Washington DC

Our last weekend. we only had 2 days b/c we had to be home Monday for Katelyn to start Dive Team practices. We knew we were not going to see everything, but DC is one place we plan on going back to, so I didn't worry too much. Garrett is very interested in Space/Astronauts since he did his school report on Neil Armstrong, so we made some time for the Air and Space Smithsonian. I wanted to see 'Old Glory' the American flag that was flying that inspired the Star Spangled Banner -Museum of American History. All the must see list included the Museum of Natural History so we made it there too. We made sure to visit all of the War Memorials on the National Mall. Each one beautiful and magnificent. The 100 gold stars of casualties at the WWII memorial. The faces of the men in the Korean War memorial. The wall of Veterans names who where either killed or still missing in the Vietnam War. All stirred feeling of pride and profound pratiotism in me.

We made reservations for tours of the Capital building. Jamie thought we could walk the national mall in an hour so we walked a few more blocks to walk past the White House. Garrett found a gold Secret Service pin in the street, and as far as he is concerned it is authentic! LOL About half way there Garrett ran out of gas and just sat. We waited up ahead for him 20 minutes and only made it to the reflecting pool by the time our tour was suppose to start. oh well. Now that it was after 1 pm, and our tour of the Washington Monument was at 4 pm we thought it best to get started walking, notice that they are on the opposite ends of the Mall. As yo can imagine that went over real well with the kids when we told them we were going to walk all the way back. :) I know not great planning, but there were only certain times available. We actually made this walk in time, only to be turned away do to lightning in the area the monument was being closed. Dang it! It was raining pretty hard now so we headed back to the subway to go to the hotel. I realized we had put off Arlington Cemetery so we diverted there. The kids were so exhausted from walking around ALL say we opted for the tram tour in the cemetery that stopped at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and JFK gravesite. The reverence at the Tomb was sure. It was certainly one of my most favorite visits.