We took a trip to our nation’s capitol for Spring Break this year. My husband and I spent three days there the first year we were married. We were so excited to take our kids and spend more time exploring than we did 14 years ago. We unknowingly planned our trip to Washington D.C. during the Cherry Blossom Festival. Although we didn’t take part in any of the festivities, we did enjoy the beautiful cherry trees in bloom.
United States Capitol
At 12 and 10 years old my kids are the perfect age for a trip through history. They loved every minute of it as much as we did. We took some time to learn ahead of time about the places we were going to see. I think that made everything even more exciting for them.
Washington Monument
My kids favorite was the Lincoln Memorial.
It is awesome how big this statue is.
The Lincoln Memorial
We learned some funny things too. My son was especially excited to see the Jefferson Memorial because he thought it was hilarious that it is nicknamed the Jefferson muffin.
Jefferson Memorial
We toured the Supreme Court building and sat in the courtroom learning about how everything works and interesting facts. Like that on the floor above the court room there is a basketball court in what used to be a storage area. So I guess the supreme court isn’t the highest court in the land. (yep, stole that joke from our tour guide)
The Supreme Court
We spent a day at Arlington Cemetery. It was emotional for me. You can’t visit and not feel sad and proud all at the same time for those who have fought to keep us free.
Arlington Cemetery
We watched the changing of the guards. It is done with such ceremony and respect. Everyone is completely silent as they watch. It was very moving.
The changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier.
You recognize this right? Did you realize that it is that big? That was most surprising to me.
Iwo Jima Memorial
We got to tour the White House. You get to see a number of rooms and they were cool, but I was hoping for more. Especially because they stuck me in a holding pen for almost an hour because one of the numbers in my birth date was wrong on their paper. Yeah, it is serious stuff. My kids like it but were disappointed they didn’t get to see the Obama’s dog. haha But overall it was cool that we got to be in the White House.
The White House
We were excited to go see the temple and they have a beautiful Visitor Center there that we spent some time in.
Washington D.C. LDS Temple
We spent a lot of time at the different Smithsonian museums. At the Natural History Museum was this creative display of yarn, knit or crocheted to look like coral.
It was massive and very cool. I laughed when a dad was taking pictures of his kids in front of it and after he took the picture he walked closer and realized it wasn’t coral at all. He was very disappointed that it wasn’t real coral. haha
Someone said it would be touring around the country so maybe you will get to see it at a place near you!
We also toured the Capitol building, saw money made at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, got really good at using the metro, visited the various war memorials, did some geocaching, swam at our hotel pool, and enjoyed being together as a family. It was a wonderful trip. If you have never been, I highly recommend it! If you have been hopefully these pictures brought back some great memories for you.
