Thursday in D.C. dawned mercifully sunny.
We got an early-morning FaceTime with Daddy and then relaxed with a granola breakfast in around a sunny table. After Jeddy's online math class while I did schoolwork with the girls, we hopped the Metro (thankfully, without umbrellas) to Capitol South.
We lunched at the highly-rated We the Pizza.
Then on to the Capitol!
There was a guy at the door with the biggest gun I've ever seen who asked me if I was carrying any aerosols or... something else that I can't remember, to which I squeaked out a petrified negative. Inside there was heavy security, and we were told that if our very flimsy adhesive tags came off of our coats, the Capitol police were authorized to arrest us.
Alrighty then.
Each tour used nifty little headsets so we could hear only our own tour guide but lots of tours could be going all at once.
We saw the rotunda
and the old House and Senate rooms.
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| old Senate chamber |
And we visited the gift shop, where I bought Caleb and Lizzy enormous chocolate Capitol domes, but we could find nothing interesting for Jason.
Next stop was the National Postal Museum, which was a big hit.
It had airplanes,
a stagecoach,
a mail train car,
a dogsled, trucks, and a package sorting station, where you had to throw boxes into the correct bags as quickly as possible.
That part was a big hit.
After hitting the Corner Bakery Cafe for snacks, we headed home via Metro, even changing trains at Metro Center without losing anyone.
After navigating Capitol security, personal headsets, a guided tour, All the Mail Things, a bakery menu, and Metro Center at rush hour; without anyone getting shot, arrested, lost, or run over..... I was pretty whipped. I couldn't even face making dinner until after we had read our new book (On the Loose in Washington, D.C.) and had a FaceTime with Jason, who looked as tired that night as I was.
I finally gathered the strength to fix some soup and heat up some bread.
And dessert was taken care of.
I got the littles to bed while Ada loaded the dishwasher and Jeddy did his math, and then we all collapsed.
On Friday I woke up at 5:30am, mentally packing. My alarm went off at 6 to pray and read the Bible, and after a shower and some fried eggs, we were packing for real. It took us two trips to the parking garage to load up the car, and then we headed back onto the Metro to spend our last day in the city looking at art.
I had downloaded the National Gallery of Art's app that has a great audio guide for kids which we intended to follow. Unfortunately it was slightly unclear whether one was actually allowed to use said app... some docents seemed glad that we were learning to appreciate art with the provided resources.... others, not so much. I eventually compromised by listening to the tour on tiny tiny volume.
Still, the kids have demonstrated impressive retention. Lizzy pointed out a portrait of Napoleon in a book at home that we had seen in real life that I didn't even remember at first.
It was amazing how much beautiful art we have there.
We lunched on sandwiches, chips, and cookies at an espresso bar downstairs, and then went back upstairs to view still more art. By the end, Caleb was flopping on the couch in each room, not even moving when we moved to the next gallery. It was probably time to go.
We Metro'd one last time, found the car, and gratefully drove out of the city before the worst of rush hour hit.
Homecoming was sweet; we were glad to see our bunny again; we unpacked and I felt immense relief to be home.
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