Monday thru Thursday we were on our own, so I did my best to not rush the children and stop and return to the hotel when the they asked. Of course we didn't see as much as we would have otherwise, but we had a great time and no meltdowns. Mission accomplished.
In order to let K and D see to some of the sights they had learned about recently in school, I wanted to take them to the National Mall. How to do that when you're solo with 4 kids ages 7 and under? A tour bus! I highly recommend it. We took the metro to Union Station, where we boarded a double decker bus we could go on and off as we pleased. We got to see the Washington monument, which was what K wanted to see most. We spent a lot of time at the Jefferson Memorial, including eating lunch. It was a bummer the cherry blossoms we still buds instead of in bloom, but we had frozen lemonade, so it was all good. I had never seen the FDR one and the children loved it. K was super happy she could show a picture of herself with Eleanor Roosevelt to her teacher since she had just done her American Leader report on her. A lot of other sights were simply seen from the top of the bus. I am glad I listed to them because by the time we made it back to the hotel it was time for dinner. Once again, I highly recommend the tour bus! I cannot think of an easier way to visit the National Mall with little ones. It was great and the weather was too.
Tuesday we rode the metro again, this time to the Smithsonian stop. The Natural History museum is a must, right? After battling the crowds in there for a while we headed downstairs to the cafeteria for lunch. It was while waiting in that hideously long line a kind father behind me explained there was a brown out and places like they had been, the Air and Space Museum, had been closed. After an insanely expensive lunch, we chilled out by the fountains in front of the American History Museum before going in. We only saw the USS Philadelphia, the First Ladies exhibit, and the carriage that took the Lincoln family to the Ford Theater for the last time, but once again, I was there for the kids and happy to see whatever new thing I could. My parents raised me with the motto of "quality, not quantity" and that came in handy for us five adventurers.
For little miss's birthday we drove to Baltimore to spend the day at the National Aquarium. I loved Baltimore as a kid visiting my Grandpa when he lived there. I was so happy I could take my kids to a place I thought was amazing and see them enjoy it too. The aquarium did not disappoint anything except my bank account. Lol. We let N be the boss since she was the birthday girl and she milked it. After a while she got pretty sick of all that water and when she would turn a corner and see another tank, she would point and indicate to move on. When we arrived at our Residence Inn hotel room Husband had made us dinner and was happy to hear all about our day. The Elsa cake made by the local grocery store had been delivered and we had a blast singing to our freshly minted 2-year-old and taking leftovers to Daddy's co-workers.
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