Holbrook Heroes: Washington D.C.!!!!

This post is all about our weeklong field trip to Washington D.C. The boys had a wonderful time (and did a tremendous job of exhausting the parental units)! After all they have been learning over the past couple of months, it was fun for me AND them to make it more tangible by visiting the memorials and the museums. What a GREAT learning experience for ALL of us!

First off, our hotel was certainly NOT kid friendly. We made the best of it, though, with the little amount of time as possible in there.

Creating creations with Legos brought from home.

Chilling out on the bed with my phone (how DID he get that???)

Enjoying the view from our window.

Reading a story before bed.

As for our excursions around town, the Metro itself was a bit of a learning experience when towing three children (one in a stroller). Fortunately, we were never on it during rush hour, and the boys really took to using those incredibly long escalators!

He looks so tiny on there!

The Smithsonian Natural History Museum

This was probably THE best part of the whole trip. Everything from rocks and minerals, to dinosaurs, to evolution, to Ancient Egypt, to the oceans was in this place! One of the coolest things about this museum (which you'll notice from some of the pictures) is that, instead of signs saying "DO NOT TOUCH", there were many signs saying "PLEASE TOUCH". It was wonderful for the kids to be able to put their hands all over these exhibits whereas in most places, we'd be scolding them left and right to keep their hands off of everything. It took us a good 4 hours to go through it from top to bottom, and we were POOPED by the time we were done!

In the main entrance

Looking down from where we first entered.

Mammals

In the Hall of Mammals

Brown Bear in the Hall of Mammals

Taking a leg of "something" from an early human in the Evolution Hall.

Oceans and Sea Life!

Gazing at a coral reef

Rocks & Minerals

Ginormous amethyst (with Hayden practically drooling all over it).

Bird skeleton (eek!)

Marlin (?) or Swordfish (?) skeleton

In the Land of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life!

Dimetrodon, one of Hayden's favorites

Yes, I was actually THIS close to the skull.

Triceratops and its horn

And, of course, we couldn't leave without getting a smashed penny souvenir!!

Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

Also, a cool museum, but I have to say that I was definitely partial to the Natural History (as was Hayden). Sawyer says he liked this one the best, but I don't believe him. It was a little over their heads for most of the visit, although there was one section that was a hands-on children's area, and that was probably the best part of the whole museum. When they are older, though, I think they will appreciate this museum more, and understand the concepts of space and time a little more as well.

Looking at a model of an aircraft carrier. Hard to imagine the actual size of this thing.

Section on solar system exploration.

Is it sad that I can't remember what this was? If you know, tell me!!

Bottom assembly of one of the space shuttles

Looking down on the collection of rockets in the main foyer.

In the hands-on area for kids

Daddy chasing Baby. Which is what at least one of us was doing the entire
time while the other two got to enjoy the museum.

What the heck is this?!? (This is what happens when you
see too much in one trip. Too much to remember!)

On the steps of the National Art Gallery where we had lunch.

Leaving the National Art Gallery's food court via a really cool moving sidewalk.

Hanging with contemplating statues.

Structure outside the museum.

The Solar system

Even little Riley got into the spirit of exploring!

Learning about friction, and how/why air "sticks" to an airplane's wings.

Piloting a Cessna

Sawyer's turn

Learning about how astronauts steer a space shuttle. This was actually too
heavy for him to hold, but he got to see another older kid ahead of him doing
it, and the guy in charge of the activity explained how the force of the spinning
kept the wheel in place, and when on a spinning stool (ergo the space shuttle)
the same motion is occurring, and that's what the astronauts have to work with.
Or something like that.
It was cool.

Checking out the gift shop. Somehow, they found the entire
section of Lego Star Wars.
How. Did. That. Happen?

Other Cool Sites Around Town

In front of the Smithsonian Information "Castle"

The Capitol at the end of the National Mall

The White House

Our ACTUAL view of the White House.

The Lincoln Memorial

Look how giant my children are!
(By the way, Sawyer remembered that Lincoln's hands were
intentionally sculpted with one hand open and one in a fist
to stand for kindness and strength).

Looking out at the Washington Monument from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Hayden checking out the Gettysburg Address
(which he questioned why Lincoln said, "all men are created equal"
instead of "all PEOPLE are created equal").

The Wall of Healing
There were a LOT of names on that wall. It impressed the boys, even if they
didn't grasp the severity of the war itself.

The Marine Corps Marathon

And so we come to the end of our trip to the capital of the United States. We finished off the last two days with a Healthy Kids Fun Run and the big 26.2 mile run. I was very proud of both big boys running an entire mile on their own. It was the first time for Sawyer ever running that distance, and I was just happy he didn't quit! They both did a marvelous job, and the next day, they were all wonderful supporters for me. We had an awesome time!