Our trip to DC

After 2 days of driving we arrived.  Having a couple of hours before Rick and MaryLee were done with work, we headed to the National Zoo.  We saw only a small sample of what there was to see, including pandas, elephants, flamingos, and birds of all sorts. 

 taking a break on a bench

 Uncle Rick shows us their back yard and new landscaping

looking up from the backyard towards the street in front

their house from the front

living Room

dining Room

squeezed together with "Uncle Brick" and heading towards the capitol on our first full day of exploring

circling in towards our goal and getting a lay of the land

Joseph in front of the Lincoln Memorial

bird's eye view for the shortest member of the expedition

the view looking back at the Lincoln Memorial

heading towards the reflecting pool, the Washington Monument, and the WWII Monument

part of the WWII Memorial

this is as close to the White House as we came

the fountain area before we went to the Archives

the Archives, where we saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Magna Charta.  It was especially meaningful because this past year we spent time studying the history surrounding these documents, as well as the development of the ideals of freedom--a fairly recent concept in world history.  unfortunately no photos are allowed to be taken inside as flash photography would damage the fragile parchments and inks

a statue in front of the archives

carousel on the Mall across from the Castle Smithsonian building

we had the opportunity to meet up with our friend from home, Mrs. Krause.  she was escorting Stanley, a WWII veteran who was on the honor flight that arrived that day.  in this photo we're standing in front of part of the Korean War Memorial 

We had just recently seen the movie, Honor Flight.  being able to thank a veteran  made the whole idea of sacrifice and duty and the costliness of freedom more real for the children.  I wish that they could have known my grandpa who is my favorite veteran

larger than life figures at the Korean War Memorial. it gave the sense of the hardship and privation of combat

statue of three soldiers situated near the beginning of the Viet Nam Memorial

going down into the decending walkway that is lined with the wall etched with the names of the soldiers who died, in the order the names were received.  it was an emotional thing to see each fallen soldier's name on those walls

reflected in the wall of names, at one of the deepest points along the walkway, it feels like you're 6 feet under ground

the statue of three nurses, Faith, Hope, and Charity

back at home, Uncle Barista brewing up a Cappuccino.  perfect every time

after attending a great church service at Capitol Hill Baptist Church we walked past the Supreme Court

and then past the Capitol Building

in order to meet up with Rick and MaryLee at the National Botanic Garden

we ate a picnic lunch of hummus sandwiches at this neat sunken fountain patio in the back of the building

beautiful walkways and natural areas

a quick trip into the Air and Space Museum where we learned more about the Apollo missions and the space race

back at their house for an amazing burrito fiesta

Monday morning at Mount Vernon.  Overcast and drizzly made for a more smaller crowds that day

a very knowlegeable Martha Washington interpreter

the aim of George Washington was to be able to make and produce everything in-house, right there on the estate.  this was the blacksmith shop

gardens

more gardens, for food

espalier form fruit tree

George Washington and Martha are entombed in this building

George's sarcophagus.  Martha's is off to the left

Tuesday morning we went to Arlington National Cemetaray where the graves of JFK, his wife, and two of his children are located

the temporary eternal flame.  it was being remodeled and was moved off to the side

so many buried in Arlington

the tomb of the unknown soldier

looking down at the tomb of the unknown soldier from a building that houses items from each of the major wars

entering the amphitheater at Arlington

Arlington house, where General Lee once lived as the son-in-law of the owner, before the Civil War

the grave of Washington DC's designer, Pierre Charles L'Enfant, overlooking Arlington Cemetary, just in front of Arlington House

inside one of the rooms which was decorated with some of the original items and paintings

afterwards we ate some unique lunch items at Mitsitam Cafe inside of the Museum of the American Indian. It was here that we got the great news about Granny being cancer-free

after lunch we had a tour of the Capitol Building. in the visitor center there is the stone original from which the bronze statue that tops the Capitol was cast from.  Her name is Freedom and she is 19 1/2  feet tall

Lili standing in front of the statue of Helen Keller

the star in the floor of the center of the Capitol buiding marks the center of the building, and Washington DC itself.  this is the Crypt, where George Washington was intended to be buried.  neither he, nor his family, had agreed to that plan, so his body remains entombed back at Mount Vernon, as his will stipulated

the painting at the top of the ceiling looks small in the photo, but is actually the same size as the floor we were standing on--huge!  the picture is of the Apotheosis, which is a fancy term meaning "deification"  and in the painting George Washington is floating on clouds and looks god-like in representation, which was very weird

the Rotunda, with the paintings encircling the room which depict historical events in our history.  this picture is of the baptizing and renaming of Pochahontas.  Although she chose to take the name Rebecca at that time, today she is still more commonly known by her Native American name

Lili in front of Alexander Hamilton's statue.  She did a great job playing him in our 4-H  club's historical play a few years ago for the Variety Show

the spot where Lincoln's desk sat in the House of Representatives

Statuary Hall.  each of the 50 states displays 2 statues of their choice in the capitol building

the newest addition, a bronze of Rosa Parks

Kevin next to Reagan's statue

walking from the Capitol towards the American Indian Museum

out to dinner for some really amazing  food at Dukem Ethiopian Restaurant

the kids posing with FDR's statue.   this is just a small part of the FDR Memorial.  it would have been much better seen in daylight with its many waterfalls and scenes, and in the right order!  we unknowingly began at the end and went through it backwards

the Thomas Jefferson Memorial was stunning to see at night

the large space inside of this memorial was imposing and the circularity of it was somewhat dizzying to me at that hour.  in the daytime it would have had a much different effect. 

some of Jefferson's quotes are displayed along the walls

 it felt very late, and we headed back to Rick and MaryLee's for our last evening with them

on our way home we stopped at the Creation Museum.  this is one of the many displays in the museum that attempts to explain how it is that scientists looking at the same set of data can come to very different conclusions

here, the kids pose in front of a mastodon which was found in Ohio in 1989, and turned out to be the third largest ever discovered.  the skeleton was 95% complete, and the stomach and intestinal contents that were preserved revealed eight species of live bacteria thought to be extinct.

  Joseph poses with a display of the Lucy bones.  while in Ethiopia, where Lucy was discovered, our tour bus stopped at the Ethiopian National Museum, where the real Lucy bones are on display