They let us in....

Can you believe it??? They let this crazy family into the White House today (you know, the one at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue). Well, they let us in. Granted...we didn't really just go up and knock. You had to have a background check, your name on a list, and a scan performed. And then, you had to come in with an ID and only the clothes on your back (of course, you had to prove they were your clothes...just kidding...sort of). So you'll have to trust me on this on, since we have no proof of this visit...but we were there. VERY COOL! My favorite part was seeing the blue room and a funky eagle piano they had over to one side. Just being there was amazing...

Afterwards we went back to our hotel to rest up a bit (our White House tour was at 7:00 in the morning...that's 6:00 our time), and then we decided to spend most of the day at the Museum of American History. It was another fantastic museum (and all for free!!!). We got to see Lincoln's hat (the one he wore in all his pictures), Edison's light bulbs, George Washington's uniform and the Star Spangled Banner flag (the ACTUAL one they flew during the war of 1812). Of course, there were a million more things we saw but these were just a few.

At the end of the day we went into the National Gallery of Art and surrounded ourselves with some of the most beautiful paintings in the world. Wonderful....it was just a wonderful day!

Standing there in awe...

Today I was overwhelmed. Overwhelmed at standing in front of the Declaration of Independence (the ACTUAL one...you know, the one the founding father's actually wrote). Overwhelmed at reading the Emancipation Proclamation (the ACTUAL one...). Overwhelmed at just the amount of history that is at our feet in this city. The ACTUAL history...no photocopies here (o.k....that's not exactly true...there are plenty of photocopies of actual stuff...I guess they're hoarding some actual stuff in the basement). But the history is just overwhelming and so much of it is free. Free for you to go and take a look at it, read it, become immersed in it...feel it. It's incredible.

This morning we began our day with a meeting with our US Senator. It was so nice of him to meet with us. (...we even got to meet his wife, who just so happen to be there). Next it was off to the Supreme Court and a tour there. (O.k....technically, before that we took the kids back to change out of their nicer shorts and into more of a "spill anything you want on it" shorts...hey, they can only stay clean for so long). We ended our day at the National Archives Museum. It is an amazing museum, loaded with thousands of items...

...that make you just stand there in awe

And just think there's lots more to see...

This morning we had an early appointment/tour to visit the Capitol. O.k....let me start by saying "WAY COOL". The entire experience is so neat. Our group was huge but we had headphones on so we could hear the speaker clearly even as we were moving (fantastic invention as we were way in the back with the kids...as usual). Of course, even with the headphones that didn't stop us from losing our tour guide and the 50 people that went with it (chalk that one up to "only us"...).

Later in the day we had tickets to go see the House of Representatives and the Senate in session. I have to admit that having to go through that much security just to get into the area...we were literally in the safest place on earth. Privacy is not an option here.

We also walked down to the Reflecting Pool and the Botanical Garden. The kids like the baby ducks in the pool (personally, I liked the Grant Statue...).

And just think there's lots more to see...

Just us...and a million of our closest friends

Washington is such a fantastic city. While I'm not much of a city kid, I sure am having fun taking in all of the surroundings. It's such a diverse city in culture, history and race.

Today we took the Smithsonian (castle)...(actually there are 19 Smithsonian museums in all...but today we took in a only a few). Next door they had the International Art Gallery and the Freer museum (which has the famous "peacock room" by Whistler). Next, it was onto the Museum of African Art (which made me wish I had our Ethiopian munchkins with us) and then it was onto the Museum of Air and Space.

Just us...and a million of our closest friends

Coming up with craziness...

Well, we made it to DC with no hitches. We checked two bags (at exactly 50 pounds each...anything over and they charge you extra...so by golly, we were going right up to the max), gate checked our new stroller, kept tight to three children and spent more on lunch at an airport than I ever spend at a restaurant. Whew!!

And if our life just wasn't crazy enough as it is, we chose to take the metro into DC all the way to our hotel (which I might add we pricelined and got a fancy-shmancy hotel for way cheap...). That was a fun adventure in and of itself.

Tomorrow, just wait and see what craziness we're going to come up with.

Packed and ready to go...

Finally...we are packed and ready to go. 5 people in two bags...let me hear you say "YEEAAHHH!" people. Washington, DC lookout...cause here we come!

Our "don't forget" list...

This week has been a crazy week for us filled with packing, shopping, laundry, planning and enough "don't forget" lists to make your head spin. You see, our family vacation has finally arrived. We fly out on Saturday and are headed to the great city of Washington, DC. Our kids have been studying American History for the past couple of years and we thought this would be a great end to their studies. We are going to all the museums and art galleries. We even were able to get tickets to the White House. It's going to be a great trip!

We're going to be blogging along the way (it's kind of our test for when we go to Ethiopia), so everyone can come along with us...o.k., not literally, because I can't afford to feed you all. But at least you can enjoy the sights along with this really loud, crazy family...just don't forget your ear plugs.

I'll be sure to put that on our "don't forget" list...