You Are Wasting All My Energy!!

Day two of Operation Take DC was fabulous!!!  We began our day with a trip to the White House.  We couldn't take our cameras in so there aren't any inside pics so you will just have to go with what I tell you about it.  We arranged a visit through one of our representatives and just found out like two weeks ago that we were selected.  It was a very neat experience.  There is a TON of security.  Two license checkpoints, scanning, dogs, more scanning, more police, the Secret Service [which was totally cool and kinda scary at the same time], and more security.  We did see Bo the dog parade through, the rose garden, and the room where Obama made the announcement Bin Laden was dead.  Good stuff!

From Pennsylvania Avenue

Shorties outside the White House

 Before our trip to the Capitol we went to the National Conservatory and Botanic [Yes, the sign says botanic and not botanical] Garden.  One of the things we found was a huge Venus flytrap...so we trapped some "bugs". [Can't take us anywhere....].

This one probably died after trapping Cooper!

We also visited the Capitol on Tuesday.  We were allowed to carry cameras for part of the tour and again, there was ALOT of security.  This tour was also arranged through the same representative that arranged our White House visit.  It's been many moons since I've been to the Capitol and alot has changed.  They now have an enormous visitor's center under the Capitol.

The Rotunda is HUGE!

Cast of the same statue that sits atop the Capitol

The tour guides we had were fabulous!  They were both young and in college but best of all, they were sooooo patient with the two little ones:)  Emma and Gabe did great but they were so full of questions.  We saw some very cool things in the Capitol.  We visited the old chambers, the old Supreme Court, and sat in a house session.  Incidentally, Gabe thought we were in a court.  He leaned over and asked me, "Who is the suspect?"  I tried to explain that we were listening to represenatives defend or oppose the new healthcare legislation.  "No, who is the suspect?"  So I answered, "They all are." So he says, "Why?"  My reply?  "Because they are all stealing our money." [Funny thing....we saw several of handful of represenatives that were there on iPhones, iPads, ect.  One rep was even looking at pics of Darth Vader and cartoons. The others were talking, leaving, etc. during the time we were in there.  Nice to see that Washington really does actually what I thought ~ very little.]  We absolutely loved it!

Our next stop was the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Again, no pics here.  This tour was OK.  I enjoyed seeing the process but there isn't much to see. I did learn that 95% of money printed each day is used to replace old bills. We saw a stack of money, all 20s, that was worth $6.4 million dollars.  That was cool. Emma and Gabe loved it.

Worth a mint:)

Emma had had enough by this point in the day!!

We decided to forge on, after three tours, and visit the Museum of Air and Space.  The last time I was in DC [several years ago...in 9th grade] this was the only Smithsonian I visited [at least its the only one I remember] . I love all things space related.  I should have been an astronaut.  I just think space exploration is totally cool [**GEEK ALERT**]. Emma and Gabe really enjoyed seeing it as well.  Molly and Cooper have been a couple of times so they showed us around.

I love the Wright Brothers :)

Find the moon!!

Love it...checking out the huge rockets form a perfect view!

Because we could not take anything to the White House we were forced to abandon the stroller as well.  This was not a good thing for Gabe.  By the time we headed to our car we'd officially spent close to 10 hours, straight, walking DC, taking tours, walking some more, riding the metro [which was an experience with Gabe] and walking some more.  Gabe was just tired.  He didn't whine until we began walking towards the parking deck.  He kept asking me to carry him but I just couldn't.  He rode a while on Coop's shoulders, on my back, and on Molly's back too.  Finally, when we'd all had enough, he lost it: "I hate all of ya'll for draining all my energy! My legs won't work!" and with that, right there on a street corner in DC, he sat and refused to move. [Not to mention we were right smack in front of the FBI building.] Earlier in the day Craig had been forced to pull out the big talk. He told Gabe that the Children's Police of DC were watching him.  He even made him wave to the them at the White House and promise to be good. [We are evil, evil people.] As Gabe sat, drained of all his energy, Craig reminded him that he could call the DC Children't Police.  The boy practically ran to the car...priceless.

We have really had an awesome time.  It's just fun being together. We've taken picnic lunches, we ate at a new Mexican place, we've had ice cream, and we've laughed:) I love my little family ♥

More tomorrow...I.am.T-I-R-E-D.

Missy