Washington

Thursday we spent the day in the nation's capital: Washington D.C. What a bustling city! Here we are in front of the reflection pool with the Washington monument in the backgroud. It truly is a remarkable sight. (The boys remember it from the scene in Forrest Gump ... while John, Bev and I found ourselves thinking about more historic moments that occurred here.)

Above is  the Korean War memorial. We found it rather disturbing as it was so real looking. There is a quote at the end of the field of soldiers that states : "Freedom is not free" and it just left us with a pit in our stomachs reflecting on how many lives were lost, captured, emprisoned....

The boys are taking a break in front of the White house. Yes, President Obama was around as he was due to light the National Christmas tree at 5 o'clock.  Secret service and security were in abundance! I'll let John tell you about being chased by the secret service at a later date. It's one for the Turner books. 

 

Charlie and Owen are taking in the Vietnam War memorial. Again, such sadness as we moved along the endless walls.

We are standing on the steps of Lincoln memorial. This is where Martin Luther King delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech.

Here is the National tree that was due to be lit by Obama that evening.It stands outside the back of the White house.

We spent the afternoon at the Smithsonian's museum of Natural History. this Titanoboa has frightened me to near death. Thank goodness it is now extinct (60 million years ago) but this gigantic boa measured 48 feet long, weighing in at 2500 pounds. Scary snake!

The boys are getting a great lesson on forensic Science. They were given a case study and had to figure out the identity of the person whose bones we were analyzing.  It was a very tough challenge as the scientist gave us no clues! Finn may have found another calling. He was brilliant with this. Thank goodness we had spent the day prior learning about the civil war as it came into play today in piecing our story together. The bones belonged to female slave.

Do you recognize this tyranosaurus Rex? He became famous in the movie Night at the Museum with Ben Stiller.  The dinosaur exhibit was unbelievable.

The boys are standing outside the Smithsonian castle.

John really wanted to visit Arlington Cemetary. This is where over 400 000 thousand soldiers are buried (and up to 35 funerals still occur a day) but it is most known for being the gravesite of  President John F. Kennedy and his wife and 2 young children. His famous speech "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.." is cited below. Here we are at his actual burial site.

We were overwhelmed with information in Washington. What a great place to learn about American history. We absorbed as much as we could for the day and made our way out of the insane traffic back to Bev's for the night. We loved our time with Bev and Chris.They are great hosts and incredibly patient for a couple without children. To be taken over by a loud family of 5+1, they deserve top medals! We left  Friday  for The Connicks in Charlotte, North Carolina and spent a few hours in the scenic Blue mountains on the way.  The boys are looking forward to seeing their friends and going to the National White water center Saturday and to their first NFL game on Sunday.

Hoping you are all well.

Carolyn