Being Tourist in DC

Yesterday we finally visited Washington, D.C. and acted the tourist all day. It was so fun. We visited one time previously, but only saw the zoo and Union station. This was a much busier day and it was so much fun. The kids were total champs and we had the best time. Months earlier I had bought a "groupon" for a "hop-on hop-off" bus tour of DC. We were so excited to finally get to use them. Plus the weather was amazing and the perfect day in DC. 

We parked at a parking garage near the bus station and then loaded our double-decker bus. This was my kids' first time on a double-decker bus and they were totally in love. 

Tucker loved sitting up so high and getting to feel the wind on his face as all the tall buildings flashed by. Tanner loved that the bus station gave us a map with all the stops labeled. He loved locating the different monuments and buildings and following the route the bus would take to get us to each one.   

Our first stop was the capitol building. We didn't actually tour the capitol building but we told the kids about what went on at the capitol and how it was an important part of our government's system. Tanner was very interested, Bailey and Tucker could have cared less.  

Then instead of waiting for another bus, we just walked the few blocks over to the "Air & Space Museum". This was a fun stop. It was a little old for Bailey and Tucker, but Tanner enjoyed learning about space shuttles and moon rocks. Here the kids are touching a piece of the moon.

And we saw the lunar module- it was so weird to see it in person- it literally looked like a school science project. I couldn't imagine that thing actually functioning in space. 

Surprisingly, one of the kid's favorite things about the "Air and Space" museum was the map navigation. It was a large touch screen. You could touch any bubble, that contained different topics and then it was tell you were that item was located inside the museum. Pretty cool. The kids just loved touching buttons. 

At one point I looked around for Tucker and found him under this table petting this stone dog.  

Eventually he recruited Tanner and Bailey into his shenanigans.

We learned this particular breed of dog was known as a sea dog and sailors took them on board to rescue men who fell overboard. These dogs were exceptional swimmers- kind of cool!

We also toured this space station. Inside was a model of a space shower. Tanner thought that was pretty cool!

Before leaving the museum, we bought some space ice cream. The kids enjoyed their space food and it was pretty comical to watch them eat. 

We met my dear friend Kim and hung out together for a little while. We grabbed lunch inside the museum as well. Then we walked over to the "Washington Monument".
Kim was so cute with my kids. She's such a mother hen and was constantly making sure all the kids were accounted for. I can't wait to see her with her own children one day. 

Coincidentally, Bailey was assigned the class pet for the weekend, so we took her stuffed frog all over DC with us. Bailey wanted a picture with "Froggy" in front of the Washington Monument. 

After the Washington monument, we said goodbye to Kim and continued on to the "Natural History Museum". This was a pretty fun stop too. 

The kids loved the skeletal exhibit. It showed the skeletons of so many different species of animals. It was pretty awesome. 

Then we went by the dinosaur exhibit. This was a huge hit with the kids. 

And lastly we saw the hope diamond. How gorgeous is this thing? 

After finishing at the "Natural History Museum" we hopped back on the bus and rode it around the city. Isn't this view of DC beautiful. 

It was a very enjoyable tour. Our tour guide was very funny and had lots of historical and entertaining facts about the city. Both Tucker and Bailey passed out on me during the bus ride. Which was kind of perfect. We rode around looking at different sites and learning so much while they had much needed naps. Then when they woke up, we hopped off again and continued on foot. 

Our next stop was Tanner's favorite. He had been dying to see the Lincoln Memorial and was so thrilled to finally be there. 

On the side of the memorial wall was the Gettysburg address and Tanner recited the first paragraph by heart and then read the remaining two paragraphs with Chris' help. It was pretty cool to see Tanner so happy about visiting the memorial of one of his favorite historical figures. He's become such a little history buff. 

These three- they were such troopers all day long. 

After the "Lincoln Memorial" we hopped back onto our bus and rode over to the White House. We hopped off again and walked over there. The kids were so cute. There were street musicians playing as we walked by and they were dancing and walking hand in hand. I love them!

Then we finally got to see the white House and took a picture in front of it. Tanner was shocked to see the guards outside the gates. It was funny to hear Tanner explaining about who lived inside the white house- Bailey just hung on every word. They are so funny. 

Then we hopped back on our bus and rode it back to the parking garage. It was a very full day and the kids did amazing. The bus tour was the perfect way to see the city and it worked wonderfully.
We felt like we got to see all the major sites and the amazing fall weather made it even more enjoyable. I'm so glad we got to check this day off our bucket list. Our weekends in VA are numbered and I can hardly believe how soon we are going home!