A Day in Washington DC

We had to be near Washington DC over the weekend so before we headed back to the mountains, we did a day in DC. This was mainly an educational trip for the big girls and they were very excited to spend the day in DC.

 Their first new experience was riding the metro into DC. They were so excited about it!

 
 The metro dropped us off just below the Smithsonian museums, which was where we planned to spend most of the day.

 We headed into the Museum of Natural History first. Our first stop inside was the Butterfly Pavilion. It felt about 85 degrees in there but it was really neat to see.

 Rachel had learned about the blue morpho butterfly and wanted to see one while we were there. We did see several up close but they flew almost continually. We did have several of these little butterflies that kept landing on my shoulders or hands.

 We did manage to transfer the butterfly from  my hand to Rachel's hand one time so she could hold it as well.

 Bethany liked holding the tobacco worm like her big sisters. She was very careful with it and not squeamish at all about holding a giant worm.

  We saw the inside and the outside of a giraffe.

 Rachel had been reading about the leatherback turtle earlier in the weekend. We saw the skeleton of a leatherback here and learned that the shell of this turtle can be up to 8 feet long!

 Rachel made sure we saw all the dinosaurs while we were at the Natural History Museum as well.

 Brent made sure we saw all the fossils, especially the Megalodon teeth, as well. Brent is an avid fossil collector and has even collected a few of this type of fossilized shark's teeth in the past.

 Next, we headed to the Air and Space Museum. Thankfully, we made it there just ahead of the rain.

 Rachel and her Daddy rode one of the flight simulators when we first arrived at Air and Space.
 
 Here they were practicing for their ride and boarding the simulator.

 and while they were inside.

 Here's how Little Big Sister and Little Sister entertained themselves while they waited for Rachel and Daddy to ride.

  One of the top things on Rachel's list when she found out we were going to be able to spend a day at the museums in DC was to see the Wright Brothers plane at Air and Space. We made it there to the plane and she was thrilled. She stopped and read every information sign around the plane. We learned Wilbur was older and Orville flew the plane while Wilbur was on the ground. We also learned the right wing of their plane was 4 inches longer due to the engine being on that side.

 This girl was happy to get to see the Wright Brothers plane!

 and this girl just couldn't stand the excitement any longer. She actually fell asleep while coloring and kept holding the crayons till Bethany came over and took them out of her hands while she was asleep.

 Next, we headed to learn about space since Rachel still says she wants to go to Mars and take her sisters with her when they grow up.

 Checking out the space gear

 Multitasking as we walked to the next exhibit. This girl loves to read anywhere.

 

 We didn't quite miss the rain on the way to our next museum but thankfully it was barely raining by then.

 Some of the museums were open later because the the spring season and the Cherry Blossom Festival so we made it to the Museum of American History for a little while too.

With the cherry blossoms

 This little one finally took a nap. She went strong ALL day until the very last museum. These girls were great. We walked miles over the course of the day and they led the way most of the day.

 I had been watching the weather for a couple of days before our day in DC wondering if we were going to get rained out. I began to notice all the forecasts predicting that the rain was going to clear out right around sunset. I mentioned it to Brent that I had noticed this. We were headed to the Metro and almost got on and noticed clear blue sky over the edge of the buildings and orange color at the horizon. We quickly changed course and picked up the two big girls since Bethany was in the stroller and they were getting tired at this point and headed toward the Washington Monument. Thankfully we weren't far away!
 

  We got within sight of the monument and there was some beautiful color in the sky in front of us and then we turned around and there was this...
 
 and this...

 You better believe, Brent took off running for the other side of the monument to be able to get the monument with the full rainbow in the frame. It was one of the first and most vivid times in my life I have seen a full horizon to horizon rainbow. It was absolutely beautiful!
The girls and I waited for Brent right on the base of the Washington Monument and it was so soon after the rain had passed that there were only two other people up there at first when we got right up to the Monument and probably less than 2 dozen the whole time we were out there. We did get one family picture after the amazing sunset.
We saw a lot, we read a lot, we learned a lot, we talked a lot, we walked a LOT (some in the rain), and God gave us an amazing light show at sunset. We had a full and fun family day in DC!

McGuirt Family, Washington DC, April 2016