Kelly and I took Kierstyn to Washington D.C. for a few days over Fall Break. It's always fun to have some time with our children one-on-one (or two-on-one). We've made it a tradition to take each of our kids to D.C. alone when they are in 5th grade. Kierstyn wrote all about our trip so I'll let her do the talking...
Oct. 16, 2011
Today was crazy! We were driving for 3 1/2 hours until we got stopped. There was a wreck that was 1/4 of a mile in front of us. There were many people getting out of their cars to see what happened. I saw a firetruck, ambulance, police car, and helicopter. Two people had to get life-flighted. A lot of people were getting out of the line and into the grass to turn around. We even saw a car get stuck in a ditch.
Finally, after 3 1/2 hours being stuck in the line, we started. We drove for 5 more hours until we arrived at Chris' house. She has been my mom's best friend since high school.
Oct. 17, 2011
We went to Arlington cemetery, the Holocaust museum, Martin Luther King Memorial, and Lincoln Memorial. We also saw the Washington monument.
At the cemetery we saw the changing of the guards by the tombstone of the unknown soldier. The guard took 21 steps and he waited 21 seconds until he started walking. We had to stand the whole time!
Later, as we were walking and looking at graves, there was this trumpeting noise. It kept getting closer and closer until we saw soldiers right in front of us. THere were a ton of them. They just kept coming and coming. When they had finally left we heard the sound of horses. THe horses were pulling a cart that had a casket in it. Following the horses wear a limousine. Then there was a ton of cars that just kept coming and coming.
When they left we started walking again. We saw a lot of graves. I spotted a grave that had broken. We walked and walked until we arrived at the Arlington house. George Washington had a step-son John. John had a sone George Washington Parke Custis. George then had a daughter Mary Custis. She married Robert E. Lee and they were the ones who lived in the house. They had 6 rooms on the bottom floor. Family parlor, office and study, morning room, ad the conservatory and garden. At the house they told you about each room and why they were important. When we were done looking at the house, we went to the Kennedy's graves. It was really sad but cool.
At the Holocaust museum I learned about the time of the Holocaust. It must've been a very hard time for all of the Jews. When we were done looking at the Holocaust exhibit, we went over to see Daniel's Story [the children's exhibit]. Daniel was a Jew back in the time of the Holocaust. He tells you about when his life was so fun. Then you get to see what happened when the Germans came in and took away everything He had to go to the ghetto and then to a concentration camp. I would've hated to be him. We got all the way to the concentration camp when a guard came and shoved us out. We went back there the next day to finish it.
When we were done looking at the Holocaust museum, we walked over to the [Capitol and the] Washington Monument. We took pictures and then went to find Mark.
When we found him, we walked over to the Martin Luther King Memorial. There was a big statue of Martin Luther King with a quote on the side. I took pictures and even saw one of Kyler's friends, Kevin.
Mark was so nice and took us out to dinner. We went to a place called Occidental. I ordered shrimp and french fries. The shrimp was absolutely disgusting and the french fries were absolutely delicious. When we finished our dinner we went back to our hotel and went to bed.
October 18, 2011
Today we went to the Air and Space Museum, National Archives, Ford's Theater (which was closed), Hard Rock Cafe, Museum of Natural History, Museum of American History, and the White House.
At the Air and Space Museum I saw lots of different things, There was a space shuttle, planes, and more. There was also a really cool section in the back where you get in a space shuttle and fight other space shuttles. My dad and I did this even though we had no idea what we were doing. He controlled where we were going while I just shot. We had a great time.
After we looked at some more cool shuttles and planes, we headed over to the space exhibit. It was very creative and I just loved how they did their model of the planet set up to be space.
The exhibit also had a place where you could learn about each planet and then take a quiz. I did earth and found out that it is the only lent with humans because it has the most oxygen. It also had 3 more things which I forgot. It was a really cool exhibit. I loved the Air and Space museum because it helped me learn more about our upcoming module, Space.
At the National Archives museum I saw the real documents of the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and the Constitution. I learned more about how and why they were written and documented. In the room where they were, there were a lot of guards and it was really dark. The guards were there to make sure nobody tole anything, and it was dark because it also protected the documents. Over the years, they had been put in sunlight and they got damaged, so now they keep them in the dark. That is also why you can't take pictures of them. After we had finished looking at the documents, we went over to the museum store. I had told Alex I would get her something and I had to get it. It took me a while until I finally decided on a long pencil for Alex, and a fat one for me. I checked out and we left.
I was very disappointed when we got to Ford's Theatre and it was closed. I still went to the store and bought myself a pencil. My mom and I wanted to go to the Peterson's House to see where Abrahm Lincoln died, but it was closed too.
We started to get hungry so we kept on walking until I spotted a restaurant, Hard Rock Cafe. It turned out to be the best place I had ever eaten. I ordered potato skins and they were delicious. While we were waiting for our food, my mom and I walked upstairs and looked at famous singer's pictures and autographs. It was really cool. When we all finished our food, my mom, dad, and I ordered a brownie sundae. It was so good. We all walked out of the restaurant, our stomachs so full.
We walked all the way over to the Museum of Natural History. At the museum, I saw dinosaurs,
fossils, ocean life, ice age exhibit, an exhibit about racism, and the Hope Diamond. The exhibit about racism was my favorite, It showed a video of different skin colored people talking about what happens at school. Like trying to find a place to sit at lunch, who you tried to hang out with, and what people turned them down because they're black or just because they're white. It helped me to understand the importance of letting people join a group with you and your friends even if they're a different color. The Hope Diamond was pretty cool too. It was like the most beautiful necklace I had ever seen I wonder if anyone has actually worn that before? That museum was pretty cool.
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