew - try pushing a stroller up it! We stopped for a photo op on the front steps, where Andrew and Aidan marveled at the fact that they saw that exact spot on tv during the Fourth of July and the presidential inauguration. This may be a Christmas card picture.
We weren't planning to take a tour, but luck was with us. As we entered the visitors center, we were told there were two tours left for the day, and tickets were still available for the soonest one - starting in five minutes. We grabbed the tickets and off we went. Of course, the tour has changed quite a bit since I was last in DC. Now, a tour gets you a movie, the Rotunda, and the Statuary Hall. Still, all we wanted was for the kids to see the Rotunda, so we lucked out.

Awesome - right on cue.

After our tour, we needed to head to Union Station to catch the train back in time for dinner. At Tony's suggestion, we opted to walk through the tunnel and into the Library of Congress on the way. You can't just walk in the library, but we peeked through the window. Apparently, we are raising little nerds like ourselves, because the boys had tons of questions about the collection and were fascinated that any book they could name would be in that library. We LOVE the library. They really wanted to go check out books. (Aidan asked twice.)
The library could be a hidden secret of DC. The building is GORGEOUS inside. Too bad Sophie slept through it, too.


While at the library we also got to see Thomas Jefferson's collection of books. That was cool in and of itself. We finally made our way back to Union Station and managed to get ourselves on the train going in the right direction. We've become quite adept at the Metro, and I'm pretty sure the kids will miss traveling that way.

We made it back just in time. We joined Fr. Paul and the rest of the priests in the house for dinner on our last evening here. Their chef is fabulous and the food was delicious. It was nice to meet some new friends and thank everyone for their hospitality. This has been a great trip, and although I'm ready to sleep in my own bed, I will miss being in DC and the open-ended time with my family.

We have covered an amazing amount of territory in four days of touring. And, we didn't pay a penny for any of it. Here's the rundown of what we've seen:

Catholic University of America (stayed here!)
The National Zoo (saw it ALL - particularly the pandas)
Old Post Office building (toured)
Washington Monument
White House (didn't tour)
A protest
National Basilica (toured)
Arlington Cemetery (saw the Kennedys and the changing of the guard)
Lincoln Memorial
Vietnam Wall
Korean Memorial
Jefferson Memorial (across the water)
World War Two Memorial
National Archives (toured)
Ford's Theatre (toured)
Museum of Natural History (cased the whole place)
Air and Space Museum (again, saw the whole thing)
Bureau of Engraving and Printing (toured)
Museum of American History (covered the whole place)
Museum of the American Indian (saw about half)
Barnum & Bailey Circus Parade
United States Capitol (toured)
Library of Congress (just self-toured)

I cannot believe what all we've covered (and covered well) in just four full days of touring. We did start pretty early each morning, but we were finished each day before six. We had a homemade dinner by Fr. Paul, tried out the Capitol City Brewing Company, had a yummy Mexican dinner locally, and shared a meal with our hosts. Each night, the kids have fallen soundly asleep while Tony shares cigars and drinks on the patio and I get to read for fun. The kids have been occasionally whiny, but amazingly good at keeping up. We've navigated the Metro, including changing trains with a stroller, and still have everyone accounted for. We have had an amazing trip and I hate to see it end. We'll be up early in the morning to head to Union Station one last time to catch our Amtrak ride home. I'm sure I'll have a few last pictures to post, but don't expect them tomorrow. We don't arrive back in Cincy until after midnight. Thanks Fr. Paul, for suggesting we come to see you!