Day in DC

Anna has been asking to "go to the city" for a while. Yesterday seemed like a good day. I wanted to go to the zoo, but it was Bei Bei's (baby panda) first day on public display, so we decided that was probably not the best idea. Instead, we planned a full day of other attractions, complete with metro. We started with Ford's Theater. Thomas and I went there once when we were dating, but the kids had never seen it. Jack was very excited. We bought the audio tours. They were $5 each and self-lead. You can program to either kid or adult. Completely well worth the money! The kids were entertained by pushing the buttons and being in charge of their own tour. Luke was quiet and well-behaved. Everybody learned something and it was amazing to see. I was surprised to learn that some of the pieces in the balcony were the ones that were actually present on the night of the assassination. We enjoyed going there, to the associated museum and the Peterson House.

Luke wondering what he can touch next.

Listening to their Aquistiguides

The balcony where the Lincolns sat

Waiting to go into the Peterson House, with Ford's Theater behind them.

After that, we went to the National Portrait Gallery, which Thomas has been wanting to see for years. Luke's patience had worn out and he really liked how his voice echoed in the giant halls. The girls were also not impressed. We tried engaging them by asking them to imagine the people who sat still for the artist and to look at the colors and how the styles of dress changed. But, they just wanted to find the comfiest chairs in the room. Between their sour attitudes and Luke's loudness, it wasn't the best visit. We decided to shorten our stay, fortunately, we did get to see the Presidential gallery, which was very impressive.

The famous Landsdowne Painting!

Their favorite thing in the Portrait Gallery

We had a snack earlier, but now it was time for a late lunch. We wanted to go to the Shake Shack, but the line was out the door and there was no where to sit. The restaurants in the city are not designed for large families, or even medium families. Fortunately, there was a Subway in view with no crowd. It was nothing special, but it was good to sit down for a few minutes.

From there, we walked about 3/4 of a mile to the American History Museum. It had been a while since we'd visited, but a lot of the exhibits were the same. Jack loved seeing the old Gunboat, Philadelphia and they had a great US Military History exhibit. But, Kara was cranky and just wanted to sit. She was ready to head home after the Portrait Gallery and wasn't in the best mood. There is really so much to see. The military history area could have been an entire museum in and of itself! I did a quick walk through with Jack and Anna while Thomas sat with Kara, then we switched places. We also saw the President's exhibit (we weren't intending the day to have a theme, it just kind of happened). I always like seeing the First Ladies dresses. The museum was really crowded. It felt like a Saturday in summer, which surprised me and definitely affected my level of enjoyment. We saw the flag that inspired the Star Bangled Banner and left.

Their favorite part of the museum.

Even Kara perked up for this exhibit.

Looking very serious.

Never mind!

Lincoln's hat. He was wearing it the night he was assassinated.

Next to a uniform that was actually worn by George Washington

Anna and C3PO

We expected our last stop to be the Archives, but there was a super long line, so we circled back to Natural History. We were just going to use the bathroom before getting on the metro, but much to Kara's disappointment, we decided to see a few things. Unfortunately, the butterfly and bug area were closed, and the Hope Diamond was off display. We knew the dinosaur area is being renovated, but weren't expecting the other closures. We did a quick walk through of a few things, my favorite being the award-winning nature photographs and finally decided to call it a day.

We offered to let Kara sit in Luke's stroller, but she wasn't interested. Anna on the other hand...

One brief moment where everyone was in one place looking at the same thing.

On the way home, we stopped at Chevy's for dinner. It was the lightest traffic we had ever experienced on an evening drive home, which was a pleasant surprise. Jack's favorite thing was the Gunboat, Thomas liked the Portrait Gallery, specifically seeing the George Washington Landsdowne painting, Kara liked Chevy's and Ford's theater, Luke liked his echo, and I liked the nature photos. It was a full day!

Nothing completes the day like an ice cream cone.