Battle for the Smithsonian.... Our Nights at the Museums

On our recent vacation to Washington, DC, we spent several afternoons at the various museums that comprise the Smithsonian Institute. I love these museums. There is so much to see and learn. In fact, I have given up on seeing everything that I want to see. Instead, when I go, I try to focus on one exhibit or area and learn everything I can about that particular topic. It's much easier to digest that way and it gives me a reason to go back. Incidentally, for those of you who wonder about great vacations to take your kids on, DC is definitely one of the best. Yes, there is a lot of walking, but Washington is such a great city, the Metro (subway) is safe and nearly everything of interest or historic is free (or at least previously paid for with your tax dollars.)

So, back to the museums. The first museum we went to was the National Museum of American History. It has awesome exhibits and talks about trains, bridges, pop culture, politics and military.

Between the photos taken by Allie and myself, hopefully you get a glimpse of some of the fun we had.

Here is Jim Henson's original version of the Muppets. I LOVE THE MUPPETS! Especially the Swedish Chef and Beaker. Oh, and a frog with banjo gets me every time. I am so excited for the new Muppet Movie that is coming out for Thanksgiving!

Here are one of the original pairs of ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz. These have always been one of my favorite exhibits, because I love that movie and it is such an American icon.

Allie & Erin loved this miniature doll house exhibit. If we had this in our house,

I would never get Erin out of her bedroom. Hmmmmmmm.........

There is a great exhibit in this museum about the evolution in travel throughout America.... complete with these statues. My girls had way too much fun pretending to pose with these people. Unfortunately, none of Erin's turned out.

Two of the best exhibits at the museum are ones that I apparently didn't get any photos of. They have the restored Star-Spangled Banner that was bombarded at Ft. McHenry by the British in 1814. When I first saw it, I was 10 years old and it was hanging at the entrance to the museum. It has since been restored and now is protected; but nearly impossible to take photos of.

The other exhibit that I really like at this museum is the First Ladies exhibit. In the past, it has really focused only on the dresses that they wore for their husbands' inaugurations. Over the years they have added accessories and anecdotes and now, it is actually an exhibit that deals extensively with each of these women as individuals; it discusses the role of First Lady and talks about their influence in that role. Very good, and lots of fun.

Now, onto the Air and Space Museum. This one has been a lot of fun since we have had little boys. Also, watching Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart hasn't hurt either. I'm not sure that I got as many pictures that day, but we did a lot of the hands on stuff and learned a lot about space. In fact, my brain has plans to build a paper-mache replica of the solar system in my house.... not sure if that will happen, but I'll post pics if it does.

Space, the final frontier..... Kind of exciting when you think about everything that is out there; known and unknown. Also really amazing when you think of the imaginations of those individuals who have gotten us this far in the Space Race.

Allie and Will in the hot air balloon basket. Will must be afraid of heights (real or perceived) because he's obviously not feeling the love. Either that or his sister has him by the junk!

Allie posing in front of Amelia Earhart's plane. When we visited the museum in 2009,

this part was closed for renovation, so she was excited to get this close.

This girl, just like Amelia, has moxie!

Where our visit to the museum started..... at McDonald's. Where else?? Jack was hungry and we knew that we wouldn't be able to see much with a gruff, growly boy!

But that's why they call it a Happy Meal!

Finally a picture of one of the Apollo Lunar Module. We had to walk

past this to get to McDonald's.... so there you go!

The next museum we went to, and the one I used up all of my concentration on, was the American Museum of Natural History.... you know, the dinosaur museum, for lack of a better definition. This is also the museum that has exhibits on the origin of life, evolution, ancient sea life and ...... GEMS! This was by far Allie's part. She took a million pictures of this exhibit, only a few of which will I record for your viewing pleasure and posterity.

So this here is the Hope Diamond. It has recently been reset, and this

was the thing that started it all for Allie.

This next photo is of some pretty green necklace.... like the technical jargon? I was out feeding the baby during the time they were walking through this exhibit, so I don't actually know what this is a picture of, but I liked the color, okay?

Some kind of ancient sea turtle that would seriously make me poop my pants if I ever encountered it in real life. This, my friends, is why I don't like to swim in open bodies of water. I'll take chlorine and poop-checks anytime.

Our family photo evidently taken by a midget (yes I just said midget) with an affection for belly fat. Oh well, what the heck, I've got to be in some of the pictures, right? Never mind the curly hair and the fact that all of my make-up had sweated off in the first 5 minutes of the day that I spent outside. Blech!!!

Erin with the little guy! He was a bit happier for her, but alas, no hand on the junk!

The exhibit that I spent most of my time looking at was about Africa. I learned all about the Rastafarian movement and what it represents. I learned about Africa in ancient and modern times. It was fascinating. There was also a brand new Race exhibit at the museum, but we ran outta time. That happens.

The next exhibits of the Smithsonian that we viewed were some of the art exhibits. There are actually several art museums and sculpture gardens, so this is a compilation of many of the artworks we saw. Most of the work speaks for itself, so I won't enchant you with my witty commentary. Just look, and enjoy.

Love the art. Tons more pics, but this'll have to do.

We also went to the National Archives (Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Magna Carta.) Didn't see Nicholas Cage anywhere, but there were tons of security personnel, some ornery docents and less-than-ideal light conditions for photos. Oh, and the school groups. Love that they get the chance to learn about these things with their friends, but I swear on all that's holy and decent, if my kids ever act like most of them that we saw, I will make their lives hell on earth. Ughhh!!!

But I digress..... Washington, DC really is a fascinating place to visit, with lots of wonderful things to learn about. So glad we went.