DC 2010 Day 2

September 12, 2010

It was only one month before this trip we jumped into the Alias TV series. That show is all about spies, CIA, and bad guys. To say the least, we feel like we know spy work up and down, backwards and forwards because of our dedication to this show. As it turns out, there is an International Spy Museum in Washington DC. We had never before visited the Spy Museum, but now that we had this new obsession with Alias, and all things spy related, we knew we had to do it. We were not allowed to take pictures inside due to Top Secret stuff on display throughout. The very end of the museum experience is a video presentation about real life international spies - all bad guys - that have been caught and found guilty of so many crimes. We were wholly entertained and enlightened about the world of spies. This museum was a fun experience for all ages (just maybe not for those younger kids).

On this day of our trip we saw many people on the metro and groups of people walking the streets of DC wearing matching t-shirts and carrying flags. We came to find out that there was a Tea Party rally happening today at the Capitol. After the Spy Museum we made our way to the National Mall and found this great crowd of protesters out in front of the Capitol. It was a peaceful gathering that lasted the entire day. Special guest speakers and musicians took the stage this day to protest big government and support lower taxes, less government and more freedom!

We had planned to visit a few National Smithsonian Museums on this day. (The Capitol, Smithsonians, and Spy Museum are all within walking distance of each other.) The U.S. Botanic Garden, established by Congress in 1820, is a living plant museum located on the National Mall across from the U.S. Capitol. Neither of us had ever been there and wanted to walk through for a quick tour. We saw a few fun plants, real bananas growing on a tree, and a Venus Fly Trap.

We visited two different art museums today. The first was the American Art Museum which had been advertised all over the city with banners of Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas showing their Norman Rockwell collections. The name of their exhibit was called "Telling Stories". "Lucas and Spielberg recognized a kindred spirit in Rockwell and formed significant collections of his work. Rockwell’s paintings and the films of Lucas and Spielberg evoke love of country, small town values, children growing up, unlikely heroes, acts of imagination and life’s ironies." (No pictures were allowed at this exhibit.) It was fascinating to see the vastness of their combined collections and enjoy them.

The second art museum we visited was the National Gallery of Art. We specifically located the Impressionist Era paintings so Jeremy could see some Monets for the first time! Look at these lovely works of art. They are original paintings!

Monet . . . . . . . . . . & . . . . . . . . . . . .Picasso

In the evening, we made our way over to the Natural History Museum. We got there at the end of visiting hours and had time to see one thing, a 40 foot squid! This picture is of a real life - dead/preserved squid. Ew!

We were allowed to stay in the building longer than the other guests because we had tickets to see the IMAX movie The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest.

Outside the theater was a statue that inspired the character from the Night at the Museum movies. "Dum dum, you give me gum gum."

Ben's Chili Bowl was our destination of choice for dinner tonight. Ben's is famous for it's chili and having been visited by many different celebrities; namely, Bill Cosby and Barack Obama. We went to experience the food and the atmosphere. And boy did we get both! We ordered so much food: A chili hot link, a chili burger, and chili cheese fries!

Thank heavens for those late night food joints. We had a hard time adjusting to East Coast Time and wound up eating dinner at 9 and 10 every night! Dinner left us stuffed and overly full. We rolled ourselves back to hotel to soak in the hotel hot tub to rest and rejuvenate our weary legs for the next day's adventures.

DC 2010 Day 1

September 11, 2010

Back in September, Jeremy and I got to take a second trip to Washington DC. (Our last trip was last November in 2009. Check out our last adventure here, here, here, here, here, and here.) This year, Jeremy's school was a finalist for the Intel School of Distinction Award. Intel invited Jeremy and some of his coworkers out to Washington DC for a 3-day event surrounding the award proceedings. We wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to see more sights than we got to see last time. We booked our flight and hotel so we could arrive a few days before the Intel itinerary began so we could have more time to see and do what we wanted. We arrived late September 10th and began our touring on September 11th.

Mount Vernon was our first destination on this trip. We chose to take public transportation and ended up on the metro and bus system for over 2 hours each way! The time travel was definitely worth it as we very much enjoyed touring the grounds and the new museum.

I was overwhelmed with the reverent feeling at all of the burial sites especially at the unmarked graves in the slaves' cemetery. A small monument was inscribed with "Faith, Hope, and Love" to honor those men and women who worked at Mt. Vernon.

Jeremy's favorite part of our Mt. Vernon tour was walking the forest path. He feels so at home and content in the woods.

We finished our visit to Mt. Vernon in the new museum. We saw many of Washington's old letters, clothing, weapons, and even his own dentures! Ew!

We finished up at Mt. Vernon and took our 2 1/2 hour ride back into the city. Once there, we made our way to Old Ebbitt Grill. It is a famous restaurant in Washington D.C. This eatery was the #1 recommended dining experience from everyone we asked. It is literally steps from the White House and many former presidents have eaten here. Jeremy chose the gnocchi dish while Jennifer went for the traditional fish and chips platter. Both entrees were delicious as you can see by the satisfied look on Jeremy's face.

Following our fine dinner at Old Ebbitt Grill we walked over to the White House. We noticed that the flag was at half mast, in honor of September 11th today. We also saw a guard perched on the roof!

We stayed only a short time at the White House and then hopped on the metro to ride out to Georgetown - a destination we'd never been before. We saw beautiful homes and hoards of people walking the streets of this swanky upscale historical neighborhood.
This picture doesn't do justice to the neighborhood. The homes were so beautiful with their colonial doors, brick work, wrought iron, and painted shutters. We've always wanted to have a house that has all of these characteristics. Maybe someday... but for now, we will be content to dream.

Day 1 of our trip ended back in the hotel room. Jeremy & Jennifer snuggled in front of the laptop watching an entire disc (4 episodes) of Alias - our latest obsession. We brought 3 Alias Netflix discs on this trip to occupy any down time and to watch on our flights. After that first night we knew we needed to pace ourselves or we'd finish off all those episodes before we left for home!

Padres vs. Dodgers

While on our week-long trip to San Diego this summer we decided to take in a Padres game. Jeremy loves to take advantage of every opportunity to take the kids to watch professional sports. I like going to the game too, but not for any sports inclined reason. I like the smells, the sights, and especially the crowd watching. The Padres were playing the Dodgers on the night we went to the game.

Logan played baseball for with our local club baseball program and, coincidentally, the name of his team was the Dodgers! Ha! Logan had a major ethical struggle when trying to decide who to root for on this night. "Daddy loves the Padres. So I like the Padres too. We are in San Diego after all. But I was a Dodger. They are my team." He went round and round with himself all night trying to decide back and forth which team would be his. Finally, towards the end of the game, he made his choice. He chose the Dodgers. Good boy. You stick with your guns Logie Man!

My favorite part of the game is the beginning. Yep, the Star Spangled Banner. It makes me cry every time, with the stadium reeking of patriotism and waving flags. But most of the time we're too late to hear it. So when we finally get our booties in our seats before the first pitch, or tip-off, or kick-off, that is a rare moment. Tonight was one of those few and far between times when we actually got to hear the National Anthem! Here it is in all it's glory for you to enjoy. Check out that marine's awesome baritone voice:

You can see just as the video cuts out the huge helicopters that did a fly over at the end of the song. They came out of nowhere! IT. WAS. AWESOME! There were 3 of them. And inside every one were several service men in their orange jumpsuits waving at the crowd! They were THAT close! Bummer I quit recording at just the wrong moment. :(

Here was our view at the start of the game. Beautiful sunset. It was so perfect that it looked fake. Does it not look like a sound stage for a movie set? Maybe Mary Poppins just before "Step-in Time" with all those rooftops?? Here's a close-up for you to really appreciate that saturated pink skyline. I pay attention to the important details here. What? What game? Oh, yeah.

A close up of Logan's Dodgers

The highlight of Jeremy's night was right here. On the scoreboard. No, it had nothing to do with the score (can't remember who won, actually...). It was his FACE on the crowd cam!! He and Logan had 5 seconds of fame as the camera filmed their faces and streamed them up on the screen. What?! That was a once in a lifetime opportunity!! Wow. It was a most bizarre feeling to see a loved one's face so big and larger than life up on that scoreboard screen. Jeremy reveled in his new fame. He rubbed it in real good to the rest of us that "were not good enough" to catch the attention of the camera. Thanks sweetie. Thanks for stealing our dream of baseball billboard fame.

Towards the end of the night we realized that our time enjoying the game was finished. Here was our first clue that the kids were done with the game - ipods. The ipod glaze took over and we knew then that it was time to call it a night.

We had fun while our energy lasted. Late nights and little kids are never a good mix. Padres and Dodgers you played hard and you entertained us for most of the evening. We'll be back to see you again someday.

San Diego Children's Museum

In August our family took a week-long trip down to San Diego. Jeremy was in a conference most of the week so the kids and I took advantage of our time and headed out on the town. Our first stop was the San Deigo Children's Museum.

This children's museum was awesome! Everything was interactive and all of the activities were included with your paid admission. Here were some of the fun exhibits:

Chariot Races

Barn Crafting

City Blocks
you're never to old to play with blocks...

Sculpture Painting

Clay Sculpting

Downstairs was the bounce house. Next to the bounce house stood this enormous beautiful scroll work structure! It was like a massive birdcage - minus the birds. Beautiful, eh?

Rock Wall

After all that fun we headed outside for a lunch break. This little park was where Trevor uttered the classic line regarding all the homeless fellows in the park, "Shhh... the people are trying to take their naps." Oh, it was a sweet moment. He didn't want to wake them! That's my boy - he knows that sleep is an essential part of life.

We found out later that this park was directly across the street from where they hold the annual Comic Con! Someday we WILL attend that gathering. And now we know where it is!

Whenever we get the chance to visit a children's museum I'm always reminded that there is a kid that lives inside all of us. Even our older boys that are slowly becoming "too cool" for whatever-silly-actitivity-mommy-has-planned enjoy playing, or crafting, or building, or painting. It was a great day trip and we recommend it to any family making a trip to San Diego.