ROAD TRIP 2008-2009- Washington, DC...

When we awoke on Saturday at the Comfort Suites, we partook of a wonderful breakfast spread. I had a great time using the Begian wafflemaker to cook for the whole gang. The Fruit Loops were a big hit too! After breakfast and much needed rest, we drove into Washington, DC to see the sights. We found a great parking space on the street at a meter because we were nice and early. We went to the Museum of American History, the Museum of Natural History, and to the Washington Monument. Actually, Samantha and I went to the car for a few hours while Jon and the boys went to the Monument. I thought she would sleep, but she didn't. At least we stayed warm in the car together. The kids liked walking on and off the old train, Samantha liked the Science Lab where she got to experience electricity turning on and off a lightswitch, the boys liked the President's exhibit and voting for the most effective President (Joshua could be seen attempting to stuff the ballot box for Thomas Jefferson!), Joshua liked the 35 foot squid, Ben liked the tropical fish aquarium, and they loved the glass elevator. Benjamin was disappointed that he couldn't climb up the Monument (because they only do the walking tour twice per day). But, they did enjoy the breathtaking view of the city from atop. That night we went to Damon's Restaurant. Pretty good grub. On Sunday, we ventured over to the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly right near Dulles Airport. This was AWESOME! We arrived early there and were able to see many cool things, such as the Enola Gay which was the airplane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a Concorde supersonic jet (which no longer operate due to high operating costs), and the Space Shuttle Enterprise. The littles and I sat out watching the big boys and Jonathan go on the 7 minute 3-D Space Shuttle Simulator ride. I wouldn't be caught dead going on that; I get too much vertigo! The boys also enjoyed the model of the Mother Ship from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, mainly because of the R2D2 model stuck on it (more Star Wars talk!) We bought a book from an Author signing his newly-released novel called Hell Hawk, about World War II, for Papa Harold. After the Museum, me and the littles took a snooze while the boys and Jon checked out the hotel's indoor pool. For dinner, we had plans to meet my college roommate, Hoa and her son Brandon. It wasn't my brightest idea ever, since we chose to meet at a Mall restaurant on the last Sunday before Christmas. It was insanity! We were very late to meet her and ended up parking pretty far away from California Pizza Kitchen, but we did eventually arrive. We had a nice dinner and conversation, albeit too short. To bed, and up early for our next adventure...