Christmas in DC- Part 2

The next morning we started out a little earlier to catch our private tour of the Supreme Court.  This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.  We got to sit in the conference rooms while our tour guide told stories about different justices.  She was so great and just ignored all the little kids playing on the floor.  The kids had fun and everyone learned a lot.  

The stair case was incredible.  We all wished we could walk up but it was off limits.  We'd packed lunches, so we piled into the cafeteria and made a bunch of sandwiches, cut up apples, pealed oranges and passed around snacks till everyone was full and the table was a disaster.

Then more walking (or riding if you were lucky).  The Parkinsons headed to the Holocaust Museum but we made a little detour to the National Gallery.  We took an audio tour that highlighted the most famous works from that building.  The girls loved listening to all the stories and recognized some names from the things they have studied in art class at school.

The holiday decor was magical.

Kate had to take some photos of Degas's ballerinas.  It was one of her favorite things on the trip.

Then we headed to the Holocaust Museum and spent an hour exploring.  The museum was so well done - powerful and moving, but also overwhelming.  It was a bit much for the littles so we skipped some parts and hurried through others.  After that we made our way to the tidal basin to see the last of the memorials.

Laurie acted as tour guide as she masterfully used the internet to explain the significance and symbolism of the MLK memorial.  Then onto FDR where Brett acted as tour guide.  That memorial would have definitely been better in daylight with the fountains on, but it was still cool.

I loved the walk around the basin though- it was so beautiful to see all the monuments lit up and reflecting off the water.  We ended at the Jefferson Monument - so huge.  It was worth the walk to see all of them.

It was a long day of walking; we covered 12.5 miles by the time we got to IHOP and Panda Express for dinner and then home for the night.  The cousins were leaving the next morning so they stayed up as late as possible playing together.

They spent hours with that play-dough.

These sillies decided this was the best place to sleep so the three of them climbed in the queen bed and slept together.  They slept quite soundly.

It was hard to say goodbye the next morning; Having the Parkinsons with us had doubled the fun.  All the kids would say that being with cousins was the best part of the trip.