Oakley's fifth grade teacher, Mr. Jared Cornell, awakened a love of US history in Oakley that is almost unbelievable. Scott and I had discussed taking him out to see Washington DC for months. When we got everything worked out for Eli and Asher to go to Grandma Lee Ann's, we headed east. It was entertaining, almost to the point of being annoying actually, how excited he was. It's all he thought about and talked about incessantly. He said he could barely sleep at night. The wonderful James family was willing to let us stay at their home. Even better, they were able to spend a lot of time with us and be the best tour guides ever.
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Oakley and I rode the Front Runner train out
to the airport. We love that public transportation
has finally reached Utah County! |
Oakley and I were able to go out a day earlier than Scott, so we went to see some of the Smithsonian museums. Nathan James, who is the same age as Oakley, has become a DC expert by this time and took us around.
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| Air and Space Museum |
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| Seeing how a cotton gin works |
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| A Navoo Sunstone |
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We have a Union and Confederate in the
National Archives gift shop |
One of the most memorable moments was when Oakley was able to see The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Bill of Rights on display at the National Archives. He was in absolute awe. I was impressed to see someone of his age so appreciative of our Nation's historical documents.
After walking around the museums for over six hours, the boys were wearing out- but there was still more on the schedule! Rick James gave us a tour of the Capital Building.
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| Oakley tries out Senator Lee's office |
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Riding the underground train that only staff can use.
Since we were being accompanied by staff, we got a ride! |
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This tub was for those who had ridden horses a long
distance to get to the Capital and needed to wash up
before their meetings. Now it's hidden in the Heating
and Air Conditioning area in Capital basement. |
Scott's flight arrived just after our tour. After a dinner in the city, we toured the monuments that evening. The temperature was perfect and there was even a Harvest Moon.
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| Scott's first Photo Bomb. |
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Theodore Roosevelt Monument
representing all of those out of work and out of food |
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| Lincoln Memorial |
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Jefferson Memorial with Harvest Moon
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Gettysburg was on the agenda for the next day. We thought we'd be heading out ourselves, but Rick and Ellen took the day off from work to escort us. It sure makes things nice having an expert along- telling us about the history and getting us where we need to go without being lost.
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The home where Lincoln stayed the night
before giving The Gettysburg Address |
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| The bed he slept in |
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| Oakley studies the gun display at the Gettysburg Museum |
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| The Devil's Den |
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Look at this HUGE dog we met
ALL of these books are about Lincoln |
Ellen and I were able to go to the National Book Festival while all the boys went to the Hazy Museum at Dulles Airport. Scott said there were a lot of amazing planes to see. Ellen and I with books, the boys with airplanes, everyone was happy.
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| Lincoln's Box Seat |
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| In front of Ford's Theatre |
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ALL of these book are about Lincoln
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On our last day, we spent some time at Mt. Vernon on our way to the airport. The house was spectacular! I loved the gigantic back porch that overlooked the Potomac River.
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