Washington DC

One of the places I really wanted to visit whilst in America was the White House but of course whilst we happened to be there they closed the building for visitors for three months!  After hearing about that disappointment it gave us more time to focus on all the Smithsonian Museums.  I thought the Smithsonian was just one historical museum of America but in actual fact it is a group of museums and galleries with all various types of of history and art.  No way did we have time for all so the older ones chose places to go and off we went exploring.  We started at the Air and Space Museum which had alot of interactive things to do which was great for the children and it was great reading about all the history especially the moon landing.

We visited Smithsonian Institute commonaly referred to as the Castle,  American Art Museum,  American History and Natural History Museum which probably tired us out alot. I couldnt believe how many people were visiting all these places espeically on a week day.  Obviously there was alot of tourists and school groups but it just seemed like thousands and thousands of people coming and going, it was a little overwhelming at times.  I thoroughly enjoyed the American History Museum and learning more of their history and seeing all the dresses most American Presidents wives had donated for display.  I was really excited to also see some church history included due to the major role it played in settling the west of America.

Later in the afternoon we visited near the Capitol Building and walked passed the White House (or as close as we could get anyways) then onward up to Abraham Lincoln statue and a chance to rest in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.  Unfortunately the Washington Monument was under reconstruction so there was alot of scaffolding out and around but the monument still looked magnificient especially towards the end of the day.

 

One huge day for some of our little people but one to remember.

Before we left this area we had a day visiting other historical places around Virginia such as War Memorial Monument and down south a little to view some of the Civil War history. There was a small hope we would see some war reenactments but unfortuntely we were visiting the wrong time of year.  We also had an afternoon visiting the George Washington Estate and learning some more history.

  

On the last night we did a driveby the Washington DC Temple....gorgeous at night time!