Day 3 – We started with a tour of the National Archives. This day also happened to be my 40 birthday! My dear family all made a delicious breakfast and coffee for me and had decorated the motorhome with balloons and streamers while I was showering and yelled “surprise!” when I returned. It was fun!
Perhaps the most significant document in our country was right there before us, what started it all – the Declaration of Independence. Signed by 55 men, many to their own personal and financial ruin. We were all surprised at the very poor condition the original document is in. It is kept in a very dimly lit room to try to preserve it, but it is pretty hard to make out very many of the letters or signatures. The Constitution and Bill of Rights are in much better shape. Luke got to “sign” his name to the Declaration via computer technology and they printed a copy for us with his name added on the bottom.
Learning about the National Archives and the process they go through saving, cataloging and preserving anything with historic significance made me see myself as a kind of “archiver” of our family’s history – and wishing for a staff to help with all those piles of history!
This day we also took in the Natural History Museum. The Hope diamond resides here and Luke has been fascinated with jewels for a while so it was fun to see his expression. It’s just a ton of fun to go to all these free museums and see the absolute best, biggest, oldest, etc. of everything. The Natural History also has some wonderful animal exhibits, but was over-the-top evolutionary in their interpretations. Theory espoused completely as fact.
Having the ratio of 4 adults to 4 kids gives us some neat options for getting the most out of the museums as we can divide into smaller groups and see what interests more people. Today Luke, Adri and I stayed longer at this museum and the rest went to the American History Museum to spend an hour and came out realizing we all needed a lot more time there so we made plans to go back another day.
We went to dinner for my birthday at a seafood place on Chesapeake Bay called Thursdays. It was built on a dock and had good food and views. And then cake and ice cream back at camp -- 40 has been a very special birthday.
Day 4 – This morning we got to sleep in a little as our tour of the Capitol started at 11:30. This proved to be our least favorite tour due to the fact that the Capitol was very crowded and our tour group was quite large. We felt a bit like cattle being herded around. But the information on the House and Senate was good and our tour guide’s explanations of the artwork in the Capitol rotunda was interesting. In hindsight, we would go directly to our senator/congressman’s office when we got to D.C. and see if we could get a more intimate tour from an aide perhaps. We had hoped to see the Senate in session, but they had recessed for the day, and the House wasn’t meeting at all that day so, we didn’t get to see the process working.
After lunch, we headed to the Holocaust Memorial. It is hard but so essential to be reminded of the evil that is possible within people and also the amazing oppression that other people can bear. For ourselves and our kids, learning to deal with the vengeful thoughts those images raise was important.
This day ended up being a difficult one for us – whether from lack of sleep, weariness from the busy days, emotional & relational stress – compounded by the gray water tank filling up and backing up into the shower in the motorhome where we store our laundry -- yes, this was one of the harder evenings of our trip. Thank God for the grace He gives us to talk through things and forgive each other's grumpiness and selfishness.
Day 5 – We had to leave the campground at 5:45am as our first tour was an early one at the White House. Security was the tightest here – couldn’t even have a pen with you. A secret service agent gave us the tour and he was very knowledgeable and gave some neat insights into the rooms, artwork, furnishings, and president's lives as we walked through. We felt a kinship with the presidents when we saw we have a piece of artwork from the same artist as hangs over one of the White House mantles. Of course, theirs is original :).
This day was September 12th -- our 17th anniversary and the day of a very huge march in Washington D.C. as we discovered. It was fun to get to walk in and amongst those thousands of Americans who are trying to give President Obama a message about how he's choosing to spend taxpayers' money. The city was very crowded this day and we shared visiting the monuments with lots of other tourists/marchers. I think this was one of our favorite days in the city. Maybe we're getting used to all the walking. We got to see Ford's theater where President Lincoln was shot and walked through more exhibits in the American History Museum. Some of our favorites here -- the actual flag that inspired "the Star-Spangled Banner", the 1st Ladies gowns, and the war exhibits.
The monuments and memorials are awesome -- so huge, beautiful, thought-provoking. Our country has an amazing heritage. Sentences carved everywhere in this city bespeak our dependence on a Sovereign God and principles from his Word. We thoroughly enjoyed our 5 days here and would come back again to spend more hours in the museums and see a few missed sites.
Where Congress decides it all
That's one big rock! The Natural History Museum
Celebrating Anne's 40th
Clowning around at the monuments
WWII memorial and the Lincoln Monument
Abe and Us The Vietnam Memorial
Perhaps the most significant document in our country was right there before us, what started it all – the Declaration of Independence. Signed by 55 men, many to their own personal and financial ruin. We were all surprised at the very poor condition the original document is in. It is kept in a very dimly lit room to try to preserve it, but it is pretty hard to make out very many of the letters or signatures. The Constitution and Bill of Rights are in much better shape. Luke got to “sign” his name to the Declaration via computer technology and they printed a copy for us with his name added on the bottom.
Learning about the National Archives and the process they go through saving, cataloging and preserving anything with historic significance made me see myself as a kind of “archiver” of our family’s history – and wishing for a staff to help with all those piles of history!
This day we also took in the Natural History Museum. The Hope diamond resides here and Luke has been fascinated with jewels for a while so it was fun to see his expression. It’s just a ton of fun to go to all these free museums and see the absolute best, biggest, oldest, etc. of everything. The Natural History also has some wonderful animal exhibits, but was over-the-top evolutionary in their interpretations. Theory espoused completely as fact.
Having the ratio of 4 adults to 4 kids gives us some neat options for getting the most out of the museums as we can divide into smaller groups and see what interests more people. Today Luke, Adri and I stayed longer at this museum and the rest went to the American History Museum to spend an hour and came out realizing we all needed a lot more time there so we made plans to go back another day.
We went to dinner for my birthday at a seafood place on Chesapeake Bay called Thursdays. It was built on a dock and had good food and views. And then cake and ice cream back at camp -- 40 has been a very special birthday.
Day 4 – This morning we got to sleep in a little as our tour of the Capitol started at 11:30. This proved to be our least favorite tour due to the fact that the Capitol was very crowded and our tour group was quite large. We felt a bit like cattle being herded around. But the information on the House and Senate was good and our tour guide’s explanations of the artwork in the Capitol rotunda was interesting. In hindsight, we would go directly to our senator/congressman’s office when we got to D.C. and see if we could get a more intimate tour from an aide perhaps. We had hoped to see the Senate in session, but they had recessed for the day, and the House wasn’t meeting at all that day so, we didn’t get to see the process working.
After lunch, we headed to the Holocaust Memorial. It is hard but so essential to be reminded of the evil that is possible within people and also the amazing oppression that other people can bear. For ourselves and our kids, learning to deal with the vengeful thoughts those images raise was important.
This day ended up being a difficult one for us – whether from lack of sleep, weariness from the busy days, emotional & relational stress – compounded by the gray water tank filling up and backing up into the shower in the motorhome where we store our laundry -- yes, this was one of the harder evenings of our trip. Thank God for the grace He gives us to talk through things and forgive each other's grumpiness and selfishness.
Day 5 – We had to leave the campground at 5:45am as our first tour was an early one at the White House. Security was the tightest here – couldn’t even have a pen with you. A secret service agent gave us the tour and he was very knowledgeable and gave some neat insights into the rooms, artwork, furnishings, and president's lives as we walked through. We felt a kinship with the presidents when we saw we have a piece of artwork from the same artist as hangs over one of the White House mantles. Of course, theirs is original :).
This day was September 12th -- our 17th anniversary and the day of a very huge march in Washington D.C. as we discovered. It was fun to get to walk in and amongst those thousands of Americans who are trying to give President Obama a message about how he's choosing to spend taxpayers' money. The city was very crowded this day and we shared visiting the monuments with lots of other tourists/marchers. I think this was one of our favorite days in the city. Maybe we're getting used to all the walking. We got to see Ford's theater where President Lincoln was shot and walked through more exhibits in the American History Museum. Some of our favorites here -- the actual flag that inspired "the Star-Spangled Banner", the 1st Ladies gowns, and the war exhibits.
The monuments and memorials are awesome -- so huge, beautiful, thought-provoking. Our country has an amazing heritage. Sentences carved everywhere in this city bespeak our dependence on a Sovereign God and principles from his Word. We thoroughly enjoyed our 5 days here and would come back again to spend more hours in the museums and see a few missed sites.
Where Congress decides it all
That's one big rock! The Natural History Museum
Celebrating Anne's 40th
Clowning around at the monuments
WWII memorial and the Lincoln Monument
Abe and Us The Vietnam Memorial
The White House
All I can say is WOW!!!!! So many wonderful places!!!! I give you all props for spending so much quality time together in tight quarters. I think you are probably doing amazing together!!!!!! And last but not least HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteJosh, Stacy, and Hallel
Happy (belated) 40th Birthday, Anne! What great memories you all are building together. :)
ReplyDeleteAmy
WoW!!! What an amazing time you all must be having! Great Pictures! We are praying for safe travels ~ Blessings, The Caplans
ReplyDelete