Its Almost Over

So you all know that we took a trip to Washington DC a few weeks ago (if you don't then read the 4 previous posts) and it was a whirlwind of a trip. We were only there for four days but we did everything we could think of doing in the city. When you have 5 people who each have different things on their "to do" list, you stay pretty busy. By the last day we had done 3 Smithsonians, all of the national monuments, Arlington, the Pentagon, and the National Archives. Our feet hurt and we were tired. Needless to say, we started the last day a little cranky...the terrible DC traffic doesn't exactly help at this point.

Any way so the last day we started with the Air and Space museum on the national mall but I have to say that I wasn't very impressed with this one. Mike took a few pictures of this place but a combination of being tired and disappointed prevented us from enjoying this one as much as the first. (Don't worry though...the day did get better)

One thing that we did like at this museum was the Wright Flyer. The first airplane :)



The Spirit of St. Louis. This airplane was the solo-flight across the Atlantic.



Our next stop was the National Gallery of Art. This was Joshua's pick and so he was pretty excited about this one. I will say that the building was beautiful but extremely boring. I think that Joshua was expecting art by DaVinci, Van Gogh, and other famous artists so when their weren't any it was a little disappointing. We also got yelled at in this smithsonian. Apparently you have to stand about 4 feet from any painting and you can't point to them because to them if you point, then you can touch...of course you're 4 feet away or more at this point. So we got yelled at for pointing at a painting and standing about 2 feet away. (I have to add that their are no signs explaining the rules and their are no barriers around any of the paintings). I'm also still slightly confused as to why I'm allowed to lean on the glass case that contains the Constitution of this country but I'm not allowed within 4 feet of a painting.

However we did have a good time walking around and providing dialogue for the people in each painting. It was quite entertaining and got moods up and I was able to find one or two paintings that I liked.





Our next stop was the American Indian Museum. This was my dad's pick but I was pretty excited about this one. This museum is the newest and it had some really interesting things inside.





The guys found this cool statue and wanted to take pictures with it. They can be so silly.




We also got to see the Mayan calendar. After spending 1 minute studying the Mayan calendar I can tell you with 99.9% certainty that the world will definitely be ending on Dec. 21, 2012 ;)


At this point in our trip we had yet to visit the Capital building. So we began the hike up capital hill. We found out that we couldn't go inside...without giving up everything we had with us..so we opted just to take pictures outside and call it a successful trip.





The very last stop on our trip to Washington DC was the Library of Congress. This building is the most beautiful place in DC. The only disappointing thing was that you can't take pictures of the actual library...you know the famous shot from National Treasure...because people are actually studying in there :( So you'll just have to settle for the pictures I was able to get...










The trip was great and definitely a success. We had tons of fun and left with absolutely no desire to walk ever again :)

Natural History Museum

I love the Natural History Museum! This was by far my favorite part of the trip! I was so excited for it. All I wanted on this trip was to see a dinosaur skeleton! This was my Air and Space Museum :)

(Warning: This post is super long but their are lots of pictures)

Me and a Tyrannosaurus Rex!!



Mike with a Triceratops! This guy was huge...so much bigger than I was expecting. I think that this one was my favorite since it was just so much bigger than my expectations.





Raptor! My brother is just so crazy :)


So since I love dinosaurs...here are some more pictures for your enjoyment :)





Kinda creepy :)


So other than dinosaurs...their are other prehistoric fossils at the natural history museum. These animals are huge and so amazing to look at :)

First...giant sloths. These were just cool but kind of scary at the same time.


Mammoths...The Ice Age is a pretty exciting time period to see animals from. They are all so big.




Their was an ocean part of the museum on the first floor. In this section, their was a GIANT squid. It looked like an alien but it was amazing in a creepy way. It honestly looked like something from my nightmares :)




Oh and a giant whale hanging from the ceiling :)



This museum is also kind of like a zoo. Their are so many animals. I love going to the zoo but I get frustrated when the animals don't want to stay still or they are sleeping or its too hot or cold and they don't want to come out. These animals may not have been alive but at least they stand still and I can get close.





I just thought this kitty was kind of funny. I think all cats would like to catch a bird :)


This guy reminded me of Todd in Fox and the Hound :)








Simba! (I love the Lion King!!!)


Its Po! Oh how I love Kung Fu Panda!


Finally! I got to see a moose! This is why this is fun...I can get close to a moose and this one can't hurt me :)


Manatees and Walruses....I didn't know that walruses were this big. It made me hope that I never run into one in real life.



Isn't this little guy just the cutest little thing in the world :)


I love Aladdin and I always wanted a pet tiger like Raja so I loved this tiger.


When you walked into the amazing rotunda in the center of the museum, their was an enormous elephant in the center of the room. This museum is beautiful and the architecture is amazing! We were also able to get a family picture at this museum which was nice :)



Along with dinosaurs and animals, their are also gems at this Smithsonian. Among all of the gems, is the Hope Diamond. This diamond is huge and its beautiful!


Yay for more fossils!!!!






We were exhausted after this museum and I loved it! I was so tired but so happy. I think I probably took about 300 pictures just at this museum so this is just a small amount of what I did but its pretty accurate of what we saw. I strongly recommend the Natural History Museum if you ever go to DC. I think its also the most kid friendly.