Last Installment of Vacationing with Mamarazzi

Okay...so lest you think that after walking Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown settlement and Mt. Vernon...intermixed with climbing trees and swimming laps, that we were finished with our "site-seeing"...

Um, that would be a negative...

We thought it would be a great idea to force our children to walk, without a stroller, for hours on end, in the drizzle-rain and overcast day in order to see our Nation's capitol...where, I must admit they were sorely disappointed in President Obama whom did not allow them admittance into the White House...but we're just going to blame it on the postal system for now...

Don't get me wrong...we had a great time in D.C. and we know that when we return some day, the memory of seeing certain buildings and walking the mall will cause them to enjoy it all the more...

however, in the middle of carrying 2 umbrellas, 2 backpacks, and a heavy three year old after a week's worth of physical exertion, well, I won't say it was our brightest plan:)

We were fortunate enough to happen upon the Washington Monument first thing, where we learned that we must obtain tickets for a later appointment in order to ride to the top!  And so, we scurried to the ticket office and then started on our way to the White House.  We were all anxious to see their garden and see if we could catch a glimpse of anyone important...the flag was flying, so we knew he was at least home:)

We had a 12:10 reserved tour at the Capitol and so we started hoofin' it pretty fast...I was ubber impressed with the Capitol tour...the girls loved the headphones and our tour guide was a hoot!  He not only was knowledgeable, but you could tell that he loved his job.  The girls still comment that it was this tour that was their favorite thing during our DC visit.

Seeing as we made haste to get to the tour on time, we by-passed anything else along the way and our feet were not thanking us...we had a great and filling lunch in the Capitol's cafe...It was quite endearing to see older couples strolling along...one elderly gentlemen came over and put his arm on my Italian Stallion's shoulder and asked him if he had a shotgun b/c he would need it someday with all his little girls:)  It made my heart glad to hear words of encouragement from someone, even in the heart of D.C.

We had that other reserved ticket for the monument and so we quickly ate and started on our way once again...to the tune of, "I think I have blisters on my feet" and "can we go to the hotel and swim?"

We did make a quick stop into the Air and Space museum where Peanut led us straight to the Wright brothers and gave us her quick snopsis of her knowledge concerning these flying genius'. 

And then, we were out the door again and wearing out the soles of our old tennis shoes...

I've got to say that our girls were real troupers...I joke about the "feet hurting", etc..but really, they were great and were in awe of the comparison between colonial Williamsburg Capitol and our current one...

The Washington Monument was great and a few Marine accompanied us to the top...you want to see little girls squealing in an elevator??  I had to keep them from stepping on their shined up shoes...

The Lincoln Memorial was our last stop before the long trek back to the car...we thought it quite interesting that Peanut found a penny on the way there...we thought we'd show it off:)

So there you have it...our trip in 3 posts:)  It was educational, enjoyable and definitely something we'll like remembering...

As I mentioned yesterday of my overwhelming feelings that have bubbled up due to an over-crowded schedule this month...I'll apologize now if I don't make it back here on a regular basis, but I will try...