Everything Ellis: Washington DC--Day One

When we first decided to take the girls to Washington DC with us, I knew it would possibly be the only time they got to go there. I wanted them to see EVERYTHING. I started researching right away what sights to see and asked family members who lived there what I needed to see. I made a list. A very looong list. And I decided that we would see it all. My uncle said it couldn't be done...there was just too much to see in just 3 days that we had. I decided to try anyway. I'm kind of stubborn that way. We prepped the girls that we would have a LOT of walking--and that we would have really long days. They did so great. Even Jaycee didn't complain too much. We figure that we walked at least 10-11 miles that first day. And boy were we tired!

It is so different here. It's very green and pretty. It was suppose to rain but thankfully didn't. Jaycee had a lot of firsts this trip--plane ride, subway (metro) and then tons of walking. Today we went to the Holocaust museum, the Natural History Museum, the Air and Space Museum, had lunch with a friend from high school, and then walked "The Mall" which isn't a mall at all....it's all the monuments. So we saw the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument, the FDR monument, the tidal basin pool, the WW I memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and I think a couple of other memorials. It was a TON of walking...who knew that you didn't just drive up in your car and hop out. It was pretty nice weather today....only maybe 85 or so...threatening rain most of the day...but pretty pleasant. I understand it was about 100 the last week so we got lucky today! :D

Tomorrow we'll be seeing the capitol, the senate and who knows what else...oh..Arlington Cemetery..

The capital from the middle of the street

Riding the subway---which we did every day to get into the city. Once we got the hang of it (with my cousin Jordan's help), it was quite easy to get to where we were going. Jaycee & Kaylee

Shawnee, Jaycee, and Kaylee

Stefanie's cousin Jordan, her friend Brad, Shawnee. Jordan and Brad were our awesome tour guides of the day

We first went to the Holocaust Museum. At first, the free tickets were all gone (I checked at least the month before). Then I learned that one of my best friends from High School (in Texas) worked there. Talk about good luck! She was able to secure VIP tickets for us. We were so grateful. As hard as it was to go through this museum and see all the atrocities that took place--it was a great education. It was Shawnee's favorite part of our trip. They don't allow pictures inside the museum---so all we have are the pictures outside. The most touching part is towards the end when they have shoes from the Holocaust victims in a big area. The stench is overwhelming..and the sheer number of shoes there is hard to swallow.

There are cool buildings all over DC like the one above. There are also statues everywhere...
Shawnee and Jaycee by the rose

As we got ready to go to lunch, this crazy guy was standing on the street corner with a bullhorn and yelling tons of things as we walked by.

We met my friend from high school--Lise Jacobsen--who got us the Holocaust Museum tickets, for lunch. It was great to see her after so many years. We could have talked all day--but we had to keep going to get everything done!

This is Jaycee and Kaylee at the Aerospace Museum at the Wright Brothers plane.

Brad, Jordan, Shawnee, Kaylee, and Jaycee with the Space Capsule

Kaylee, Jaycee, and Shawnee

The whole family with this great aluminum lree.ooking t

Jaycee and Jordan at the Museum of Natural History

Kaylee and Shawnee

The Washington Monument--Jaycee, Shawnee, Kaylee, Stefanie, Garrin

Vietnam War Memorial--Shawnee, Jaycee, Kaylee, Jordan

Walking, walking, and more walking. We walked around the entire mall. We didn't think we'd ever be done walking.

We thought this was hilarious---just outside of the Lincoln Memorial. It says its the tree protection area...and then they chopped down the tree. Laughed over that for quite awhile