D.C. Pictures

One of the benefits of homeschooling, I've always thought, is that we have much more flexibility for traveling in "off" seasons. Theoretically, making plans for the Fall season should mean better weather, fewer crowds, etc. Well, it is turning out that I have a knack for picking the HOTTEST weekends of the Fall for our big events. (Our Disney trip was blazing hot in October, our wedding was on the hottest day of the Fall that year, etc.) This trip was no exception -- high of 97 the first day, and mid-90's the second day... At least it wasn't too crowded!

Nevertheless, we walked a ton and saw a lot. Of course that first day I had to use my 5-picture allotment sparingly. Here are some of the things we did...


Arlington Cemetery. We walked through it all to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (which was having a special wreath-laying ceremony by a Jordanian minister). Then we went to my grandfather's gravesite:



We happened to be there the day before his birthday. Strider and I are both proud of the legacy of sacrifice and patriotism in our family.

Then, once we got situated down by the Mall in D.C., we took a tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. (And watched some of the $900 MILLION being printed that day!) Very interesting.

We spent a couple of hours at the American History Smithsonian. Here is Strider watching a scientist do some experiments,

...and attempting to windsurf.

We had gotten advanced tickets for the Washington Monument, so we went there to meet John and Keiko. Then we went WAY, WAY up to the top. I tried not to think about how windy it was that day. I was sure we were swaying too much. Strider thought it was awesome, though.

Some of the views from the top:

We also visited the Pentagon, where Uncle John works a lot!

Doesn't he look like a natural? Maybe we'll see him on TV like this in the not-too-distant future. :)

And maybe this guy, too-- in the very-distant future. Uncle John explaining how to navigate the 5-rings, 5-sides, 5-floors system in the building (They sure take the #5 seriously there):

This shot was taken while we were driving around at night, trying to re-locate L'Enfant Plaza and my car.

Visiting the Library of Congress, which was hosting a Bookfest that weekend: See Strider's head way upstairs in the picture below:

We stopped by the Botanical Gardens, which was having a festival of its own.... It ended up being pretty cool, with a lot of crafts and things to bring home. This was a cooking-with-herbs demonstration there:

We had a great time visiting Washington, and are thankful that John and Keiko could host us, come with us, and take pictures for us!