PTA VI Day 4: Monday, July 28, 2014: Spy Museum, National Archives, Air and Space Museum, Museum of Crime and Punishment, etc...

Ok, I know it already sounds like a lot, but honestly all of these places were within walking distance for us.  Guy joined us for a visit to the International Spy Museum, but then he had some meetings to participate in, so we met up with him later.  Noah was pretty excited for this museum, as they had a James Bond exhibit that shared many of the tricks that James Bond used in his movies. 

Noah and James Bond's famous car!

Leah really enjoyed the museum as well, in fact, here is a picture of here being tricked by a pretend shark from some footage from one of the James Bond films.

Leah:  "so why should I touch the glass?"

Leah:  "OH MY GOD...the shark..."  

 We had to remind Leah it was just the movies!  After our visit, we went on our own way, while Guy headed to work.  Needless to say, the kids were hungry.  I was a bit suspicious, if they really were, as we were right next to the Shake Shack, and they kept seeing it and wanted to try it.  So we stopped in for a quick bite, again, good choice!  It was quick, cheap and delicious! 

We decided to head back toward the Mall and check out some of the Museums.  I figured, that a quick visit to the National Archives was in order-you can never see the Constitution too many times, right?!  Besides, after the movie National Treasure, they were very interested in seeing the building again. We then headed back across the mall to the Air and Space Museum.  It is such a thrill to walk across the Mall and imagine all of the history that has transpired on the mall.  The view is really spectacular. 

Noah and Leah on the steps of the National Archives

The Air and Space Museum had not changed much since we were last there, but it is always a thrill to visit.  It was perhaps one of the most active Museums! 

Notice:  Leah's "souvenir" her Minecraft Washington DC T-Shirt.  Many people have stopped her and asked where she got it.  She is like a souvenir model!

After touring the Museum and catching an Imax movie about the Hidden Universe.  It was really interesting for all of us.  We hope to go back to catch another movie or two.  Finally, we caught back up with Guy at the Museum of Crime and Punishment.  This was also a pretty cool museum, I think the fact that we were visiting at the end of the day, made it that much better! No crowds, and we could go along at our own pace.  We were certain, Uncle Dan and Luke would have really liked this one! Here are some pictures of criminals we saw along the way...

Noah and Leah participating in a line-up!

Leah made sure Dad got the same experience, curious why he looks like he has done this before?  (Look closely in the reflection, you can see Leah watching intently!)

We wrapped up the visit with some real Police exercises.  Noah did ok, in the car simulator, after he figured out where the gas petal was!  (Scary to think he could be driving in less then a year).  Then Leah drove all over the place, and even though the lights were on and sirens blaring, she stopped for all of the red lights.  Certainly a real law abiding citizen.  Now, Guy on the other hand clearly demonstrated he could take down criminals with lethal shots and not even use up all of this bullets!  Wow...!

Guy taking down the criminal! Scary how he looks so serious.  (Can you tell he came right from a meeting!)

We wrapped up the night with a great dinner and fun dessert!  We had Lobster and Crab Rolls at Luke's Lobster.  It was EXCELLENT!  4 thumbs up and we would all recommend!  Then ironically, right around the corner was a specialty cupcake shop, Red Velvet.  We sampled the:  Red Velvet, Peanut Butter Cup and Devils Food, they were all amazing.  We are fans of the Cupcake Wars show on the Food Network, so we like to try fun places like this.  All in all, great day!  A lot of ground covered, 12,000 steps to be exact.  Looking forward to some new adventures tomorrow as well.

Souvenir Tally:
Guy:  0 (However, still looking for a hat for Guy.  He left home, without one.)
Penny:  0
Noah:  2
Leah:  8

PTA VI Day 3: Sunday, July 27, 2014: National Zoo and Georgetown

Ok, here is my 2nd attempt at sharing what happened on day 3 of our adventure...ironically, it didn't run as smoothly as we had hoped.  Our day started after a long wait for our double decker bus, then a short ride to Union Station and another long wait.  Needless to say, some members of our family decided a cab would get us there sooner.  While they were likely right, Noah remarked that the cab ride was rather "jerky", safe to say we were grateful to finally arrive at the National Zoo!

Noah and Leah at the entrance to the National Zoo

Noah, Guy and Leah on the grounds of the National Zoo

Cutest Daddy Panda having a little lunch!

We lucked out and immediately found the most important exhibit, The Pandas!  Wow, were they a sight, it was like we were part of the paparazzi trying to sneak a glimpse of a celebrity and their youngster!  Certain that Adele or Jennifer Garner would have had something to say to all of the noisy fans trying to get a glimpse of the Zoo Celebrities and their little one!  However, we did stick around and sneak some shots of the famous bears and their youngster.  They were rather cute! 

Despite it being a hot day, we decided we were going to check out some of the other animals.  Leah found a new favorite animal that is at risk of becoming endangered, a Golden Lion Tamarin.  In fact, she thought we should get one.  Ok, they were cute, but certain Rigby couldn't handle the new pet.

Leah's new favorite-Golden Lion Tamarin

We also met a rather friendly Lion that was attempting to get everyone attention, then once he realized we were all watching, he laid down and gave all of us a great photo opportunity!

Clearly King of the Zoo!

We were wiped out after our day at the zoo, so we lucked out and caught our bus ride back to Georgetown.  During the bus ride, we were able to catch a glimpse of the National Catheral and the most narrow house in DC, it is 9 feet wide!  It was darling, but seriously can't imagine living in something that size.

Most narrow home in DC--9 feet wide!

The National Cathedral

This was our first visit to Georgetown and we really enjoyed our short visit. We decided to grab dinner at Clydes.  We all gave it 4 Thumbs up!  Then we headed back to our hotel to rest our weary feet and gear up for the next adventure!

Souvenir Tally:
Guy: 0
Penny:0
Noah:  1
Leah:  7 (including a very cute stuffed Panda!)

PTA VI Day 2: Saturday, July 26, 2014: Union Station, U.S. Capital, Jefferson Memorial, Chinatown

We fortunately were able to sleep in today, while Dad did a little work in the morning.  We decided to splurge and get the 48 hour ON/OFF Double Decker Bus Tour. (Leah really wanted to ride on one!)  We hopped on one and took it took Union Station, one of the oldest and largest Train Stations in the United States. Home to Amtrak too!  So, we had to check it out! 

What an amazing and historical building.

View from our bus of Union Station

We then walked over to the U.S. Capital Visitor's Center.  (While we visited there before, it was a rather stressful visit, as Guy had lost his wedding ring in the Capital Visitor's Center, for a brief period of time.  Happy to report, he did find it in our backpack.) 

US Capital

Guy, Noah and Leah near the steps of the US Capital

We had a wonderful tour guide and really enjoyed visiting the rotunda, the original senate chambers and viewing the many unique statutes that rest in the U.S. Capital Building. Did you know...each state provides the U.S. Capital with two statutes of individuals that they would like to represent the state?  No, they need not be political figures or leaders! However, often they are, Maria Sanford and Henry Mower Rice represent Minnesota. Leah was so inspired by her visit, she had to secure a souvenir to remember the visit.

Inside the Rotunda of the US Capital

After visiting the U.S. Capital Building, we jumped back on our Double Decker Bus and continued the tour over to the Jefferson Memorial. 

It is a beautiful monument, that is certainly very grand in real life.  It was clear that while Jefferson is the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, he really did believe that our foundational documents should be living documents.  If you really read some of his speeches, you can see how he really wanted education to be accessible and available to EVERYONE!  Leah was so inspired, she convinced her Dad to purchase a book for her in the gift shop, "Mary America."  She assured Dad, she would read it by the end of the trip and report back to him.

Jefferson Memorial

After visiting the Memorial and taking the Park Ranger Tour, we were pretty wiped out, so decided to jump back on the bus and head back toward our hotel and grab a bite to eat.  We are staying near Chinatown, so we figured we would try and grab some Chinese food.  We didn't have to go far, we fell for the "Food Network" logo and visited:  Jackey Cafe.  The fried rice was good, but that was about it.  Thumbs down by most of us.  Good news, we made it back to the hotel! Tired and weary...only to have Guy head to the M Lounge (nice lounge for business travelers, with everything they would ever need and then some) to do a little more work. 

Souvenir Tally:
Guy:  0
Penny:  0
Noah:  0
Leah:  4

PTA VI Day 1: Friday, July 25, 2014: Washington DC

Phew...we made it--barely!  We had a 7:10 am flight, after a late night at the Twins game with Noah's Baseball Team.  Needless to say, we did the impossible, got everyone and nearly everything we needed to the airport with plenty of time to spare.  So far, Noah had to purchase a powercord for his phone, Guy had to pick up a couple of casual shirts (he packed for work, but didn't get things together for hanging with family), Leah had all of her essentials, including, but not limited to three stuffed animals, her favorite fuzzy blanket (full sized) sunglasses and her flip flops.  (What else does a girl need?)

We are staying at the Marriott Marquis in Downtown DC.  It is a brand new hotel that Guy has stayed at, it is really nice and certainly perfect for the business traveler.  The only irony when we checked in is that there are 100's of US Junior National Girls Basketball Players staying here, as they are playing in the US Junior National Championship Tournament in the Convention Center right next door.  No Mpls Lakers players spotted...and they seriously have taken over the hotel!

After we got our "bearings" we decided we wanted to grab a bite of some local DC fare and we scored an original that we all liked!  We visited Busboys and Poets for lunch!  Guy was able to meet us for a bite between his meetings.  It is a really neat restaurant, that is part bookstore, part restaurant, part stage, a place where you can take a "deliberate pause and feed your mind."  It was named after the Poet Langston Hughes, who was a Busboy at a local hotel, one night he wrote a number of poems and left them on some local restaurants tables, never intending to become famous, merely wanting to share his poems with others.  We all gave it a thumbs up!

While Dad was off working...we decided to head out to take in some sights.  We visited the National Portrait Gallery.  While we had visited here before, we have enjoyed their exhibits.  The highlights for us were:  "American Cool"  Amazing cool portraits of so many people that we knew, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Murray, Madonna....just to name a few.  Leah was disappointed, "no Disney?"  "He's clearly the coolest!"

Noah also correctly pointed out the most famous painting in their collection of George Washington, while Leah tried to study some of them.  (She is the real artist in our family). 

Leah pondering how she would have drawn George...

Noah pointing out that this is the MOST FAMOUS painting of George Washington.

My favorite quote from Leah came, when I was so excited to see the very new and iconic painting of all 4 women justices.  While I am taking a picture, she says...who are those nuns?  Ugh...at that point, I decided another visit to the Supreme Court was in order!

New Painting that was completed in 2012 of the Women of the Supreme Court. 

Souvenir Tally:
Guy-0
Penny-0
Noah-0
Leah-2
(After day one, we decided this could be worthy of tracking...)

Planes, Trains and Automobiles VI (July 2014): Heading East...DC and?

Yes, it is true, we are heading East again.  We had a last minute change of plans, but we are very adaptable and know that there is so much to see around the U.S., so we decided we couldn't turn down an opportunity to visit our nations capital.  Ok...for full disclosure, Guy had some work to do in Washington, D.C. with Amtrak (which happens to be the inspiration for our original Planes, Trains and Automobiles Adventure), so we decided to join up with Guy as he wraps up his work. 

We are bringing back our original blog and I am hopeful the kids could add some of their original captions to some of our pictures.  We hope you enjoy!