Washington D.C.

Sitting on a bench in a park in front of the White House... we couldn't get super close because of a terrorism drill going on... (we didn't find that out until later!)

Washington Monument

I like this one on the right...

Here below we have the Jefferson Memorial - I had never been to that one so that was neat to see! It was quite a walk from the Mall! The kids were troopers!

Here we are walking from the Jefferson Memorial (after quickly passing through the WW II Memorial) to the Lincoln Memorial... The National Mall!

This is cute - at every Memorial, Luke and Emma would hold hands and walk up all the steps counting each step...

It is very powerful to read the words engraved into the walls of all the Memorials... such thinkers and orators and idealists they were and yet... they were indeed just men, every bit as fallible as you and I are at the end of the day... I think I need to read more historical accounts (biographies) about these men.

Below: a photo from where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his speech...

Look at this! That airplane is flying into DC... look how close it seems to be to the Lincoln Memorial!!!

The afternoon then filled up with hotel check in and mom off to a baby shower! (Said Baby has now been born! On Halloween! Lukas was so excited that she was a Halloween baby!) Dad took the kids to a great little 10 table Italian eatery where both kids were said to be licking their spaghetti plates clean...

Playing "I spy" out of the hotel window... this was quite a hit for the trip!! This is the start of Day 2.

My Tooks at the White House... I have to find out if I am really related to James Hoban, the original architect of the White House. I want to visit the White House Visitor's Center - we are on the list to tour the White House (we'll see if and when that happens!!)

And here we are at the Museum of American History, with C-3PO and the Ruby Slippers!!!

We had lunch at the American Indian Museum (thanks for the primo suggestion, SpG) and it was great! We had fried Yucca and Cilantro sauce for dip and empanadas and a sauced up ear of corn... the idea is that this cafe has native foods from across the US! Emma actually l-o-v-e-d the Yucca fries and dip!!

We ran out of gas at the Air and Space Museum... we will need to go back because there was so much and I think we were already overloaded. Lukas kept asking when we were going to go and get ice cream and go home!!!

Fun trip! We will go back!