American History Museum

 

The violin was carried by soldier in the Civil War and was hand inscribed on the back where he went.

 

The girls enjoyed admiring the beautiful White House china that has been passed down through the generations by each first lady.  Then of course there were the ball gowns worn by the first ladies.  The one Francesca is standing next to in this picture is Mary Todd Lincoln's.

 

 

Dorothy's slippers...

 

 

 

A Visit with Old Friends

 

Our resting place that night was our old friends the Bryants.  Aerin, the mom was my old roommate and we stood up for each other in our weddings.  The children had a lovely time reaquanting themselves.  Then Francesca and Caroline played us a duet which was a real pleasure.  Finally, we wrapped up the evening with a round of Telestrations.  If you haven't played this game, it's a wonderful family game.  You can even mimick it with several pads of paper.  You sit in a circle.  Each person comes up with something they want to draw and writes it in words down on the first page.  You then turn the page and draw what you chose.  Once everyone has done that you pass to your left and each person looks at the drawing (not the word) and on the next available page writes the word or words for what they believe the drawing to be.  And so on, next person does a drawing and then the next person the word and so on until your pad of paper returns to you.  It's great fun to see what comes of it all and it is espcially fun if you can't draw and if you have children who are still learning to spell!

Air and Space Museum

 

In God's providence, there was a new display, at least to me, out in front of the Air and Space Museum that illustrated the distance between planets.  Ironically, we have been studying space in science with our co-op and had recently attempted to demonstrate the distance between planets using toilet paper stretched out along the street.  Pretty fun, but this was on quite a grander scale.

 

 This exhibit went on for a couple of city blocks to illustrate the distance between the different planets.  Take XX of steps to the next planet.  It was an excellent idea to give a spacial understanding.

 

 

Then inside the museum, there was of course an exorbinant amount to see.

 

 

 

 

There was an exhibit on the Wright Brothers and they showed the sheet music that was written to acknowledge their achievements.  You could listen to the music as well.

 

Here Addie is learning what it feels like to be a gyroscope.   Which was helpful as she had just purchased one as a souvenir.

 

 

 



Library of Congress

 

Our next stop was the Library of Congress.  My girls were very anxious to see this place....all those books in one place :)  But I had never been in the outer hall before and it looked like a slice of Europe.  The paintings on the ceiling and the columns.  Absolutley beautiful.

The Library stores one of the three complete copies of the Guetenberg Bible that exist in the world.  There were paintings surrounding the exhibit the illustrate the process of making a book and then Gutenberg at the very end of the cycle of paintings. 

Supreme Court "Stop"

On the way over to the Supreme Court, we passed the Capitol building, which is a beautiful site.  I remember when I was working there how my Dad told me to be leary of the day you pass it and don't admire how beautiful it is.

 

 

Our first stop was the Supreme Court.  They were reparing the columns, but it was still beautiful to see.

 

I thought it was interesting that the above engraving of the 10 commandments

is on the Supreme Court room doors.

Where We First Met

A little over fifteen years ago, Ron and I met on a blind date in Union Station in Washington, D.C.  The picture below of our girls is the place we met - right infront of the Godiva Chocolate store.  Over Spring Break we were able to see many sites and sounds in D.C. I will post each "stop" along the way separately.

As I mark time with this blog, I can't help but stop to honor my dear husband on our 15th Anniversary with this particular post.  He is the truest friend I've ever had.  I was commenting to one of my dear friends down in D.C. about the wisdom of God in giving me Ron.  His love is faithful and consistent and his wisdom, insight and understanding have been a great source of comfort to me as we face lifes blessings and sorrows together.  Ron has taught our family to look to Christ and to give him thanks for all His many blessings.  He is my beloved and my freind and I honor him for that and praise God for Him!

Kim's Beautiful Christmas Decorations

My dear sister-in-law, Kim, loves decorating at Christmas!  

It's a sheer pleasure to see what she comes up with each year.  She makes a special table for the children and it is always full of fun treats, decorations and the colors are of course beautiful! I love that God has given Kim the ability to create beautiful settings and has an wonderful imagination for creating in her own home.  It's a real tallent and one which all the DiGiacomos thoroughly enjoy!