Yorktown

The next day we headed to Yorktown to see just how the troops of the Revolutionary War lived. These tents were the soldiers homes whether it was winter or summer. As many as 6-8 would sleep in one tent. I don't know how they didn't die of heat exhaustion if it was anything like when we were there.
Tyler tried on a few costumes to look authentic.

Tyler then was asked to pretend to be the doctor and remove a bullet out of the workers hand. After looking at the tools Tyler used, it's a wonder anyone survived.

The favorite part of Yorktown was staying in the air-conditioned museum and trying on different clothes. The kids even watched the cannon shot from the windows inside. It was another fun day learning about the history of our nation. Emily did say on our way back to the hotel that she doesn't want to see anymore old buildings for the rest of the trip.

Jamestown

We made it down to the middle of Virginia to visit Jamestown. It was great to see one of the first settlements in the U.S. It certainly is surprising that anyone survived.

I love this picture. The real reason we came to Virginia to vacation was a tumbling competition for Megan. She did a warm-up run the morning we visited Jamestown and hurt her ankle. We made her ride in a wheelchair the rest of the day so that she would be ready for the competition. We did get a lot of strange looks---especially when she would see something she wanted to do and run at full speed. I personally think she just wanted to ride because it was hot and she's way too big for a stroller.

The kids loved working the fur off this skin to see the "leather."

The favorite part of Jamestown was the ships. They have replicas that are perfect for exploring.

These are the beds in the ships. I hope they weren't very tall.

The cannons are always a draw.

Tyler loved dressing up like the explorers of the time in the fort/village.

Emily and Megan are very grateful for the food we eat when they saw what the settlers ate.

Tyler loved that chickens ran through the houses and even the church in Jamestown.

Emily tried her hand at protecting the fort.

After Jamestown, we headed to Colonial Williamsburg. This was the best thing we found, the stockade. The kids fought to get in it. They were also fascinated with the noose that hung from a giant tree.

Williamsburg is a great city to visit. All the buildings are red brick and very well built. The settlers came a long way in a short amount of time.

Tyler decided he is glad he lives now after he saw some recreations of the times.

The changing of guard at Williamsburg.

Mount Vernon

After walking around the D.C. area, we headed south into the heart of Virginia. We stopped at Mt. Vernon to let the kids see just who George Washington was. Unfortunately, with the heat, they were more interested in finding shade than hearing the tourguide.

They did like the huge porch that overlooked the Potomac River in the front of the house. George Washington did have an awesome house.

The house is just as impressive as Washington himself. At least the adults came away with a better sense of who our Founding Father was. The kids maybe will remember a little when they get to U.S. History and think, "Oh, yeah! We went there, but spent an awful lot of time in the giftshop."

Dancing Maniacs

I am still working on catching up the blog, but I just have to say we love this game lately. Jeff and Taycina brought it to our house a couple of weekends ago and the kids have not stopped talking about it. In fact, Tyler played it in school and was the class champion. He danced his way to first round after round and even beat the major dancer in his class. Who would have guessed that a Wii game would break some of Tyler's shyness shell? His teacher was completely in shock as were we. I guess we all have hidden talents. Emily and Megan can sure shake it also. We can't wait to get the game ourselves. We highly recommend this game not just for fun, but also a great way to exercise.

Washington, D.C.

On Day 3 we hit the pavement running and didn't stop until late that night. Our first stop was the National Archives building to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. No cameras are allowed so the best we could do was a picture of the building. Luckily we had strollers and lots of kids so we didn't have to wait as long and the ushers moved us right up. We couldn't decide if the workers were being helpful or just wanted us gone.

Ready to head into the building to see the documents.

After the archives we literally ran to Ford's Theater. This is where President Lincoln was shot. It was still early in the day and it was already hot.

Under the theater is a cool museum displaying different times in Lincoln's life. For some reason the kids loved these statues and played with them while we waited to go in the theater.

This is the inside of the theater. It is still used for performances, but the box where Lincoln sat is roped off.

Tyler tried to find any shade he could.

From the theater we hoofed it over to the capitol. One of Natalie and Doug's friends works at the capitol and gave us a private tour. We got to go in the basement and then worked our way up.

This is the middle of the capitol and is supposed to give good luck if you stand on it. Poor Emily looks like she needs more than luck with Megan.

Inside the Halls of the Statues.

We had to get a picture by Brigham Young from Utah.

After our tour of the capitol, we made our way to the Library of Congress. This is probably the prettiest building we saw. The pictures we took just doesn't do it justice.

Tyler really just wanted to see some of the rooms from the National Treasure movie in the Library.

The capitol in the background.

Now off to see the White House. Tickets were non-existent so the best we could do was look on from the fences. Tyler did like seeing the snipers on top of the White House and watching the secret service patrol the area.

On the way to the Washington Memorial the kids found a pond. They started off just wading.

But in about 2 minutes, Spencer was swimming and Megan was up to her neck. It was so hot we all wanted to do the same. I'm not sure how respectful it is to swim in a monument pond, but we had to let the kids cool off somehow.

And so with sopping wet kids we headed to the elevators of the Washington Monument. From the windows at the top we could see all of Washington D.C. from every angle.

This is inside the Monument.

It really is tall.

We walked so much that day that the National Mall became familiar territory.

We were just running out of daylight. Luckily, the monuments are open late and lit up. It really was pretty seeing them at night.

Again the kids were drawn to water. This is the WWII monument. We had never seen this one before. It is really pretty with fountains and lights all around.

And finally we made it to the Lincoln Memorial. Tyler was trying his hand at picture taking. The pictures we have are a little fuzzy, but he tried really hard and by this point we had walked and walked so far we counted it as good.

This is really quite impressive in real life. And with this last memorial we did it all. It really is possible to see almost all of D.C. in a day even with kids. We didn't make it back to Natalie's until midnight and our feet felt like lead, but it was worth it.

Smithsonians

Day 2 landed us at the subway headed to the Smithsonian museums in Washington D.C.

There is just something about the subways that Tyler loves. Shocking considering he hates dirt and bad smells.

We first went to the Museum of American History. The kids loved the hands on exhibits and the children's area.

Ships and boats are always a favorite.

Tyler, Spencer, and James got to help carry a flag through the museum and learn how to fold it correctly.

Emily liked the Kermit and the shoes from the Wizard of Oz.

Megan liked the science demonstrations.

The boys had to have C3PO in a picture.

From the American History museum we headed over to the Museum of Natural History. This is the one the kids really wanted to see. Many of the exhibits were marked as seen from the Night at the Museum movies.

Megan loved the giant jellyfish.

Emily looks a little scared in this picture.

The dinosaurs were very popular with the kids. It's interesting going through these museums with 6 kids. Basically you don't read anything. We just looked for seconds and then ran to another area. Who really needs to know what we saw anyway?

On the steps of the museum catching our breath before heading to the Air and Space Museum. Don't ask me why we sat outside when it was blazing hot again.

The exhibits at the Air and Space Museum are very cool for the kids. There are a ton of hands on things for them to do. Here they are trying their hand at operating the controls of a plane.

Tyler is trying really hard not to let the spinning wheel turn him around on the chair.

The kids all made paper airplanes and entered a contest. The finals round ended up being Emily and Spencer. Spencer pulled off the win, but we were pretty impressed with our kids ability to fly paper planes through a hula-hoop. Another fun and busy day.

We were thrilled that there is a pool near Natalie's house. It was so hot the kids nearly knocked everyone down getting to the water after their long day of museums.