One Last Post About Montana....

Found this old post that I never posted... this was last summer,

boy have the kids changed a lot!

Love these pictures of Christian with the kids...

this was our last night in Montana! What a great way to end our visit, enjoying soda floats around the campfire and setting off some sparklers!

Our Nations Cathedral and the National Zoo

Today was so suffocatingly hot, we all felt crabby and quickly scratched our plans for riding bikes along the Potomac River...that will have to be another day!

Instead we ventured by car to a different area of D.C....Washington's National Cathedral!  I am so glad we took the time to visit because the feelings of peace that was felt as we took the tour and heard about the history was overwhelming.  To learn that it took 83 years to build, the wood for all the choir area was taken from the trees cleared from the land where the cathedral sits, that it was paid for by private donations, and that in order of statehood each state is prayed for throughout the year was so moving!  In the middle of the tour we were asked to pause and bow our heads as a prayer was prayed throughout the Cathedral.  Another thing we noticed was the different needlepoint cushions that adorned the seats honoring different Americans in history...in the children's prayer room little needlepoint cushions adorned the small seats with lambs, butterflies, and flowers.

The Flying Buttresses

 The National Cathedral from different angles

Absolutely overwhelming to see!

The Children's Prayer room

Needlepoint Cushions

Painting by N.C. Wyeth

Beautiful houses near the Cathedral

 

We then drove over to the National Zoo to take a very quick visit in the 95 degree weather!

It's actually a very small zoo and the thing we noticed was that we could get very close to the animals

which of course thrilled me!

 

 

 

Thomas Visits the Air and Space Museum

Today we ventured back into the city for another day of Museums!  We finished up the Natural History Museum and then headed over to the Air and Space Museum....WOW!

This was a lot more fun than I was expecting.  We attended an IMAX on the Space Shuttles, visited the Wright Brothers exhibit, seeing THE plane they first designed and flew, and visited the war plane exhibit going inside an aircraft carrier and watching the planes take off.  Thomas was thrilled the whole time saying as we left tonight..."Thank you for bringing me here you guys!"

 

Lunchtime was spent on the Mall....

with the Capitol building in the background

 

 

Sillyness on the National Mall

The kids loved seeing this cappybara after recently reading the

storybook called "Cappyboppy"

 

Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Amelia Earhart's Plane

 The Wright Brother's Airplane

Huge! Such an amazing exhibit....

One Happy Boy!

 

Museums, Museums, and More Museums

Today we spent almost the whole day in one of the fifteen museums that make up the Smithsonian.
The American History Museum was packed with AMAZING exhibits!

Here is our families favorites....

Dad: Seeing the Star Spangled Banner flag in all its glory...the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write our countries national anthem during the war of 1812
Mom: Julia Childs Kitchen, totally recreated with all of her things...refrigerator, pots and pans, and stove and oven etc.  Totally cool exhibit! Over in the Natural History Museum seeing all the rare and beautiful gems made into jewelry, this is where the Hope Diamond is on display...
Katherine: the first ladies ball gowns
Elizabeth: the exhibit on all the our different presidents, Dorothy's red slippers worn by Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz and the huge dollhouse
Mary: Getting to see a real Matchlock Gun (We just read the book called "The Matchlock Gun" a very amazing story indeed!)
Caroline: Seeing cousin Brent (he is 24!) who joined us at the museums and the LIVE butterfly exhibit
Thomas: getting to see a huge helicopter that was in the Vietnam War

 

The daily adventure~our trip into the city via the metro...

Katherine and Lizzy figuring out the route!

The Natural History Museum