Monuments, Memorials, and More…

We started off our tour of Washington in style.  Our first stop was the Lincoln Memorial.  It has to be one of my favorites, but I have decided I have lots of those.  You might just hear that frequently!  It was neat that Uncle Dale had a name we could find on the Vietnam Wall, and I love how the reflection was captured in the photo too.  We also walked past the Washington Monument.  Boo, that it was closed for repairs due the recent earthquake.  I am saving pictures of our trip to the World War II Memorial for the day we went at night.  We also saw the Jefferson Memorial and the FDR Memorial.  There was so much information to glean at all these locations.  I loved reading all the old quotes from some of these very great men who were so instrumental in our nation being so successful.  One of my favorites is from Thomas Jefferson: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, then it expects what never was and what never will be.” Wow! That is quite a statement, and it truly historically applies. So here are just a few, and I do mean few, pictures of our memorial visit.

We took a slight break and visited the Smithsonian of American History.  I got so tickled as to the decision as to which side to visit.  The museum has an east and west side.  What my dear hubby did not know was that the girls had already been informed that the west side had all the famous dresses and inaugural gowns from many of our first ladies. Dan went so dutifully to read the the map to see which side we should tackle.  He came back and to tell us the east side was the most practical.. you know all the war stuff and such.  The girls had already decided we should see the west! He he! He just loves having a houseful of women.  Here are a few pics of our wonderful exploration through this amazing museum.

There was an awesome hands on science center.  The kids really enjoyed trying out several new ideas.  We all had a blast, and I highly recommend the American History museum.  There is truly something for everyone.  The inaugural dresses were truly amazing.  I loved the red one (bottom rt. corner) that belonged to Laura Bush, and the one above was a Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush.  These ladies truly arrived in style.