We began our day in Washington at Mount Vernon, George Washington's home and burial spot. When we arrived I had the kids jump in a photo, just to find that my camera had been left on and was out of batteries! Thanks to the Google Images for these photographs of George and Martha's exquisite 1700's estate. The grounds were beautiful, reflecting not only our first president's personal wealth, but also his love of farming and gardening. The home is situated overlooking the Potomac River. It was fun to imagine the Washington's awaking to such a beautiful view. We wandered through the mansion and around the grounds, and then jumped into the car for a day in D.C.
The first event on our agenda was a tour of the capitol building. I had done this with my grandma when I was eight and remembered it as a highlight from our trip through the southern states. The kids seemed just as interested as I was, with the older ones appreciating the significance of the building and the little ones enamored by the quirkiness of such things as the artist who was angry at congress and painted his face into a tree prior to being fired and the two shoes on one of the men, marking where one painter took over for another. These were the details that caught my attention as an eight year old as well! We have brought our family to Washington D.C. several times since we have lived on the East Coast, but this time I wanted to fit in a few things that we had not done before. I was happy to have made it to Mount Vernon and the Capitol Building.
Look closely at this man's shoes!
Massachusetts Statue to the Capitol of John Adams
Our last stop of the day was the National Zoo. Every list of "things to do with kids" began with a trip through this zoo and I remembered how much our children loved it from our last trip to The Capital, so we made sure to fit it in one last time.
When we drove out of the city, I mourned that we didn't have one more day to explore the American History Museum or Air and Space Museum or the Spy Museum, which my children had remembered and loved from our last visit. Next Time.
2 comments:
What a fun time!
H was 7 and T was 5 when we did the same things you did this day and they still remember it. Taking lots of pictures helps. I can totally relate to the bummer of a dead battery. That happened to us in Boston.
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