Washinton D.C.

Smithsonian Museums

We took a trip to Washington D.C.  Michael had a business meeting there, so we decided to make a trip out of it.  Plus, Michael really hates traveling alone to his business meetings.

 

The jewels were one of my favorite exhibits.  So incredible!  I can only imagine how hard it would be to keep some of that stuff on.

The African ceremonial dress behind the girls was fascinating.  You would think that the girls would have gotten bored, but they loved it and were very respectful throughout all the museums.I was very impressed by them.

My brave Jayla held a bunch of live insects at the Museum of Natural History.  I think that this museum was my favorite one.  The kids really liked it.

The dinosaurs were also a big hit. I thought that the girls would get scared, but they LOVED the dinosaurs.I LOVED the museum. I got to see many things that have always fascinated me beginning in my childhood.  At one point I wanted to be an archeologist to uncover dinosaur bones and ancient civilizations. I love that kind of stuff.

   

 My little scientists.  In the museum there was a learning center where the kids got to do their own archeology.  They had so much fun and it was exciting to see them explore all the lab equipment.

 

The Aero Space Museum also had a little science section in it where the kids got to learn about how a plane flies and aerodynamics.  Although I'm not sure how much the girls learned, they still enjoyed it!

 

The basement to the art museums was a kid's dream.  There were video games, blocks, climbing walls, and a bunch of other fun things for us to do.  I had no idea that all of the museums were so kid friendly.  We loved it.  After boring the kids by looking at all the art we took them to the basement to get all their energy out and they didn't dissapoint.

 

The Native American Musuem put on a Polynesian Dance for us and thenwe got to explore some Native American culture.

We also went to the zoo.  We were able to see some Panda Bears, monkeys, and zebras, but the kids loved the ugly hairless moles the best.  They stared at them for 20 minutes straight!

 

Oh, yes.  Another main attraction was the fountain in front of the Museum of American History.  Our kids loved it!  They kept asking us if we could go back to the fountain.  There was always a bunch of kids playing in it...along with our kids.

Arlington Cemetery

This is us waiting for the President to pass.  So cool!  I have never seen a U.S. Presedent in real life.  It was really fun to be so close to Michelle and Barrack Obama.

 

If you look close you can see the outline of the President's face!  Pretty exciting!

 

The girls were very respectful when we were putting roses on some of the grave stones.  It was amazing just how big the cemetery is.  It was overwhelming.  It was amazing to see all those headstones representing all the people who have fought to make this nation great! It made us very grateful for their sacrifices.  So amazing!

Another picture of the president waving to us.  Here you can actually see his hand and a little bit of his face.

One of the soilders was kind enough to let us get a picture with her.  The girls were a little shy, but still did it anyway.

Memorials

 

We took a ride on a paddle boat to see the Jefferson Memorial.  After all that walking the paddle boat was very tiresome, but the kids really liked it.

I think that one of the "favorites" was riding the metro train.  The girls thought that it was really fun to be able to ride a train all over the city.

The girls got a lot of practice jumping off the side of the pool and swimming.  They had a lot of fun swimming with their daddy.

The Temple

We took a trip to the temple grounds.  It was so pretty.  We walked from the metro through quaint little neighborhoods and it made me want to move there.

 

 We went to the visitor center and watched a movie about Joseph Smith.  The visit totally changed the tone of the rest of the trip and we were able to feel peace despite everything that was being thrown at us in this new environment.

 

 We started walking through the foliage that is on the temple grounds.  Out of no where Jayla started telling me about Joseph Smith and how some people didn't like him.  But how we believe what he saw.  Then Jessa started singing, "I Am a Child of God."  They brought me to tears because they could recognize the sacredness of the temple without me even pointing it out to them.  It was a great way to end the trip.