Our Day at the Museums!

Yesterday was a beautiful day!! And, since Kylie is on Spring Break, Aunt Linda asked us if we wanted to join her & Nancy on a field trip to Washington D.C. to visit the Smithsonian for the day! Of course, we jumped at the invitation!! Kylie was talking about it for days & couldn't wait to see all the "bones & statues"! Another point of excitement was riding "the train" or the Metro into D.C.!

Kylie all smiles on the Metro heading to D.C.!

Kylie & Aunt Linda cuddling up for a quick picture!

A very cool shot of the U.S. Capitol Building from the center of the Mall.

A shot of the Washington Monument from the other end of the Mall.

After lots of walking & consulting a map, we headed to the National Museum of Natural History first. Kylie couldn't wait to see all the dinosaurs! She especially couldn't wait to see "Rexy" or the T-Rex, which she remembers from watching "Night at the Museum". She also thought she was going to see Larry, "the new night guard", but we told her he only works at night so we wouldn't be seeing him that day! :) I have to say this was my favorite museum by far! They also had a cool exhibit called "In the Bone" which was a forensic exhibit of bones discovered in the Chesapeake area that dated back to the time of the settlement at Jamestown! It was pretty cool!

The girls were in awe of the elephant in the entrance of the museum! Jillian let out a loud "WOW!"

Here's Rexy! I don't think I've ever seen Kylie's eyes get so big! She just couldn't believe it!!

Kylie getting a closer look at some dinosaur bones.

Kylie examining a Mammoth tooth!

Her exact words were: "Look, Mommy! I found Dory!"

Kylie coloring a butterfly picture in the Discovery Room - she loved it in there!

Examining a piece of pink quartz - she loved using the magnifying glass!

The Hope Diamond!!

Aunt Linda reading a part of the exhibit "In the Bone"

One of the skeletons on display in the exhibit - it was truly fascinating!

After our tour of the Natural History Museum, we headed out to find something to eat for lunch. We headed up 10th Avenue for "The Hard Rock Cafe"! Unfortunately, the wait was over 45 minutes. Nancy, Kylie, & I headed up a bit past the restaurant to Ford's Theatre to wander around to help kill the time. They recently renovated the Theatre & you need a timed tour ticket in order to tour the theatre & museum, so we just hung out in the lobby for a bit. Kylie talked the ears off a very nice couple that were also in the lobby before we headed back to the Hard Rock. By this time, we decided to try a different spot & we found a very yummy flatbread sandwich place called "Costi", which hit the spot!!

Flags outside the Hard Rock Cafe.

Ford's Theatre

The Peterson House across the street from Ford's Theater where President Lincoln died exactly 144 years ago!

Once our tummies were full, we headed back to the National Museum of American History. Sadly, it was a huge disappointment! They recently re-opened after a complete renovation of the museum. Thankfully, we remember the museum the way it used to be. Growing up, it was our favorite museum to go to because we got to see the Ruby Slippers, Archie & Edith Bunker's chairs, Fonzie's jacket, Mr. Rogers' sweater among others. After the renovation, all that remained were the Ruby Slippers. The others were replaced by exhibits that were nowhere near as exciting and the whole exhibit had been down-sized to about half the size it used to be. We were so sad! I was really looking forward to sharing that with the girls, but Kylie was excited to see the Ruby Slippers & Kermit the Frog. Seeing the American Flag Francis Scott Key saw flying over Ft. McHenry when he wrote "The Star Spangled Banner" was amazing though! Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed. :(

Entrance to the Museum.

My favorite part of the American History Museum - Julia Child's Kitchen!

The exact kitchen from her home - she bought that 6 burner stove for only $429 back in 1959 & it was a used one!

What a cool lady! Bon Appetit!!

One of the Dumbo cars from the ride at DisneyWorld in 1960s.

Kylie admiring the Dollhouse.

Portrait of Stephen Colbert at the entrance to the "Thanks for the Memories" exhibit! Loved it!

The Ruby Slippers - "There's No Place Like Home!"

Kermit the Frog! Kylie's favorite!!

C3PO & Dale Earnhardt's Racing Helmet!

An old voting machine with protest buttons along the bottom. Pretty cool!

Okay...I know they are going to kill me, but I had to put this picture on here because Kylie took it! We were amazed we all still had heads! We may have a budding photographer!!

From there we headed back to the Metro with a small stop at the Air & Space Museum! We weren't there long, but got to see some cool stuff & Kylie even had her turn at trying to fly a 1920s Bi Plane!

The Spirit of St. Louis!

1920s Bi Plane

Kylie trying her hand at flying a plane!!

The front end of a commercial airliner!

Jillian with a smile that sums up our great day in D.C.!

Even though our legs & feet were tired, we had a FANTASTIC day!! Thank you Aunt Linda & Nancy for inviting us & spending a great day with us! The weather was perfect & so was the company!! What a great way to spend the rest of spring break!! We love you!!