Air and Space Museum

Princess Sparkley's Girl Scout troop visited a pumpkin patch yesterday afternoon, and rather than pay for the boys and I to get in ($9/person) we took advantage of the free parking at the Air and Space Museum (after 4pm) by Dulles.

We got there just before the Observation Tower closed at 4:30. It's probably our favorite part.

It was neat that we got to see the Space Shuttle that flew over us a few months back.

The museum closed at 5:30pm, we had to pick up PS 11 minutes away at 6pm.  Traffic was HORRIBLE.  It took us 50 minutes to make it to the pumpkin patch.  Luckily all the other parents were stuck in traffic also.  And then we still had to get home... 

Air and Space Museum visit - May 2010

Air and Space Museum visit -  September 2009

National Zoo

Mystery Baby's first trip to the zoo today and this is the only picture I got of him.  He spent most of the time in the Baby Bjorn on me.  And part of that time asleep.  

 

 I think we've taken a picture of the kids with this panda statue on each of our visits.  

Disregard the closed eyes, the sun was bright.

 Highlights: The pandas were out and one was super close for us to see.  The fall colors made the lions, elephants, etc. look especially nice.  We *almost* got to see a female orangutang use the "monkey bar" line that they use to travel between their "Think Tank" and their home.  We went in the butterfly room part of the invertebrate exhibit... I don't think I've been in there before.  We saw an adorable burrowing owl.   And the super cute baby gorilla was still there (he's now four years old) and still so teeny.

Sadly, we missed the new sea lion exhibit, but we were trying to be fast to get back for soccer practice, scouts, activity days and to drive my parents to their hotel for their early flight home tomorrow morning.

We saw an alligator, to which Little Guy had this conversation:
  "Hi.  I have an alligator at home.  He's green.  Next time I'll bring him and you can meet."

Museum of American History

My dad wanted to see the Museum of American History again, and, thanks to their handicapped parking pass, driving into DC and parking on the Mall wasn't so bad.  So, Mystery Baby went on his first out of state trip and his first trip to DC.

We have a picture of B, baby Princess Sparkley and I here from December 2002.  She's in the same Baby Bjorn, although I think we maybe angled it so the Capitol was our background rather than the Washington Monument.

And, from Princess Sparkley's camera:

Nationals vs. Pirates Baseball

B is a Pirates fan.  The kids... they go back and forth with who they cheer for.  Since we went to a Cincinnati Reds game in Ohio last year, Buddy is apparently a Reds fan.  This is slightly infuriating.  I'm okay with him cheering for our local team (he's decked out in his Nationals apparel for this game) but I'm not okay with him cheering for random teams he has no connetion to.  Oh well.  My dad loves baseball and enjoys visiting different ballparks so we headed to Nationals Park Thursday night for the Pirates v. Nationals game.

And the Pirates WON!

US Botanic Garden

We headed into DC on Thursday, May 17 for a Nationals vs. Pirates baseball game.  We headed in early to avoid traffic and to see some sights.  We started at the US Botanic Garden then walked over to the Air and Space Museum.

Resting on a wall at the National Museum of American Indian.

Space Shuttle Discovery

The Space Shuttle Discovery is retiring and will be displayed at the Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport so it had to fly here, piggyback on a 747 from Florida.  It did a bunch of fly overs in DC and up near the airport, but we're sort of on the flight path to Dulles, so rather than fight crowds, we found a big empty parking lot with a big sky view and waited for it.  And we saw it.  It flew directly over us, really low once and then circled back by in the distance a second time.  It had a little NASA jet escorting it. 

I took some pictures with the camera the first time, and the second time I grabbed our video camera but it was pretty far away that time so the video isn't great.

We came home and watched it land online while the kids drew pictures. Here are the kids' renditions:

Lego/Shuttle 3D art

 by Buddy

 by Buddy

 by Princess Sparkley

 These last three are by Little Guy.  The 3rd picture is all the fighter jet bad guys.  There weren't really any fighter jet bad guys.  It all went very smoothly and without incident.  He just likes bad guys.  Lately, this includes him randomly telling us "I like the Gadianton Robbers."  That's the part of the Book of Mormon were in as a family.

Flat Stanley in DC

Our cousin C sent Buddy a Flat Stanley project from CA, so on March 9th we took him into DC.  Princess Sparkley colored her own Flat Stanley and we took his picture as well.

Buddy's Flat Stanley

Princess Sparkley's Flat Stanley

Us in DC, minus Flat Stanley.



Our first visit to the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.

Scenic DC.  We were there about two weeks before the 100th Anniversary of the Cherry Blossom Festival.  We saw buds, that was it.  Two years ago went to see the blossoms and fought the crowds, but not this year.

We took Flat Stanley to the Iwo Jima Memorial and peaked in Arlington National Cemetary.

March 13 we headed with Flat Stanley to Manassas Battlefield.

DC Temple

Last Saturday we rode up to the temple with Brandon and while he did a session, we explored the Visitor's Center, saw the movie The Testaments, and walked around the temple grounds.

National Zoo

I got a Facebook message a couple weeks ago from a friend in Kansas who was spending their family's spring break in Williamsburg, VA and Washington, DC so we met up with them at the National Zoo on Friday morning and had a fun visit.

Air and Space (on the Mall) and the Mall

We've been to the Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport (actually, the boys have been twice), but we had never been to the one on the Mall yet.  Today, B dropped us off at the museum and then went to study at the GMU campus in Arlington.

Notes on the pictures: We sat in on a little demonstration about the first flight and the Wright brothers.  Princess Sparkley raised her hand and answered a question (Q: When was the first flight? A: 1903) and she also volunteered which is the picture of her blowing paper out from her lip.  Buddy also raised his hand and answered a question!  (Q: ?.  A: Elevator)  Little Guy brought his tiny chocolate lab "Chocolate" on this trip with us.  You can see Chocolate in some of the pictures, including the one where he is between a pretend cat and Little Guy.  The picture of Buddy looking at a TV screen was probably my favorite part.  It showed a map of the US (when I took the picture, the map is flat so the "airplanes" or dots are up in the sky).  The map showed a typical flight day in the US.  Then it would break down airlines (UPS, FedEx, United Airlines, etc.) by color and show all the flights as white dots, and the specific airline flights in a color.  It was pretty cool.  They also showed the sky go from filled with airplanes, to no airplanes at all within 3 hours of the September 11 attacks.

Then we walked out on the Mall toward the Tidal Basin to check on the cherry blossom buds.  I like taking a picture of the kids with the Capitol in the background and another with the Washington Monument in the background each time we go (if I remember).  This time, a man was nice enough to offer to take a picture of me with the kids and then made us switch places with him so we could get one with the Capitol in the background as well.  The kids have their arms out in some of the pictures because we've just left the Air and Space Museum and they are being airplanes.  PS was not so sure about this.

Checking on the cherry blossom buds.

I strategically placed cherry tree branches to block out the crane next to the Jefferson Memorial.  I hope this construction is over with before we move so I can get a picture of the Jefferson Memorial without it being under construction.

Then meeting B and showing him the George Mason Memorial.

Fun things I learned: There is a McDonald's in the Air and Space Museum and a McDonald's kiosk on the outdoor patio of the museum.  For months I've been complaining about where to buy cheap food on the Mall.  I hate always having to pack sandwiches and bring a backpack, etc. but I also don't want to buy museum cafe priced food.  A few weeks ago we discovered a bunch of McDonald's near the Metro Center stop and I was thrilled.  Now I know about one on the Mall.  BUT, I didn't get close enough to see if had normal McD's prices (and a $1) or not.

And... they have started work on the Martin Luther King Memorial.  It's around the Tidal Basin, past the FDR Memorial, closer to the Lincoln Memorial.  Pretty cool that our kids will be able to remember when this wasn't here and when it was being built because someday, it'll be like all the rest of the memorials on the Mall that seem like national monuments that have always been here.

Iwo Jima: US Marine Corps War Memorial

When I came to Washington DC as a teenager with my parents, I bought a post card of this statue, but I don't think we actually saw it.  And when I took the kids to Arlington National Cemetery a few months ago, we didn't make it to this area.  So I was excited today when B was driving us in to DC to drop us off for a few hours and he stopped here first.  I thought the statues would be life sized and was surprised by how big it is.

Bonus:  Buddy found $5!

The President and the White House

We left the Museum of American Art (which is open later than the other museums) and headed to the Metro, stopping at a McDonald's to fuel the kids (it was past dinner time at this point).  While at McDonald's we speculated as to whether we were late enough to have avoided work getting off crowds on the Metro.  B suggested we walk over to the White House.  I jumped on that idea since I've always wanted to and never have seen the White House up close.  I think I've always seen it from a few blocks away at a weird angle.  We walked over and the Secret Service had taped off Pennsylvania Ave.  We waited around for awhile because even the regulars seemed to think this would be momentary and then we'd be able to pass.  And we waited.  Finally someone asked the SS and they said they were "working on something" and it was supposed to open again in 45 minutes to an hour.  We gave up, walked up a block only to find that one side of that street was blocked as well.  So we walked on the other side and just as we got there (for a straight shot of the White House from a few blocks up) it seemed like things were happening and maybe the President was going to roll by.  Within about 5 minutes 8 or so Secret Service agents on motorcycles went by, followed by more police cars, to limo/town cars, dark minivans and SUVs, more police and an ambulance.  The limo/town car had the Presidential seal and tiny American flags.  People were waving in a few cars, but B said the hand waving from the limo/town car had long fingers, so we'll just say that was President Obama waving to us.  It seemed like they all stopped about a block past us, roped off that block (with the cars all in it) and maybe his appearance was there.  ?  Don't know.  But now we could finally walk to the White House.

Smithsonian American Art Museum and The National Portrait Gallery

The Smithsonian American Art Museum and The National Portrait Gallery share a building, so we tackled them both today after the National Building Museum.

Lots of portraits.  Lots of cool art.  Lots of walking.
Highlight for Princess Sparkley, a portrait of Juliette Gordon Low (founder of Girl Scouts), and Charles Shultz (accompanied by a peanuts comic strip and a picture of the cast of Peanuts).
Highlight for Buddy: not sure, he was disappointed that we hadn't seen any portraits of George Washington, then we hit the Presidential portrait wing.
Highlight for Little Guy: the big scary pig, the scary pictures, and the Metro ride into DC. 
Highlight for me: I actually knew who a lot of the famous Americans were (in the Portrait Gallery) and recognized some of the artists' names in the American Art Museum).  We didn't get yelled at by any guards (until we left through the revolving door and all three kids tried to squish in with me).  I was disappointed that this work was recently vandalized and not on display, it's one of the main reasons I wanted to go.
Highlight for B: ?

Peanuts section of the gift shop

B mapped our route around DC today, including museum loops, and it was 3.68 miles.  The kids did great. 

National Building Museum

Today we took the Metro into DC. I knew we wanted to go to the Museum of American Art on this trip into the city, so I was excited to see what else was near the museum and see that it was up near the National Building Museum.  I was even more excited when I saw that the NBM has a special Lego architecture exhibit right now.  Right up our alley (although Legos got a timeout this morning because B stepped on Legos three times this morning).

We started at the Building Museum because it closed earlier.  It's free, but there "suggest" a $5 donation.  We paid $5/person (except Little Guy) to go to the Lego Exhibit, so I counted that as our cheapo donation.  The donation box (pictured above) was one of the highlights for the kids.  It was a replica of the room (hall/entrance/courtyard) we were in, made out of Legos.

I thought the Building Museum exhibits would be a lot cooler (for kids) than they were.  B and I liked them okay.  Little Guy hated them.  PS and Buddy could usually find something in the exhibit that was of interest to them.  PS had read a little bit about the World Fairs so she liked that exhibit.  The city scape and symbols in DC were fun enough for Buddy.

The best part was the Building Zone (but most of the kids there could barely walk).  It's for baby to 6 years old and PS was allowed because we had a three year old with us.  They all enjoyed it (a lot), but it was obviously geared for younger kids.

And then on to Legos.

Famous Skyscrapers made from Legos.

Everyone's favorite part, creating our own Lego buildings.

Little Guy's building: an orange and white rectangle (two versions of it).
Buddy's building: on the left of him, it is multi-colored starts as a pyramid, narrows to a column and then a larger rectangular prism on top.
Princess Sparkley's building: sort of A-framed brown and black (above her head to the left)
My building: red, white and blue skyscraper with windows on the top level.
B's building: red and then black skyscraper with pointy roof.

 The National Building Museum used to be something else, but for whatever reason, when they turned it into something else, its architecture was perfect for it being made into some sort of architecture/building museum.  It's pretty cool.