Wed April 7th

Though the night before we had  gone to the Jefferson Memorial, which is always home to the beautiful Cherry Blossoms, our Cherry Blossom cravings were not satisfied so we returned first thing in the morning. We did find a few beautiful trees, but collectively the trees were JUST past their prime :( So close... and yet so far.

It was still beautiful ....

We of course had to play Spies while walking by the FBI building...

..we just couldn't resist

After the blossoms we headed back into the city to the Museum of National History.

 The girls thoroughly enjoyed this museum, especially saying the name in the deep drawn out voice of the Dinosaur from "We're Back" the movie. The museum it self was also Really COOL.

Everyone: Meet Sarah's boyfriend

Due to different interest and paces we split up. Sarah and Alisha went through every exhibit in 2 hours, Dad and Michelle went through alot, but not the whole thing, and Adam and Mom went through 2, but Adam LOVED THEM.

Adam COULD have stayed ALL day.... but unfortunetly he has the meanest sisters in the world who wanted to see the rest of the city.

We LOVE our Sparklies (At moments like these I start to feel bad for the future hubby)

From the Museum of National History we walked to the MacDonald's in the Air and Space Museum. It was hot, CROWDED, and expensive, but satisfied our groaning stomachs.

From there we walked on to the Rayburn Building. Michelle took AP Government and for one of her projects she needed to interview someone who worked for a Congressmen, so on we walked.

We thought this was the COOLEST EVER!! These were hanging by eachother (i'll let you figure out the order) on Congressman Issa's office wall.

Since we were up on Capitol Hill we thought we might look around a little bit.

We saw the Library of Congress....

Side note: SOOOOOO BEAUTIFUL! So many books, SUCH a HUGE building, and BEAUTIFUL design!

.. And got a small tour of the Capitol....

.. Or at least of the Gallery of House Chambers. Still it was pretty cool

.

We walked past the Supreme Court building....

.. and walked some more.

And walked.......

..and walked.......

...and walked........

...and walked........

...and walked........

..AND walked........

We felt like we were trapped in the Primary song, and Dad was the pianst.. and would NEVER stop playing.

(Dad used to be the primary pianst and this was one of his favorite songs to play. Regardless of what the conducter was conducting, he would play on and on so the kids would sing "and walked" at least ten times.. NO exaggeration)

Not only were we walking forever, but it was HOT and Humid.. and our poor little Southern California bodies are fragile and weren't used to such conditions (pity us).

As we approached our destination (the Museum of American History) our heart were QUICKLY lifted.

Infront of the blessed building was a beautiful and large fountain. The fountain was designed in such a way that there were stairs leading into it, creating a wading pool. So we waded until Mom and Dad wouldn't let us wade any more.

In all honesty, the Museum of American History was a dissappointment. Unlike the other museums, it wasn't one which you could get involved in. The Star Spangled Banner exhibit was cool though. It had different history of the Banner, and had an ORIGINAL, which of course is under such protective conditions, pictures are not allowed.... Lame.

In less than an hour we'd seen what we wanted to see. As we walked toward the White House we bought our DC shirts. Sarah and Michelle wanted shirts, but of course had to comment on how "touristy" they felt buying some.

The walk to the White House was pretty eventful. We were pretty close when all traffic (at least walking) stopped because most were watching Chopper One take off from the Lawn. We like to say we saw Obama. There may have been some metal and some body gaurds between us and him, but hey, we can dream.

So after seeing Chopper One, trying to get closer to the White House for better pictures, losing Michelle in the crowds, not being able to find Michelle because she was too short until she stood up on the fence, and getting a decent family picture, we headed back to our beloved open parking lot where our car was once again parked.
In my opinion this was the worst part of the day. We had been walking on our feet ALL day, literally for at least 10 hours, and we were tired. ESPECIALLY ADAM, but he is our little drama king. If I'm not mistaken, there was a point when we were a couple blocks away and he literally fell to the ground saying he couldn't go any further. In his defense he was going on less than 6 hours of sleep and had been walking all day. Poor little guy.......

Once in the car we used our nifty Broadband to find a hotel in Philadelphia. We found one, and at the same time realized we would be driving through Baltimore and would be relatively close to ACE OF CAKES.

So we decided to take a "small" detour

Sarah was convinced that some of the staff was at the Bar across the street laughing at us... but the rest of us disagreed.. who knows though right??

And Yes that white car turner the corner is Geoff and Katherine !! Yes .. We saw, well I did, Saw Geoff and Kathrine!!! Most AMAZING thing of my LIFE!!! Forget all Hollywood beuatiful people! I saw GEOFF and KATHRINE!!!!! Now everytime we watch Ace of Cakes I have some odd sense of accomplishment/pride :) 

PS. Sorry family for not telling you or getting a picture.. my bad