Washington D.C.: Part I

Eric, Liam and I just returned from a full week in Washington D.C.  I had to go for work for a few days, so the boys decided to come along and visit with Grandma Becky and Grandpa Ron.  Ironically, we had expected the weather to be incredibly cold in D.C.  And it was!  But it sounds like we avoided the even colder weather that hit the North Texas area and crippled the area.  A few days before we arrived in D.C., a snowstorm hit.  Because the temperatures were so low, the snow didn't melt the whole time we were there.  But we learned that January/February is a great time to visit our nation's capital because nobody else is there.  The downside is that it is hard to want to sight see when the weather is so cruddy!   

A snowy Sunday in front of the Washington Monument

The flight out was surprisingly empty, so even though Liam flew as a lap child, he was able to have his own seat. This was the last trip we will likely take before Liam turns two in April, so it was his last time to fly as a lap child.  However, there is a part of me that is relieved because it has become so much work to keep this wiggly child under control.  Thank you DVD player! 

On our first full day we ventured out into the cold to visit the Smithsonian American History Museum.  The whole time I lived in D.C., I was only able to scratch the surface of all the D.C. sights.  I am convinced that you could spend your whole life in the area and still not see everything there is to see.  Especially considering that many of the museums have special exhibits and rotate out items.  At the American History museum we took in one of my favorite exhibits: the First Ladies inaugural ballgowns.  For those of you who have never seen them, they are truly works of art.  We were also able to see fun items like the R2D2 costume, Julia Child's kitchen, and a photography exhibit on the only photos taken of the Kennedy's between election day and his inauguration.  



Liam enjoying the interactive children's play area at the American History Museum



Viewing the world through a rose colored lens

One of the items that Eric was excited to see was an old Tucker car. Only 51 Tucker cars were ever made in the late 1940s. The Tucker was thought to be really innovative at the time for it's safety features. This particular car was seized by the U.S. Marshall's in a drug raid and donated to the Smithsonian for display.

The Tucker

You may not be able to read the caption, but the idea was that a child could crawl into a compartment in case of an automobile accident....I assume it would have to be a really slow, low impact accident.

The next day we traveled to the American History Museum, because I have been wanted to see the Butterfly Exhibit since it first came out.  Liam had a great time seeing the dinosaurs and aquarium.  Mommy had a great time seeing the Hope Diamond. At the Butterfly Pavilion, there are over 300 types of butterflies that you can view up close and personal.  These butterflies come from all over the world.  Because they are bred in controlled conditions, they have no fear of humans.  This, we learned, can be a bad thing.  A toddler from another party reached out and squished a butterfly while his parents were not looking.  The docent, needless to say, was besides herself.   

Checking out the aquarium with Grandma Becky at the Natural History Museum



Grandpa Ron points out the various butterflies

Liam was not quite sure how to react to the butterfly that landed on him

You could literally walk up to the butterflies and take their pictures!

You can't tell from this picture, but this particular butterfly had to have been about 8 inches in diameter.

A few days later, we had the great opportunity to travel out to the Udvar-Hazy Museum near Dulles Airport.  Many people have the opportunity to visit the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum.  However, not many people make the trek out to Virginia to visit the companion facility. The two sites make up the largest collection of aviation artifacts in the entire world.

As a special treat, we were given a tour by the Museum's director, General Jack Dailey. General Dailey is retired from the Marine Corps and formerly led NASA's internal operations.  General Dailey took us on an in depth guided tour of the entire facility and we were amazed by his knowledge of every facet of the museum. Among the great sites at the museum were the Enola Gay, the Space Shuttle Enterprise, and the Concord.

One of the amazing view from the Udvar-Hazy

The Blackbird.  You have NO idea how large this aircraft is!

The back view of the Blackbird

The Enterprise

As a point of reference on how large this space shuttle is, I am posing in the bottom corner of this photo

The small yellow sign says "cut here for emergency rescue."  Now you know in case you are the rescuer.

Eric's favorite part of the tour!

 We definitely had a great time and felt incredibly honored and humbled to have met General Dailey.  For those of you have the opportunity, this is a gem of a museum!