Washington DC Trip -Part 6

             Monday we had a choice to go to the Museum of Natural History or the Natural Museum of American History, they were close to each other so you could also go to both. The bus dropped us off a few blocks from the museums,  Amy was wanting to be carried and didn't want to walk by the last day, so it took us longer to get there. We started at the Natural History and I could tell I wasn't going to get her out of that museum very fast. Jim and the girls left to go to the American. We stayed and saw the Hope Diamond, Amy wanted to stay in that area but it wasn't as exciting to me, so we did a fast look and moved on. We had a time we needed to be back at the buses to have lunch and then the band members had to get dressed. It was hot and I knew Amy was going to be hard to move along, I didn't see the rest of our family so Amy and took a ride on a Pedicab, it was the best $15 I spent.

                                      Melissa and Jaime inside the American History Museum.

The kids did an awesome job, it was in the 90's but felt like the upper 90's. One of the main concerns was staying hydrated. Some of the parents spread out along the way in case anyone had signs of heat stroke, some walked along and squirted water for the kids. We were the second high school band, so we were at the very beginning. As soon as they reached the end of the parade point, they had misting tents for everyone, and the DCFD had a hose squirting up to cool off too. After that it was about a 10 block walk back to where the buses were parked. After cooling off, changing out of the band uniforms it was time to hit the road back to KC. Our bus had a flat tire on 1-70 outside Independence, MO,  it was fixed quickly and we finally made it back to the high school. This was a fun, fast trip, our family would like to go back to DC and explore places we haven't seen yet and revisit a few that we did. It was neat seeing places you've only read about or saw in a movie.        

Mr. Jarrett, the band leader with Melissa and Jaime. Mr. Jarrett retired after 30 years at Turner High School so this trip was bittersweet for him. We will miss him.

Washington DC Trip- Part 5

Monday we checked out of the hotel and had a few stops before we headed to the Memorial Day Parade. The first stop was the Air Force Memorial, they were setting up for a Memorial Day program. We didn't make it inside Arlington Cemetery but were able to see part of it from the Air Force Memorial. The last picture isn't very good and hard to tell what it is but it's the Pentagon.  


 

Washington DC Trip- Part 4

Sunday we headed to Mount Vernon, it was a fun time seeing everything, it was also a fast moving day we were able to tour the house and see most of Mount Vernon. We ate lunch there and the next stop was  the National Air and Space Museum-- Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Space Center. I think we had a couple hours to look around. Then we headed to the Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts, we ate a box picnic and watched the Marine Band Concert.

Washington DC Trip -Part 3

Saturday was the first full day we were in DC. We started at the Lincoln Memorial and walked by the Vietnam Wall over to the World War II Memorial, pass the Washington Monument headed to the Capitol Building for a tour.That was one long walk, it looked shorter but with construction and the heat it seemed like it took forever. Amy was having a hard time keeping up. I use to carry her in a sling when she was younger but she was too big for that, and I didn't think about borrowing a umbrella stroller.  We had lunch before the tour in the Capitol lunchroom. The tour we took bypassed the Senate and House of Representatives chamber, it was still an interesting tour. After the tour we headed to the Holocaust Museum we had only had 45 minutes before they closed, so it was a pretty fast trot through 3 floors, I would have liked to had more time in that museum, I was the one with the fast moving 6 year old while the rest of my family had a slower pace to look at everything, but they were being moved along by the guards and museum employees.  I will say the elevator ride made me think-- they show a short video and then the other side of the elevator opens up and you start walking. We had some time before dinner so we headed to the White House with all the other hundreds of tourist. After dinner we went to the FDR Monument, and finally bed time.  I also just finished reading the Hunger Games Trilogy, I was thinking about how fancy that Capitol building was  compared to how they talk about the Capitol in the books. My sister in law also went on the trip with us she's in the picture with us in front of the White House.