DC Weekend!

 We finally made it to DC for a couple of days to take in the sights and see some wonders at museums.  I will recommend that if you would like to do this choose a weekend when it is COLD so that the other tourists are kept away and you have the place to yourselves (OK, that is an exaggeration, but only slight.  The crowds were at a minimum and we didn't wait in line for anything.)   Drive up to DC went smoothly.  Checked into hotel early and mapped out our route for the day.   Smithsonian Air and Space Museum was up first.  Various pics of boys with polar ski plane, inside Skylab, looking at rockets,  G with the model of the original Wright Brothers plane, and M with the Amelia Earhart exhibit.   The boys loved it.  D and I compared it to the Boeing Museum of Flight and felt it came up a little short.

  

Since Saturday was our warm day -- a balmy 40 degrees-- we went for a walk to see the Washington DC highlights.   Capitol building,  White House, and a terrific  shot of the Washington Monument at sunset.

  

Saturday we finished up our whirlwind walking tour and headed back to the hotel for a little relaxing, pool time, and pizza.

Sunday began with the breakfast buffet at the hotel and a debate about whether we should try to move the car closer to the National Mall for the day or leave it at the hotel.  Moving it closer finally won out though we weren't sure how close we could get as parking is usually a beast on the Mall.  It turns out that if you arrive at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History at 9:30 on a Sunday morning when it is 25 degrees out, parking is not an issue at all; you have the pick of front and center parking places right across the street.  Natural History was a hit with everyone.  Who doesn't love a life size African elephant, life size right whale, and lots of bones.  G held bugs, E was excited about everything ( a relief since he wasn't too hot on going to this museum), and M was totally taken with the mummies, bones and taxidermied animals.  Please note this T-Rex is one of the stars of Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian.

Everyone was tiring out more quickly on Sunday so we squeezed in one item after lunch that was an experiment to see how the kids would handle it.  We headed to the National Art Gallery.  A place where loud, wrestling, whining boys are frowned upon.  The boys surprised me by walking quietly and actually looking at the paintings.  The older two even seemed to like them and talked about which ones they had seen pictures of before.  Luckily, there were couches placed in some galleries for quiet contemplation of masterworks.

Most of the time with parenting you are in the trenches passing out snacks, handing down punishments,  scheduling, helping with projects, keeping things running and once in a while you step back and look and can see that the family is headed in the right direction.  This weekend was ripe for whining with the cold and huge amount of walking), but all three kids kept it together and found something to like about nearly everything we did or saw.  This was one of the first little trips we have taken that was pleasant to be with all the boys and didn't just feel like my "work" had followed me to a different location.  I hope that more and more vacations will feel like this.

love and hugs, B