Forget that DC is the capitol of our great nation, home to our President, keeper of the most important documents and artifacts in our history. In Ben and Jack's minds, DC is awesome solely because of its dinosaur skeletons. From the very moment we mentioned to them that they would get to see true-to-size replicas of their beloved T-Rex, Triceratops and Stegasaurus that was all they cared about. We couldn't get into the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History fast enough for them and once we were there it was hard to tear them away. One of the first things we saw (right beneath the enormously huge T-Rex) was a sign with the question, "Who would win?" and Jimmy and I both cracked up. I think that might be the perennial question of 4-7 year old boys, at least it has been in our family!
Though the museum was crazy crowded (due to the uncharacteristically hot temperatures), it truly was amazing. We were there for four hours and left feeling like we hadn't even scratched the surface of what could be seen and watched and read. Some of our favorite exhibits were the dinosaurs (of course), the butterfly atrium, the Titanoboa giant snake (very much not my favorite. God was teaching me to die to myself and love my sons through that whole part), the Hope Diamond (they paid me back by declaring their intentions of buying it for me for my birthday), and the nature photography section that took my breath away. You know the photographs are amazing when your 7, 9 and 11 year old children want to spend their souvenir money on nature prints (sadly, we would learn, they don't sell them).
On our hike through the city and back to the Metro we walked through the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. We got to have a snack break in the shade, dip our feet in the fountain (the building in front of them in this photo is the National Archives Building) and Travis, inspired by the nature photography in the museum, even got a few fun shots of one of the many friendly squirrels running around.
Our Metro ride back was, again, crowded and hot (we felt like it wouldn't be a trip to the city without experiencing the weekday rush hour commute. Three cheers for living in a small town!), but with the knowledge that one of the Metro trains had broken down the night before leaving passengers to walk along the track to the next stop, we were just glad it was uneventful.
The plus side to all of this heat and walking? The potential for terrible nights of sleep with all eight of us in one hotel room was a non-issue. These people are sleeping like rocks!
Though the museum was crazy crowded (due to the uncharacteristically hot temperatures), it truly was amazing. We were there for four hours and left feeling like we hadn't even scratched the surface of what could be seen and watched and read. Some of our favorite exhibits were the dinosaurs (of course), the butterfly atrium, the Titanoboa giant snake (very much not my favorite. God was teaching me to die to myself and love my sons through that whole part), the Hope Diamond (they paid me back by declaring their intentions of buying it for me for my birthday), and the nature photography section that took my breath away. You know the photographs are amazing when your 7, 9 and 11 year old children want to spend their souvenir money on nature prints (sadly, we would learn, they don't sell them).
On our hike through the city and back to the Metro we walked through the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. We got to have a snack break in the shade, dip our feet in the fountain (the building in front of them in this photo is the National Archives Building) and Travis, inspired by the nature photography in the museum, even got a few fun shots of one of the many friendly squirrels running around.
Our Metro ride back was, again, crowded and hot (we felt like it wouldn't be a trip to the city without experiencing the weekday rush hour commute. Three cheers for living in a small town!), but with the knowledge that one of the Metro trains had broken down the night before leaving passengers to walk along the track to the next stop, we were just glad it was uneventful.
The plus side to all of this heat and walking? The potential for terrible nights of sleep with all eight of us in one hotel room was a non-issue. These people are sleeping like rocks!