The National Mall- Our Day Trips

Finally- The photos that you have all been waiting for... We have spent part of several days at the National Mall sights and Smithsonian Museums. On Saturday, it was warm and sunny, so we spent most of the time outside. Sunday was another story all together and with all of the rain we tried to stay dry by visiting the Air and Space Museum and the National Archives. (and on Sunday, Caleb's friend from high school, Joe, joined us.) The National Archives only lets in a certain number of people at a time, so we ended up buying a couple of umbrellas from a street vendor and waiting outside for about 30 minutes in the rain. It was worth it, as there are some super cool things to see there, like the originals of the Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights, as well as the Emancipation Proclamation, just to name a few.

By the time we left the National Archives, and we were still wet, the rain had stopped for the day, so we walked to the White House and to the Vietnam Memorial. Gavin somehow had a lot of energy after all of that walking, and kept making us run around with him. By the end of the day we were all pretty tired, and Lauritz and Michelle brought the van to pick us up. Right by the National Academy of Sciences there was a super cool and huge statue of Albert Einstein. By far one of the best huge statues that I have ever seen. (Loved it.)

It has been amazing to go to so many sites of our national heritage, and also a bit overwhelming. There are just so many things that we would love to see and do. It is probably lucky for us that our kids can't handle it all, or we would be more busy than we have already been.

Tonight we are headed back to see the monuments at night, as well as trying to squeeze in a few more museums.