monuments, museums and the metro

For the boys' birthday in March we took a trip to Washington D.C. We’ve spent so much time when they were little trying to instill a sense of wonder and excitement for adventure. It makes me giddy when they want to voluntarily leave behind their comfort zone and video games for a week and explore the unknown. There were a lot of firsts for the boys during this trip. First airplane flight, first Uber ride, first art museum, first pizza slice from a slightly questionable food truck. Okay, that last one was a first for me too.

A ton of photos from D.C….

We are undeniably country folk at heart, but it was fun to pretend to be city people for a few days.

We stuck out like a sore thumb among the metro regulars. Especially the time we all got off the train, quickly realized it wasn't our stop, and scrambled back on before the doors closed. Also the time we were racing to catch a departing train and I almost got stuck in the closing door. Totally regained my composure and nodded to the other passengers like "yep, totally meant to do that."

Museums are kind of our love language and we can kill some serious time in one, so we had to pick just a few Smithsonians to see during this trip. Winners featured below.

Natural History:

Air and Space:

Botanical garden:

Modern Art:

We set aside a day to view the monuments around D.C. One day is really not enough, but we did our best and covered a lot of ground on that one day. We let the kids set the pace and decide what to see. Jackson accomplished most of the things on his list.

New experiences in food consumption:

Arlington and the 9/11 memorial:

The best signs of a trip well done: