Spring Break: Washington D.C. - Day 1

What a fabulous trip! Maybe I loved Washington D.C. so much because it was such a much needed break from New York City for me, but I loved this city. It was beautiful... and clean! It was amazing and inspiring to be surrounded by such history.

We caught the train from Penn Station early Thursday morning. We quickly figured out the new metro rail system in D.C. and within no time had our bags dropped off at our hotel and were off for a great day of exploring and sight-seeing.

First shot just off the subway. Everyone was so excited to see the "big long nose." When John lived in Virginia as a boy he always referred to the Washington Monument as the "big long nose" and now our children do too. They think it is hilarious. I think Connor must have said "Look! It's the 'big long nose'!" at least 50 times.

First on the list of things to do...

National Air and Space Museum

It was amazing! So many amazing aircrafts and spaceships. The boys were in heaven. Favorites included the first plane to travel faster than the speed of sound, The Spirit of St. Louis, the IMAX theater, but I think our very favorite was the seeing the very first plane ever to fly built by the Wright brothers.

Can you believe that is the actual plane that the Wright brothers built and flew?? Not a model!! The actual one! AMAZING!!!

Another highlight ... for the kids especially... the paper airplane contest.

Abigail wasn't too excited to take another picture... so here are two of our flyers.

(notice Connor's stance... Yes... he always needed to go!)

Even this guy was a great traveler! Yeah for Owen!!

After seeing a ton of planes, we headed to the gift shop to buy a kite. We found a great kite shaped just like a stealth bomber and made our way back to the Washington Monument for some family fun.

One of John's favorite memories in D.C. - getting a kite from the gift shop at the Air and Space Museum and flying it on the hill at the base of the Washington Monument. He remembers the kite getting so high - it seemed to touch the top of the monument.

Dallin was more than eager to follow in the footsteps of his father. He just couldn't wait to get the kite and fly it soooooo high! Of course we did buy the extra long spool of string just to see if we really could get our kite as high as the monument. Well... our string was only 500 ft long and the monument is 555 ft tall, but with our string all the way out it sure did look like it was touching the top of the monument. :)

The weather was beautiful and the wind was perfect for flying a kite.

This was one of the highlights of our trip.

After relaxing at the monument, we headed back to the hotel by way of the White House.

"White House" - backside

Front side

Such a beautiful building...

Such a beautiful city...

Such a beautiful walk back to the hotel...

What a wonderful day.