The Capitol

We spent the morning at the Air and Space Museum and on the map it looked like the Capitol was right next door. Only it was not as close as the map seemed to make it appear, so we walked and we walked and we walked and found out we had to get in via the backdoor.

 

Did I mention that we walked and walked?

 

Finally we made it to the Visitor's Center.

 

Notice all the cute hats the kids are wearing. On the first day of our visit it was really cold and we happily found a street vendor who was selling those hats. Good market sense she had.

 

I know y'all wanted to see the rest rooms in this fancy building.

 

There are many statues. Every state donated two statues to the Capitol building. It is interesting to see the choices they made. Most of the statues are men, but there are a few women.

 

Like Sakakawea

 

 

And Helen Keller, including Braille on her statue.

 

The hall has a glass roof and you can see the dome of the Capitol when you look up.

 

The glass roof created unexpected rainbows on the walls.

 

We did locate one of the New Hampshire statues. So much to see!

 

Visiting The White House!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two years ago we saw the White House from the outside, but never managed to make it in. To be able to tour it, you have to contact your senator a few months in advance and hope you get a tour ticket. Last time I didn't know we were even going until a few weeks before we left, so no White House tickets for us.

 

This time we knew longe in advance that the trip was coming up and my friend was organized enough to get us tickets! So cool! She clearly is way more organized than I am. Granted, that is not hard, but I still admire her ^^.

We had it all planned out, what time to leave from the hotel, which parking garage to park, everything.

Of course the best laid plans of men and mice...

We got lost. We were stuck in traffic. We got lost again. We couldn't find a spot in the parking garage. There was much whining and gnashing of teeth and doomsday thinking.

 

But we did eventually find a spot in the deepest depths of the garage. We did run to the White House where we went through many security checkpoints to get in. We did it!!!!!!!!

I loved seeing all the rooms, all the furnitures, all the pictures, all the wallpapers. I enjoyed hearing the stories told by the security guards. We relished knowing that we were in the house of the POTUS. We were surrounded by a feeling of history and continuity. We walked on the same floors many presidents before us had walked. We breathed the same air they breathed!

 

Anyway, it was a super cool experience and I am grateful that my friend is so much more organized than I am :D

Sinterklaas!

 

Even after living here for almost fifteen years now, there are still Dutch delicacies that we miss.

 

So we were totally happy and thrilled that a friend sent us a box full of Dutch goodies!

 

It felt like Sinterklaas!

 

 

 

The Capitol

 

Walking to the Capitol. On the map it looked WAY closer than it turned out to be in real life. We enjoy seeing the reflecting pool, although it wasn't very reflecting that day.

 

It was such a sunny day, but still pretty windy. As in our hair went all over the place windy. Kate was very upset that the wind dared to mess up her hair!

 

We walked and we walked and we walked.

 

And then we walked some more.

 

Who would have thunk they would put the visitors center as far away as possible from the National Mall.

Panda Ear Rings and Pizza

Kids totally fascinated by a machine which flattens pennies into souvenirs.

 

At the National Zoo Sylvia found a pair of panda ear rings.

 

A peek in our hotel room. We stayed in the same hotel as we did two years ago.

 

Which is perfectly located right next to a pizza place. How convenient! Simplified the "What shall we have for dinner?" conversation.

 

Better close up of the beloved panda ear ring.

 

Every single of the hotel rooms here seems to have that exact same picture.

 

Air and Space Museum

Another day in DC and another stop at the Smithsonion. This day it was the Air and Space Museum on the National Mall.

 

This museum is so visually pleasing, every time I looked around I saw something else interesting.

 

Surrounded by air planes and teaching us more about the planets sharing our solar system. Well, apart from Pluto of course, which got kicked out even in this museum.

 

Sleek air planes.

 

Interesting visual details found by Sylvia who took most of the pictures in this post.

 

When I was a kid I thought it would be realy cool to be a stewardess, and here I learned what would have been required.

 

Everyone back then knew that a male simply could not exhibit the nurturing and comforting behavior that a female could. Well, until they decided that just maybe they could after all.

 

And we all know that women with an education get to go places.

 

Not sure why a stewardess would need to be a registered nurse, but I am sure it all made sense.

 

Just a tiny bit of age discrimination back then. They all knew that none of the business travelers would want to be served by an old woman :p

 

We enjoyed the different exhibitions, as with the natural history museum: so much to see!

 

Sylvia found many cool photo opportunities.

 

And Kate found glow in the dark nail polish, since no girl's life is complete without that.

 

Yes, my kids love the museum gift stores!

 

Another great museum experience!