WA DC Sunday

We kind of got a late start on our day which was very unfortunate since it got to 95% and very humid.  We also had to park about a 45 min. walk away from where we were going due to a triathlon (I felt very sorry for the runners on their final leg ... it was way hot).

Museum of Native American History

We finally made it to the Museum of Native American History which I was hoping would be a great tie in to what we are learning about Colonial History.  No such luck.  It was not very much about history and not even totally about Native Americans.  We quickly realize that the only thing we could really teach the kids was that the Native Americans came from a different culture, religion and perspective than the colonials and this was a huge reason there was such a clash as wave after wave of immigrants from Europe came and took land and built fences so we went one museum down the road to the 

Museum of Air and Space

This was the crown jewel in our whole trip for everyone in our family with an XY chromosome.  Phillip could hardly contain himself going from exhibit to exhibit reading every plaque that he could before chasing after the 2 equally exuberant boys.  When we got to the hands on interactive exhibit about lift, air pressure and others Eliannah and I sat down on a bench and tried not to fall asleep.  I feel like such a girl writing this, I would normally be quiet interested but I got so tired out from the heat I could barely look around, touch the moon rock  and hope I could make it back.  Maybe I should let Phillip write this part..

While wondering around on our way out of town we took a trip down embassy road.  It was so cool to see all the different embassies - some were more elaborate than others.  Too much to see!  We drove around Arlington but after reading a sign that asked everyone to conduct themselves with respect and decorum we decided not to take our over-tired children around so we talked to them about sacrifice, patriotism and heroism.  It really connected with what we had told them about 9-11 when we drove past the Pentagon.  It also connected with with the story they had listened to in the car on the way down called "The Light Princess" by George McDonald.  And if this blog post is a bit rambly ... it's late and I need to go to bed.