The little guys managed to enjoy the trampoline before the rain showed up.
Elena decided she really wanted to go to "George Washington's House", so the next day we headed to Mount Vernon.
Elena ran right up to the statue of George Washington in the welcome area and held his hand for a picture.
She was also fascinated by the scale model of the house.
Vivian had asked for an audio guide, and even though we didn't get to every part of the property, I feel like she made good use of it and learned some new things.
Admission came with timed entry to the house. Since it was July, it was quite crowded, so we just moved through in a line. The kids were patient though and interested in various things throughout the house. You're not allowed to take pictures inside, so I snapped one with a view of the river before we went in.
The part I think they enjoyed the most was the education center which has a nice museum about George Washington with a special area for kids. The entrance has a statue and a big face, where the kids posed for pictures.
The picture really doesn't do the face justice. It's carved 3D back into the wall, and the effect is that it looks like the entire face is turning to look at you as you walk around it. Notice how he's looking directly at the camera. Take that Mona Lisa.
The kids zipped from one display to another. I finally got a still picture of the girls with a Revolutionary War era Washington.
We saw a "4D" movie about Washington's choices as a general during the war. Elena was disappointed that there were no glasses, but we did get "snowed" on as the troops crossed the Delaware River.
After the movie, we did an activity where you are faced with a dilemma that Washington had. You pick advisors to listen to, and then make your decision. We did pretty well.
Afterwards, as we walked through the museum, Elena was fascinated by Washington's "teeth".
It was at about that point that I think she finally understood that George Washington was dead, and we weren't actually going to see him that day. We ended at the special hands on kids area, where Vivian followed the guidelines for how to drink tea properly,
while Elena enjoyed the doll house version of Mount Vernon.
All the kids enjoyed the spinning display that showed George Washington in his various roles and required matching the three parts correctly.
The next day was the 4th of July, and Jeff was flying into Dulles in the afternoon, so I thought it would be fun to visit the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum before picking him up. The girls were matchingly patriotic.
They were impressed by the space shuttle and the airplanes,
but they didn't have the patience for the guided tour, even though the guy giving it was really good, so I took them for a rare McDonald's experience.
After lunch, I caved on my usual no simulators rule and let the big kids go on the 360 one, while Kim and I took the littles on the tamer one.
Everyone enjoyed their virtual trip.
We had time for one more picture with everyone's favorite the SR-71 Blackbird, before the girls and I headed to the airport to get Jeff.
We've all be travelling so much, it's great to be together as a family again. It was also great to have Jeff with us for our trip to the Natural History Museum, which is one of my all time favorites. I've never gone on a weekend in July though, and there was quite a line to get in. Once we were in, it wasn't too bad. Definitely more crowded than I'm used to, but plenty of room to see things. We started with the dinosaurs.
Next, we went under the ocean, and Elena decided she was a wave.
In the mammal hall, Vivian communed with the Walrus, while Jeff and Elena admired the giraffe.
Even the grown ups got in on the fun.
By the end, Vivian was getting hangry.
But she cheered up on the way out.
There are so many more museums I want to get to this summer, but I feel like we got off to a great start while our friends were here.
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