Sweet Family Times

It was our last day in Washington, DC. The weather was very nice...sunny, high 30s... but schools were still closed!!! Dear hubby, who has plowed snow for 20+ years, noticed (repeatedly) that they did not take care of roads and parking lots properly, therefore, instead of getting back to business, so to speak, after a snowstorm, the region remains shut down. Honestly, plowing is hard on equipment, expensive, and a pain in the neck for the operator. The local gov'ts do not budget a lot of money for snow removal...and why should they when the whole "snow situation" clears up on its own in a couple of days?!
Anyway, we spent our last day in DC. Because of the bad weather the last 2 days, we did not get to see all that we wanted to, but we still had a great time. Today we visited the Smithsonian Air & Space museum, Natural History Museum, Washington Monument and the National Archives. I really wanted to get to the National Gallery of Art and the American History Museum, but time and energy failed us. We all returned to the hotel tonight with aching feet and sore muscles...we did a lot of walking!!! Poor Annie fell asleep on Daddy's shoulders as he carried her to the Metro station from the National Archives. And poor Daddy's back, carrying her all that way!
Going to the Archives was a treat for me. Since we are studying American History with Serendipity, I really, really wanted to get a peek at the Declaration and the Constitution...um, I mean show the kids. It was the end of the day and everyone was tired, but the kids grudgingly agreed to accommodate me and we walked the few blocks to the Archive building. I think they are happy they did, but they may not admit it for a few years;) The lights are low in the building so as to not damage the documents and there is no flash photography. Good thing I just figured out (on this trip) how to turn the flash off on my camera. I was able to take some decent pictures of the documents (even the Magna Carta!!!) But, as I was taking a picture of one of the pages of the Constitution, my flash went off! Loud gasps sounded all around me and the Government workers said, "No flash photography, please." I. was. mortified. I apologized profusely and tried to explain that had I turned the flash off, and I didn't know what happened...The worker smiled and said it was OK. How embarrassing!
We came back to the hotel and we all went swimming and in the hot tub. It was really good for our tired muscles. While the boys and Dad played Marco Polo, I helped Annie practice swimming. She's getting good at it and can doggie paddle her way across the pool with her floatie bathing suit on. She was so excited and said, "Let's do this every night!" Now while I agree with her that it is better than watching TV, it's going to be a little difficult to manage back in New Hampshire (we haven't installed the indoor pool yet:))
Well, off to bed. If I know my husband, we'll be off bright and early in the morning.
I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to take this trip. Being here really inspires patriotism. What a beautiful capital city we have, with amazing treasures within it. We should be proud to be Americans; even when we have serious issues with our president's policies(and I really do), there is still reason to be proud.