Day 1, Continued

After the White House and some breakfast, we headed toward the Washington Monument. Ben really wanted to see the National Mall. We ended up spending the rest of the day seeing all the monuments. We walked A LOT. Finally we used a taxi to get to the Jefferson Memorial as it was a bit of a walk.

While at the WH, we heard one of the Secret Service guys say that the President was leaving at 9:30. As we ate our breakfast, we saw the police escort drive by, so that was pretty cool to see. Well, we thought so- nobody else in the restaurant seemed to care. My sister lives in DC, and she says it is actually annoying whenever the President leaves the WH because they need to shut down streets and stuff and it really messes things up. But we still thought it was cool.

Claire was much more interested in looking at holes in trees and guessing which animal did what than the monuments:

The WWII Memorial:

And, the BIG one:

The Gettysburg Address is written in the stone on one side of the memorial, Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address on the other side. I made Audra stand under the Gettysburg Address since she gets to memorize it next year.

I LOVE this picture of Camille looking up at Lincoln:

Ben got this really great picture to show just how gigantic this monument is- can you see Claire and Camille on the other side?

The Korean Memorial:

Claire LOVED the Jefferson Memorial. It really was a beautiful memorial.

I loved that we were on the Potomac- such an important river in our country's history!

I really love the FDR Memorial. I had everyone pick out their favorite quote to get a picture by, but before we did that the girls had to get pictures of Eleanor and the dog:

"Take a picture of me, mommy!"

Here's my quote: "This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny."

Claire's favorite quote: "I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded....I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed...I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I HATE WAR."

Audra chose a classic: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

The MLK Memorial:

The girls were really excited to stretch across the middle:

 "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."



Vietnam Memorial:

By this point, we were EXHAUSTED. It was hot, and we had walked a TON.

We made a brief stop at the American History Smithsonian because I wanted to see the Stars and Stripes. Wow, am I glad we did! We aren't allowed to take pictures of it, but it was beautiful- and HUGE. I had no idea it is as big as a house! I loved seeing it.

Ben and the girls loved seeing the Batmobile.

They also had all the dresses worn by first wives at the Inaugural Ball for their husbands. That was really cool! You could tell who was a little chubby, or really short, by their dress.

Anybody recognize this dress?

Anyway, it was a great day, but we were all ready for a good night's sleep after it was over!

Fuzzy Giraffe Elementary Goes To Washington!

Because we are studying early American History this year, I decided clear back in October that we needed to take a trip to Colonial Williamsburg.

Of course, true to my luck, Grandpa passed away and his funeral was scheduled for the day before our trip.

I really debated whether to go to the funeral or not, but in the end I was able to fly to Blackfoot for 28 hours- leaving Sunday morning to arrive just in time for the viewing, and leaving Monday afternoon just after the funeral. I got home around midnight, then woke up bright and early to go to DC.

Of course, I had all the packing done before I left for the funeral.

It made for a chaotic few days, but it was very much worth it, as I will never regret going to my grandpa's funeral.

Anyway, on Tuesday morning our DC adventure began (or, as Claire says, "DC Washington!" She can't get the name right)!

The girls had books on tape and Night at the Museum to keep them entertained. I mistakenly thought that movie took place at the Smithsonian, but I was wrong. We did, however, watch National Treasure before we left so that was awesome to see so many places from the movie in real life.

Our first two night were spent right in DC at a beautiful townhome built in the 1800's. The basement unit was perfect, except for the upstairs neighbors who liked to drop bowling balls at all hours of the night. They were so noisy! I am convinced they were doing illegal activities, because who needs to make so much noise at 1:30 in the morning?!?

On night one, we grabbed dinner at a local sandwich shop, and tried to get a good nights sleep, because very early on Wednesday morning- 8:30 AM- we had our first tourist stop:

THE WHITE HOUSE!!!!

I had to reserve these months in advance, and they don't let you know if you got tickets until the week before because they don't know the White House schedule, but we totally lucked out and got tickets!

I was so excited! And so was Ben. The kids probably didn't understand the significance of it,but Ben and I soaked it up! (Warning: From here on out, it's photo dump time for about the next 15 posts!)

There was a bus 3 minutes from the Air BNB that went straight to the White House.

We had to go through about 4 security checkpoints, but we eventually made it!

They had a hall filled with pictures of past presidents and events. I was extremely annoyed that 45 took down every picture of Obama and had way more pictures of himself than all the other presidents combined, but I guess that is what you get when you have a narcissistic petty child living in the WH instead of an actual president.

But I digress...

I really liked this famous picture of John Travolta and Princess Diana.

We loved seeing the china:

This is the East Wing- where a lot of press conferences and events happen. The picture of George Washington on the right is the only item that is original to the first White House that burned down. As the WH was burning in 1814 (I think I have the year right), Dolly Madison ordered the picture to be taken and hidden so it wouldn't be destroyed.

 I think you can guess why this is called the Green Room:

 And the Blue Room:

Here is the formal dining room where they do state dinners Notice the carpet is rolled up so we can't walk on it. Also notice that this is the FIRST stop on our trip, and already Camille and Claire were annoyed by pictures. They were disappointed that the pictures just kept on coming!

In the background is a picture of Abraham Lincoln. It was donated to the WH by somebody, with the caveat that it would only be given if it was the only picture on the entire wall, and in a prominent spot. I would say this spot is quite prominent!

Here is the red room, which honors first wives. Right above Audra's head and behind the chandelier is a picture of Dolly Madison. Remember she saved GW's portrait? Her portrait is right there so when the doors are open it looks right at GW's portrait so she is always watching over him.

We weren't allowed to go upstairs to see the private residence of course, but I tried to get Ben to let me make a run for it...

The girls still like each other:

It was such an incredible experience to go through this beautiful home where Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, FDR once roamed. To walk where these men walked was indescribable. I will never forget this experience.

But, that was our first of many, many sights. After all, when our tour ended, it was only 9:30 AM of our first day.

The rest of our day will need to be another post.