Washington DC - Day 10

This morning, we headed into the city for one last visit. We started with a walk over to the Jefferson Memorial, which I think maybe I've not seen before. Aside from the walk being really hot, it was a great side trip (bonus: our first view of the tidal basin).

We then met Jaydee and Téa for food-truck-lunch, including some delicious crêpes and fresh made doughnuts. We walked from lunch to the Capitol for our scheduled tour. We got to see the Rotunda, statuary hall, and the crypt.

The late afternoon, we spent in. The Air and Space Museum, which was the highlight for Maya. We had a great time actually, in a cool exhibit about "how things fly," which Maya actually volunteered to help during. We met up with Brian Williamson, headed back to Silver Spring on the train, and then met Brian Sivitz (and Claire and Tyler) for dinner.

Washington DC - Day 9

Today (father's day) we went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Cora LOVED the three-flipper end turtle (Calypso), and Maya enjoyed the 4D SpongeBob movie. After the aquarium, we came back to Brian and Sarah's house. The kids played, the grown ups ran, Tim cooked dinner, and several friends came over to eat. It was a lovely day.

Washington DC - Day 8

Saturday morning, we headed out relatively early for Mount Vernon (with Brian and Tyler). We toured the house and grounds, saw George giving an interpretive talk, etc. They had an adventure map for the kids to complete as they toured; if they finished it correctly, they got a free prize in the gift shop. Maya thought that was fun. We grabbed a quick lunch before heading out.

In the afternoon, we met Sarah and Claire (who had a birthday party to attend in the morning) at the National Harbor. They had a carousel (we've done a lot of carousels on this trip), a playground, a little beach/sandbox, and the capital wheel, a huge Ferris wheel right on the water. We frolicked, had some dinner, got some cupcakes, fought a nightmare of a parking garage parking jam, and headed home.

Washington DC - Day 7

On Friday, we started with a morning at Wheaton Park, which contains a carousel, an old-fashioned train (closed because of wet tracks), and a huge playground (with a sandbox). The kids had a great time. We followed it up with a picnic lunch that finished just before the rain started. 

From the park, we headed into DC with Jaydee and Téa. Tim braved the deluge for a mile long walk to the cathedral. The rest of us took a short walk to the Phillips Collection. The Phillips Collection notably contains Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party. They also had a great discovery pack for kids, which Maya really enjoyed. However, the museum was the most pompous one I've ever visited, and the docents were really unfriendly. They would creepily stand really nearby, eavesdrop on our conversations, and never say ANYTHING. It was like their goal was to encourage us to move along. Even so, Maya really enjoyed the museum and got a lot out of it. Tim also saw quite a bit at the cathedral (after the weather cleared). We finished the day with dinner in Ellicott City with Brian, Claire, and Tyler.