Washington D.C.!

We had spring break this last week and went down with our friends the Rees family to Washington D.C.

Here is us in front of the White House.  We drove into town, parked, walked one block and took this picture.  I guess I never realized the White House was in the thick of the city.

For all those DC Cupcake fans!!  They were delicious!  People said we'd be in line for an hour just to get in.  We must have timed it right.  We were there a total of 5 minutes!

The Rees family and us in front of the white house.  The forecast was for  rain the whole time we were there.  But the weather was sunny.  I even got a sunburn!  I realized in this picture how white I am....I'm ready for summer!

The Capital building.  This is the side of the building where the president's inauguration was held. 

The Washington Monument.  I thought this was a cool picture with the water and the cherry blossoms.

This is the Lincoln Memorial.  Callie liked this one!

This is looking from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument.  The reflection pool is in the middle.  Sadly it was empty with a construction crew.  I little disappointing.   These are also the steps where Martin Luther King gave his "I have a dream" speech.

The kids on the Lincoln Memorial steps.

Family pic on the same steps.

This is the Arlington National Cemetery.  Its crazy how big it is.  This land used to belong to the Confederate General Robert E. Lee.  It is also located directly across the Potomac river from the Lincoln Memorial.

This is where the unnamed soldiers are buried.  They have a guard here 24/7.  He marches and clicks his heels at every turn.  Callie kept trying to make her heels do that.  Callie also said this was her favorite thing of that day.  If you look in the background of this picture you can see the Capital Building.

Flags at the Washington Monument.  This Monument was started and then about half way through they ran out of money.  They waited 20 years to finish it.  The government today would just finish it money or not.

We rode the Trolley to get around.  The kids loved it and so did our aching feet!

The kiddos all tuckered out.  Leif is a pretty sleeper!

The Capital building.  Ashley Rees had a cousin that was working construction in the capital building.  He gave us an after hours tour.  It was super cool.  Lots of art work and we walked through the Senate side and the House of Representatives side.   They were not in session the week we were there.

This in an underground system for the senators to get from the Capital building to other buildings that they need to go to.

We went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.  I had been talking to Cal about seeing the dinosaur bones.  This was a leg bone and it was bigger than her.

Callie holding an African Centipede!  Gross me out!  But the girl had no fear!

You walk into the main museum to see this. 

We also went to the Museum of Air and Space.  Loved it!

On the way back home we stopped at the Washington D.C. Temple.  Its a big Temple!

We stopped in Philadelphia.  Andrew and I got an authentic Philly Cheese steak for lunch.  It was delicious!

In the visitor center they had the Phillie's baseball mascot statue.  The kids wanted their picture taken with it.

The Liberty Bell!

This is the room where George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc. wrote the Declaration of Independence.  This is where they discussed and debated.

This is the court room.  It was also where they held supreme court when Philadelphia was the US Capital.  This is across the hall from the Declaration of Independence room.

We had a great trip and learned a lot.  We definitely want to go back and see more.  We barely scratched the surface of all to see and do.