Miles of Museum in DC

Despite Uber troubles and trains being missed, we finally made it to Washington DC! It was my first time visiting DC as well as the kids. There was so much to see and discover while we were in Washington, and we learned so much while going through the museums, visiting monuments, and memorials.

The Air and Space Museum

The first stop we made was the Air and Space Museum. We saw Amelia Airheart’s airplane that was dressed in several dozen flags, which represented all of the different countries she’s landed in. We saw planes and missiles that were used during World War II. But the coolest thing we got to experience at the Air and Space Museum was the virtual reality and simulator machines. Before entering the simulators, Rykel and Shae had to learn how to be a pilot and understand the controls of flying a plane, while Cora and Evee learned what the gunners did and how their controls worked. After learning their roles, Evee and Rykel entered one simulator while Cora and Shae entered the other. There was a lot of screaming, flying, and spinning upside down, but they had a lot of fun!

Food Truck Break

Even after all the spinning in the simulators, the kids, Jase, and I were ready to eat. We found a food truck, and it had my favorite, falafel. We sat down at the National Mall Park and ate until it was time for our next adventure.

National Museum of Natural History

Our next stop was the National Museum of Natural History. It was insane to see the life-size displays of all different animals, and having just returned from Africa we realized that we are so lucky to have seen almost all of the animals in real life. Other than animals, we also saw went to the gemstone and diamonds section. The kids were amazed by all the stones and gems that the Earth naturally produces. We next moved on to birds and insects. Shae was in heaven seeing all the bird skeletons and learning about birds because Ornithology (the study of birds) is one of the subjects that Shae is focusing on this school year.  After looking at the insets we realized that we had been in the National Museum of Natural History for three hours! We figured it was time for a snack break.

Memorials, Monuments, and Memories

We all got ice cream at a different food truck. We ate our ice cream and made our way to the Washington Monument. This 555-foot commemoration of George Washington is made up of 36,000 stones. Also, The Declaration of Independence, important poems, The Bible, and many more monumental items used to be buried underneath the monument. And directly across from the Washington Monument is the Lincoln Memorial.

We walked across to the Lincoln Memorial. Here we learned about heart surgery inventions and all different kinds of inventions. We learned the history behind different inventions and how they have all contributed to society. We learned that many of these major inventions that we live with today such as computers and heart transplant surgery technology were created by several people. It was a collaborative effort that resulted in creating something that would help and improve the lives of millions. Ultimately we learned that we all need to be working together to make a better tomorrow!

My first time in Washington DC made sure that it won’t be my last. It was so amazing to learn so much more about the history behind our amazing country as well as the advancements we have made in technology and knowledge about this awesome world we live in.

-Rach