Well, we are definitely right in the middle of things here. Staying in the hotel next to ours, is Hamid Karzai, leader of Afghanistan. We figured out something was going on, when one of the streets was basically blocked off, with black suburbans everywhere. Then we had secret service agents eating breakfast at the table next to us at the Corner Bakery. (I whispered to the kids to try to figure out where the guns were as a breakfast activity!). There was also a 2 star Air Force general on the other side of us. Just a routine day in DC - literally. (As the week went on, we would routinely see motorcades roaring around, which was fun!)
The weather was nice, with rain forecast later in the week, so it was off to as many outdoor things as possible. We also found out that you need tickets to some things like the Washington Monument, so we hit that line. (We also found out that you have to try for White House tours at least 30 days in advance due to security checks- so that did not make the cut on our "follow the road" tour). We did get tickets for a capitol tour later in the week.There are quite a few new things since I was last here in the '90's with my dad for Promise Keepers, and Amanda and the kids have never been here. We saw the WWII memorial, Lincoln Memorial (heard the Ranger talk),
Korean War memorial (pictured above), Vietnam War Memorial, then went up in the Washington Memorial (we had gotten "walk up tickets" first thing this morning for a tour this 
afternoon). There were many reminders this morning that Freedom is not Free.Last for the day was the American History Smithsonian. Everything from Thomas Edison's first light bulbs to Kermit the Frog, Apollo Ohno's Olympic skates and Dorthy's ruby slippers. Not to mention a boat from the Revolutionary war, Thomas Jefferson's desk where he drafted the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's revolutionary war spyglass, Julia Child's kitchen, and a host of other items. Probably the most memorable item and family favorite was Lincoln's famous hat, worn even the day he was assassinated.
After dinner we hit the hotel, with tired feet! DC really is an amazing city.
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