Washington DC - day four

We drove back into DC for day four.  We visited the Museum of Natural History.  The highlights were the mummies, the dinosaurs, and the Hope diamond.  Then, we ate hot dogs from a street vendor.  We walked right into the National Archives.  We saw the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution.  Then, we walked down to the Air and Space Museum.  We were all feeling pretty worn out from the week, so we went back to the hotel.  We had dinner, I packed up some things, and we went down to the harbor front.  The kids got to play in the sand.  

Overall, it was a great trip.  The weather was warm, but not stifling.  The crowd level was low.  The kids loved the scooters, and we were quite a sight.  We loved the location of the National Harbor.  We didn't make it to the Capitol, but we figured the littles wouldn't do well in a guided tour anyway.  We made the 9 hour trip home in 10 hours with only quick potty breaks, PBJ in the car, and one gas stop.  I have to be honest though... 9.5 hours were okay, the last 30 minutes were excruciating.  Anna decided she was done and wanted to make sure everyone was aware of her displeasure.  I don't think singing "everything is awesome" eased her discomfort, but the boys all enjoyed it.  I was so happy to see familiar landmarks, and she finally calmed down when she saw them too. 

Washington DC - day three

We visited Mt. Vernon on day three.  We learned so much about George Washington.  The tour starts with a 17 minute film on Washington's life.  Then, we walked up to the mansion and took a tour.  We visited the side buildings and had lunch at the food court.  We walked back to the historical areas and saw Washington's tomb, the slave memorial, the wharf, and the pioneer farm.  Washington built a sixteen sided threshing barn.  There was a circular route the horses would trod on the wheat.  The slats in the floor would allow the wheat berries and chaff to fall to the basement where the wheat was gathered.  

Lastly, we walked through the new educational museum of Washington's life.  Joshua and Caleb got a small reward for filling out the adventure map and answering the clues in the map.  After this, we made a Wal-Mart stop to pick up a few supplies and drove back along the Potomac to National Harbor.  Joshua and I took a walk down to the entertainment area of the Harbor and walked through the Gaylord hotel and convention center. 

Washington DC - day two

We started off day two with breakfast in our room, and I packed lunch.  We drove into DC and parked at the Ronald Reagan Federal building.  Parking was $23 a day, but compared to the metro fees we would have had, this was a great deal.  Plus, we took two strollers and three scooters for getting around town.  I am sure this is what helped us cover so much ground.  We started by passing the White House.  We walked down to the Lincoln Memorial, then we visited the WWII memorial. We stopped for lunch and fed the ducks.  We walked on to the Vietnam Wall and the Lincoln Memorial.  Then we started heading back and saw the Korean War Memorial.  We walked along the reflecting pool under the shade of the trees while Thomas and Anna napped in the strollers.  After the naps, we decided to visit the American History museum. My highlight was the exhibit on the dresses from the First Ladies.  The boys were fascinated by the War history exhibit.  Finally, we were ready to head home.  I wanted to eat at the Old Post Office, but it was closed in May.  Supposedly, Donald Trump is turning it into a hotel.

We drove back to the hotel and ate dinner.  The kids wanted to swim, so we spent some time in the pool, hot tub, and at the ping pong table. 

Washington DC - day one

We left home Monday afternoon since we had previous commitments.  We drove 4 hours to Greensboro, NC and spent the night at Comfort Suites, Four Seasons.  They had a room with two queen beds and a sleeper sofa.  Luke slept in his sleeping bag on the floor which is where he prefers to sleep.  We had a great free breakfast with bacon, eggs, waffles, yogurt, oatmeal.  I was very happy with the rate, location, room, and breakfast.  I found it by using sixsuitcasetravel.com - a website for larger families. 

We hit the road Tuesday morning and drove to lunchtime.  We picked up fast food and had a picnic at Petersburg National Battlefield.  We learned about battles from the Civil War, including the Battle of the Crater.  The Confederates had a fort on top of a hill. The Union soldiers dug a mine from enemy lines to directly under the fort.  They attacked with an explosion from underground surprising the Confederates.  The Union soldiers could have had a great victory, but everyone was so shocked and repulsed by the traumatic event that it took the Union soldiers time to regroup and by then the Confederates were ready for the fight. There were almost 4,000 Union casualties and about 1,500 Confederate causalities.

We drove on to National Harbor, MD where we stayed in our Wyndham Vacation Ownership (fancy words for timeshare).  The location was perfect for our sightseeing.  I spoke with a very helpful concierge.  She recommended that we drive into DC rather than take the metro as we had planned.  She gave us driving directions for the locations we wanted to visit. We ate in the room and decided to take a night time drive into DC. 

Happy 5th Birthday Thomas!

A special boy turned 5 in August!  We celebrated Thomas' birthday with chocolate eclair since he is allergic to eggs and peanuts.  We hope to find out soon if he is still allergic, but for now we carry on with food restrictions.  He has always been such a happy boy.  He brings joy to every day with his wit and pleasant personality.  He has been a trooper in the additional of a virtual twin sister at age 2.  He has taken her under his wing and is so patient with her.  He often translate for her, and she takes care of him too.  It is a sweet relationship.

I can't say enough about this little guy, but you can see from his expressions after he opened his gifts how he lives his life.  The simple joy of The Lego Movie, a Beambox figure, and a Lego set - always grateful...