Arlington Cemetery.

We left the kids at home again and headed back downtown for a long day of monument seeing.  We took the train down to visit a friend from Ohio for breakfast then headed to Arlington Ce metery.

 I've never been to Arlington, so I was glad to get there and check one more thing off our DC bucket list.  Here's JFK's grave.  I think the house up there is belonged to Robert E. Lee.  I do know that he owned the property and after the Civil War, the government seized it and made it into a cemetery for Union soldiers.

 A view of the city from a hill.

We saw some of the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but it was packed and we really couldn't see anything.

 We did make it a point to visit the memorials for the Challenger and Columbia astronauts.

 Stanley wanted to pose with the canons and original mast of the USS Maine, which was sunk in Cuba in 1898.   (Remember the phrase: "Remember the Maine!"?) 

 We took a nice, but windy walk across th Potomac and headed to the Lincoln Memorial.

Stand up straight, Stanley!

 We visited the Vietnam Memorial.  It was interesting to be with my parents, who have vivid memories of life during the Vietnam War.  We found the names of people they both knew.  Larry Wolfrum is about 9 lines from the top, in one of the light parts.

 Herman Hesselschwardt.  

I've had a similar experience with Henry recently.  He's really into this book series called "I Survived." They are historical fiction accounts of events such as the sinking of the Titanic to Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 Attacks.  Henry was pretty shocked when I told him Brandon and I remember the 9/11 attacks.  I guess when you're a kid, you figure everything is ancient history.

Of all the books, Henry was really taken with the Pearl Harbor Attack.  He's now very interested in the Eastern front of WWII.  Combined with my recent trip to Korea (we'll get there), and my new knowledge of Korean history, he's been lapping up as much information as he can get his hands on.  I think we're going to have a history major on our hands.  

Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum- March 26th.

You know that I love the Air and Space Museum downtown, but it sure does get crowded.  So on a cold, windy day, we decided to check out the other Air and Space Museum out by Dulles.  It has all of the big things they can't fit in downtown.

 Plus the Space Shuttle is there!   That makes it a no brainer for me.

 Hopefully Grandpa got to read a few things, even with two little girls clutching him and yelling things like "My Grandpa!" and "I love my grandpa."  You can tell by how cool he is that he has 9 grandkids and is used to this sort of thing.

I could sit in here all day.

Seriously, if they had nothing but the space shuttle, I'd still come here.

 And it got even better when Jo fell asleep.

 It gave us time to look at the important things, like astronaut Barbies.

 Next we headed up the tower to warch some planes come and go from Dulles.

 Say no to crack, Henry.  I think it's time to put away some of Henry's too short shirts.  I swear these kids have all grown 3 inches since Christmas.

 Here comes another one.  

 I was really bummed to put away June's Christmas leggings.  She really wore them well.  And matched them to anything.  Check out the hair bows she uses as accessories on her dress.

 Georgie woke up in time to go up the tower, but was still a little groggy.  Isn't Grandpa the best?

 She recovered enough to play on the divider.

 But then went back to Grandma for a cuddle.

Since you really have to drag me out of this place, I took advantage of Georgie's short nap and insisted we go back down to look at more planes.

I've never been to the back to see the planes they are working on restoring.  

 The kids all thought this upside-down stunt plane (piloted by women!) was hilarious.

We grabbed some ice cream and went outside to find a few of the cherry blossoms that actually did bloom that week.

Downtown DC.

Brandon was great and took the kids for another day so I could take my mom and dad downtown.  They were promised cherry blossoms, but instead we got dreary, rainy weather.  (The snow had already melted by the time we got off the metro.)  

 Instead of doing to outside walk around the monuments we planned, we hit up the Air and Space Museum. Here's Drandma (as the kids have taken to calling her) with a replica of the lunar landing module.

 Missiles and part of the space station?  This place is the greatest!

 Flat Stanley liked the Spirit of St. Louis, which thanks to the fact that I'm Facebook friends with The Air and Space Museum, I know was flown across the Atlantic in 1927 and presented to the Smithsonian in 1928.  (This picture cracks me up because you can see one of the many people who exclaimed "Hey!  Flat Stanley!" throughout the week.)

 Next up, we visited the office of Congressman Bob Latta and snacked on some Ballreich potato chips (woo Ohio!) before we were taken in the underground tunnels to the Capitol for a tour by a nice Miami University undergrad (woo Miami Poli Sci!)   This is a replica of the statue Lady Liberty who sits on top of the dome.

 Here's the exact middle of DC, where all the poorly planned spoke streets start from.  (Sorry, but we Ohio prefer the grid.)

 It goes without saying, the Capitol is very impressive.  and if you ever visit, be sure to book a tour through your Congressperson's office.  It's much better than waiting in line for a tour with 75 other people.

 Especially if you're visiting in the height of Spring Break season.

 Here's the old Senate meeting area, where they have John C. Calhoun's desk marked (wooo orginal land owner of the place that would one day be Clemson University!).

 When we finished the tour, we headed outside for a look at the outside of the Capitol.

 And here's a view of the Mall.  Can you see the scaffolding halfway up the Washington Monument?  They're starting the repairs on it after the 2011 earthquake.

 Stanley, get down from there!

 For the last stop of the day, we headed to the Museum of American History for a look around at Julia child's kitchen.

 They kept everything exactly how it was.  The window even shows how she hung up all of her pans on the wall.  I'm pretty jealous.

There's Michelle Obama's inauguration dress!  

Grandma and Grandpa come to visit!

Grandma and Grandpa came into town for a spring break visit and to see the town.  Henry was still recovering from his cough and Georgie is Georgie, so on the first day, it was just June with all the grownups. 

 Miss "I wish I was an only child" was pretty happy and talked Grandpa not only into getting doughnuts, but also getting him to let us eat them in the car.

 First stop- Mount Vernon- home of George Washington.  Also along for the ride was Flat Stanley, who came from Natalie's 2nd grade class.  If you haven't heard of Flat Stanley, he's a kid who got squished by a bulletin board, so his parents mail him in an envelop around the world to have adventures.  Natalie made him especially for his trip to us.  He's got a Rockville shirt and a camera.  He even came with his own packed lunch.

 Mount Vernon is a pretty cool place.  It was neglected for a number of years before the Ladies of Mount Vernon banded together to save it.  

 June and Stanley took a break on the back porch.

 George Washington's dad was sure thinking when he snatched up some prime real estate overlooking the Potomac River.  The Ladies' Society is so active that they actually won't let any construction nearby that can sully the view from the house.  And if you've ever been just south of DC, you'd know that's not an easy task.  We did mange to spot one cell phone tower that was disguished with fake tree branches.

 There's more than just the house.  The entire estate is up and running as a living history farm.  June was really excited to see the days-old baby lambs.

 We need to get back when the weather is warmer and everything is in bloom.

 When George Washington died, he freed all of his slaves.  But did you know that Martha retained the ownership rights of the slaves she brought into the marriage?

 Within this enclosure lies the remains of General George Washington.

 Inside the Visitor's Center was two museums- one on Washington's life and another of cool artifacts, including his dentures.  June loved the kids' room with the dollhouse decorated just like the house.  

Watch out, George!