Monday morning we made it to Washington DC, parked at our rental place and hit the town! We were staying just a few blocks from the mall so everything was very convenient. In the afternoon we covered the fishing pier, the Jefferson Memorial, the FDR Memorial, the MLK Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Mall and the Air & Space Museum... looking back, maybe it was a bit too much walking for little legs... We had lunch overlooking the Jefferson Memorial and for some reason I thought it would be a fun treat to let the kids get popsicles. It was 85 degrees and their little Maine bodies (it was 47 degrees the day we left Portland) needed a cool down. I immediately realized my mistake, but it was too late... thankfully wipes took care of most of the sticky parts, they just spent the rest of the day with blue stains on their clothes...
The coolest thing about this trip is that the kids have been all working hard learning about what we would see in DC and Philadelphia. They were so excited to see the monuments of different people in history they had learned facts about. They would see a face or bust of some one and seemed proud to be able to know who that person was and what they did. It made them much more receptive to learn more about the person at each stop. The other amazing thing that has happened on this trip... all four kids are posing for pictures together... and want to! Unbelievable... I don't know how long it will last, but we are pretty impressed and taking advantage;)
Day 2 in DC was another busy one. Gabe got up and left early to wait in line for tickets to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (the only thing James REALLY wanted to do on this trip) and to take the elevator to the top of the Washington Monument. The kids and I met him at the Bureau of Engraving and printing for a tour to see where the money is printed. They didn't allow cameras inside the actual production area, but the kids weren't leaving without their picture by the 1 million dollars;) The tour lasted only 20 minutes and has so far been one of the highlights of the trip. We got to see the production of the $5 and $20 bills. James got to ask why they don't make $10,000 or $1,000 dollar bills anymore (this is a burning question he has had for a while). We learned a lot about the process and seeing it happening was even better for the kids. I would highly recommend this tour on a trip to DC!
Our next stop was the Washington Monument. It was really neat to view DC from this height, but by this time Ben had had enough of "tours" and James was distraught that we only could go as high as the windows and no the the technical tippy top... Despite the breakdowns the kids retained more than we realized because that night at dinner they were using the table as "the mall" and saying things like, "James is the white house, Noah is the Lincoln Memorial, Ben is the Jefferson Memorial, Daddy is the Capital Building". They were also excited to change places and played a "guess what I am now" game.
After walking by the WWII monument we had a nice, relaxing lunch by the reflecting pool before heading to the Lincoln Memorial. The kids were pretending they were listening to MLK's "I have a dream speech"... maybe we went too far with learning before we arrived;) The Lincoln Memorial was another favorite spot, maybe in part because they think that Grampy looks like Abraham Lincoln or because Ben loves to tell anyone who will listen that Abraham Lincoln got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid or just because he seems to be their collective favorite president so far.
We passed through the Vietnam War Memorial on our way to the White House. We were able to see the White House from across the street and behind many barriers. It was a nice lesson for the kids on security;) Our trip here was cut short when Ben had to use the bathroom and we had to rush all the way back to the Washington Monument to find one open... and it started raining. On the way back to our rental house we stopped for a carousel ride on the mall and ended the night with popcorn and a movie in Noah, James and Audrey's room:)
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