Washington, D.C. {2019} - Day 2

RACE DAY started off bright and early as Hubby set out to meet up with Uncle B...

The kids and I headed over to the Pentagon to meet up with the runners after the race...

It was a great family affair for Hubby meeting up with his brother, two of his first cousins + one of our kids' 2nd cousins and her children, too!

After the race, we walked back to the hotel...

and got cleaned up for lunch at District Taco...

After lunch, we enjoyed a drive passing the Lincoln Memorial...

the Washington Monument...

and the White House...

before heading over to the National Archives Museum for our scheduled visit that I'd booked online...

No photos are allowed inside, but I never tire of seeing the actual documents so important to our country ~ the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights...

On our way back to the car, M stopped to grab a pic with her fave, President Lincoln... It reminded me so much of this little moment so many years ago...

From there, we hit the road, making one little stop in Richmond to grab dinner at The Hill Café...

Until next year, D.C.!

Washington, D.C. {2019} - Day 1

With what has now seemingly become a fun family tradition, we began our journey to Hubby's run in the Army Ten-Miler on Sunday with a trip up to D.C. for the weekend, much like years prior - 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018...

We really try pretty hard not to miss any school at all if we can manage it, so this year's trip, like the last couple, was much more abbreviated than the earlier ones, also due to the fact that both the run date and the dates of our fall break have yet to match up recently...

The kids attended a full day of school, and Hubby worked close to a full work day on Friday, as well.  That being said, we left after dinner and drove through the night.  Not the best race prep, but the pattern we've settled into lately!

Though abbreviated, we DID try to maximize our time sightseeing in the district this year, since the last couple of years we've been committed to a few networking events with Hubby and his soldiers...

After checking into our hotel early, catching up on some sleep, grabbing some breakfast, and picking up race packets...

we hopped on the Metro and ventured out to meet up with Hubby's brother, Uncle B, for lunch and a little museum hopping...

First up...

The National Air and Space Museum...

This museum is currently under renovation and many exhibits are closed, but as with many of the museums in D.C., it is free, so always a nice place to spend a few hours...

We learned a little about the Wright Brothers...

and posed with Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 spacesuit...

Evidently, Neil Armstrong took a small piece of the Wright flyer with him to the Moon in 1969!

From there we took a look inside the (backup) Skylab Orbital Workshop...

the largest component of America's first space station...

We also learned a bit about time and navigation...

before moving along...

On the way to our next museum, we passed along the edge of the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden...

Next up, the International SPY Museum!

The kids really loved becoming spies for a few hours in this awesome, interactive museum...

 

The big kids had fun, too!

From there, we hopped on the Metro...

and headed to dinner at Founding Farmers...

It...

was...

DELICIOUS!!!

{especially this butternut cake with pecan butter brickle ice cream - oh my word}

More on tap for tomorrow!