The Air and Space museum hanger

We finally found a super cool and uncrowded place in DC on Memorial Day. It was the Hangar of the Air and Space Museum and it was super fun. The place was huge (and air conditioned) and so it didn't feel crowded at all, and there were tons of different plane and even a space shuttle. We all had a great time.

Henry underneath the shuttle, we were all pretty impressed to learn how a shuttle really looks and how different it was from our expectations.

 Wyatt kept asking to hold hands with the "boys."

 There were even lots of tiny models of some of the planes that were there as well as others. Gavin really enjoyed these too.

 This place really was a great find. I would highly recommend it. Even though it was a little off the beaten path, the parking was right in front of the door and it totally beat out the other Air and Space museum, in my book.

Arlington and a few more Monuments

Sunday evening we decided to take another shot at seeing some of the monuments and attempting not to melt in the heat. The Petersens were very wise and decided not to risk joining us that night, but we had the excellent company of Caleb's childhood friend, Joe, who lives in Maryland now.

Our first stop was Arlington Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Once again, lots of questions about how a soldier would be "unknown." And who could be buried at Arlington and plenty of other clarifying of minute details that I would never have considered, but that is why I have curious boys and why I like to take them to new places... it expands our minds.

 Wyatt was suprisingly quiet and respectful as we watched a wreath placed by the tomb, and also just watching the guard. He got much more chatty when the changing of the guard was happening, so I took him on a little walk.

 He did stop in all of his exploring to pose for a few cute shots. He sure is growing up fast. He probably doubled his vocabulary on this trip.

 What a good-looking bunch.

 We headed next to walk around at the monuments, it was cooler, but still pretty crowded. We started off the walking tour with me continuing to nag my kids to just walk on the sidewalk and not climb on things... So while I was turned away, Gavin decided to see if he could jump a stone bench and ended up landing straight on his face and shoulder. We were very lucky not to have ended up with a broken arm or stitches. It was a bad fall, followed by lots of screaming and even some apologizing to his mom for not doing what he was told.

The new Martin Luther King Jr Memorial, where we have now made a great memory of Gav getting road rash on his face.

 Lincoln Memorial at sunset.

 Joe told the boys if they waited long enough Lincoln would talk... we didn't wait around that long.

 Henry really wanted a photo of himself holding the Washington Monument.

 Cute Family

 Gavin holding the monument over his head.

 Due to more construction and some set up for concerts the next day, we ended up walking pretty far that night, but did get to catch a few lightening bugs. And even glimpse a few monuments at night. Not as many photo opps as Caleb was hoping for with all of the construction.

The Capital Building... and a bad start to the day

We had decided to spend Saturday at the National Mall and Caleb had reserved tickets for us to go on a tour of the Capital building. We got off to a rough start since none of us had been on this tour before and the information said we needed to arrive really early for our reservation. So we basically had to jog there once we found parking... not good news for 90 degree humid weather... or pregnant people and little kids. Anyway, we made it to the security check and were then told that we had to throw away all of our water or anything that did or could contain food. Huh- that is awesome. Michelle quickly made the decision to stay outside with Will, since she was not going to throw away bottles and formula, so we left the things we had with her. The rest of us went in, with the joy of some security guards on a power trip.

We got in line for the tour just to find out that our reservation time was actually the time that we could get in line to wait for a video and tour. Lauritz soon decided to join Michelle outside and to take Maggie and meet us after with the lunch. By this point most of us were in a mood that was quickly turning south, but we waited in line and headed on the tour...

Which was a big disappointment. We got to go in 2 art and statue rooms at the capital and nothing else. The rooms were crowded with people and while we were broken into smaller groups to listen to the guide recite the facts, it was hard to really get to see or appreciate a lot. And one or more of our kids were whining for water and snacks almost the entire time. Not awesome, and my advice is that unless you are the personal friend of a Senator or Congressman, probably not worth the time and effort. Only with friends in high places will you get to see any interesting parts of the very huge building. Here are a few of our photos... you can all pretend you were on the tour.

The boys enjoyed wearing the headphones to listen to the guide.

 Henry and the Rotunda.

 Just a shot to show how much I was enjoying this... on our way into the statue room.

 Wyatt was also super happy... Caleb was trying to distract him from his need for milk by showing him some statues.

 We probably would have just left the tour, but that was also not allowed, so when we were all finally set free we got out of there quickly. Here are the boys attempting to look like they are happy in the back of the building.

 A shot with Mom, to try and cheer all of us up... before we realized how far we would have to walk to get our lunch and drinks thanks to almost all sidewalks anywhere near the Capital being blocked off.

 We finally made it around the Capital and had our picnic lunch, this is a shot to show you how beautiful everything is looking right now. Yep, that construction stretches the entire length of the mall, only barely skirting the monuments and blocking off even more walkways. Luckily this picture doesn't show the crowds of insane size that we would soon encounter in our attempt to hit a few National museums. Ahh, what a day it was. We all ended up totally sweaty and exhausted just from trying to make a couple more stops. Good thing the boys had a better attitude about the crazy crowds than I did. They did get to see a few interesting things at the Natural History Museum.

 Maggie, Gavin and Henry found some serious amusement watching a squirrel run up and down this tree while he waited to see if they would provide him with snacks. It might have been one of their favorite parts of the day. It was a very cute squirrel.

Gettysburg

This was our first trip to Gettysburg, and the whole set up was pretty impressive. There is a military museum with a film and a domed room with a mural painted all around it. The boys were very interested in learning more about the weapons that were used in the civil war and Gavin asked more than his share of questions about why America was fighting against itself.

Michelle stayed home with her little ones and was more than happy to have Wyatt stay home too, so that Maggie would have someone to play with. It was nice not to have to drag him along on all of our stops. This was also the day that the temperature and the humidity started to rise, so it was probably good that most of our time was spent driving the scenic route to show where points of the battle took place.

Gavin and Henry with one of the big guns.

In the Cyclorama.

Henry at the top of an observation tower, overlooking the battlefield. 

All of us on Little Round Top.

Caleb and the boys on the castle at Little Round Top, obviously it was built after the battle.

Gavin and Henry both grabbed a stick to try loading a cannon. We were pretty amazed to see how far back these cannons were considering the area that they were able to target and shoot.

 Ready to Fire... we won't tell you which side we were on.

 Gavin on the Battle Field.

 Just a shot of me at 32 weeks, in front of the Battlefield.