Before we left home, Claire exclaimed how excited she was to go to our nation's capital! Once the wedding and all the festivities were done, we got to make her dreams come true.
A big part of the fun for the kids was riding the metro into town. The station was about a mile away from the hotel. Torin was particularly excited about trains - watching the freight trains go by from the station and riding them. The kids were hilarious in all of their seating arrangements - the boys all stuffed themselves into the same row one way!
On Saturday, we decided to tour the Smithsonian museums. We went first to the Air and Space museum. We first walked through the outer space area, other flight exhibits, and ended up at the Wright Brothers exhibit (which Jared was excited about since he just read a biography on the Wright Brothers). There were hands-on exhibits that the kids enjoyed.
We ate lunch at the food carts on the DC mall. It was hot and there were lots of people out selling water. One was particularly engaging and had gotten down to $1 per drink. He ended up setting up shop next to our big group, and Nana gave all the grandkids $1, and they all got drinks - except for Liam, who kept telling the guy he had $1 but he wasn't going to give it to him. They had a funny banter back and forth off and on for a quite a few minutes!
After lunch, we went to the Natural History museum, and saw rocks and minerals, the dinosaur exhibit, and then a National Geographic photography exhibit.
At the end of the day, we all met at the fountain in front of the National Archive to dip our feet in the water. Andrew and Claire left a few minutes before the group and tried to get into the National Archive. but they had closed a few minutes earlier.
After going to church Sunday, we took the train back to DC and rented a whole lot of bicycles. Kate, Liam, and Wyatt had trailer-bikes, and Adele and Torin shared a trailer, and we got riding.
First stop was the Washington Monument (Jacob kept asking, "is there a Washington Memorial?").
We next went to the Jefferson Memorial and spent quite a while inside. Torin enjoyed watching the helicopters and airplanes flying and the paddle boats in the Tidal Basin. Once we got ready to go, we discovered that Camie's bicycle's lock wouldn't unlock! The code they gave us was not correct! We split up and promised to meet at a future stop once the bike company came to Camie's rescue.
Along the sides of the tidal basin were the FDR memorial, which, while we didn't stop by it, was interesting the way it was presented, in 3 separate parts.
We stopped at the Martin Luther King memorial and talked a little about what Martin Luther King Jr had done in the country. The kids had done some reading and reports about him, so they were pretty knowledgeable.
The Lincoln Memorial was by far the busiest.
The view of the Washington Monument was great!
Our last stop on our bike tour was the White House. On our way, Jared noticed a game of ultimate frisbee on the lawn in front of the White House - what an incredible place to play!
On Monday, before leaving, we took a tour of the US Bureau of Engraving, where they make dollars. The tour was interesting, taking us through the various steps in the process. The kids thought it was pretty cool to pose next to $1 million!!!
What a fun, interesting place Washington DC was for us to explore with our kids!
A big part of the fun for the kids was riding the metro into town. The station was about a mile away from the hotel. Torin was particularly excited about trains - watching the freight trains go by from the station and riding them. The kids were hilarious in all of their seating arrangements - the boys all stuffed themselves into the same row one way!
On Saturday, we decided to tour the Smithsonian museums. We went first to the Air and Space museum. We first walked through the outer space area, other flight exhibits, and ended up at the Wright Brothers exhibit (which Jared was excited about since he just read a biography on the Wright Brothers). There were hands-on exhibits that the kids enjoyed.
We ate lunch at the food carts on the DC mall. It was hot and there were lots of people out selling water. One was particularly engaging and had gotten down to $1 per drink. He ended up setting up shop next to our big group, and Nana gave all the grandkids $1, and they all got drinks - except for Liam, who kept telling the guy he had $1 but he wasn't going to give it to him. They had a funny banter back and forth off and on for a quite a few minutes!
After lunch, we went to the Natural History museum, and saw rocks and minerals, the dinosaur exhibit, and then a National Geographic photography exhibit.
At the end of the day, we all met at the fountain in front of the National Archive to dip our feet in the water. Andrew and Claire left a few minutes before the group and tried to get into the National Archive. but they had closed a few minutes earlier.
After going to church Sunday, we took the train back to DC and rented a whole lot of bicycles. Kate, Liam, and Wyatt had trailer-bikes, and Adele and Torin shared a trailer, and we got riding.
First stop was the Washington Monument (Jacob kept asking, "is there a Washington Memorial?").
We next went to the Jefferson Memorial and spent quite a while inside. Torin enjoyed watching the helicopters and airplanes flying and the paddle boats in the Tidal Basin. Once we got ready to go, we discovered that Camie's bicycle's lock wouldn't unlock! The code they gave us was not correct! We split up and promised to meet at a future stop once the bike company came to Camie's rescue.
Along the sides of the tidal basin were the FDR memorial, which, while we didn't stop by it, was interesting the way it was presented, in 3 separate parts.
We stopped at the Martin Luther King memorial and talked a little about what Martin Luther King Jr had done in the country. The kids had done some reading and reports about him, so they were pretty knowledgeable.
The Lincoln Memorial was by far the busiest.
The view of the Washington Monument was great!
Our last stop on our bike tour was the White House. On our way, Jared noticed a game of ultimate frisbee on the lawn in front of the White House - what an incredible place to play!
On Monday, before leaving, we took a tour of the US Bureau of Engraving, where they make dollars. The tour was interesting, taking us through the various steps in the process. The kids thought it was pretty cool to pose next to $1 million!!!
What a fun, interesting place Washington DC was for us to explore with our kids!
