day 8: arlington, va.: marathon day in D.C.

Our day began at 9am at Ford's Theatre. This is the place where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Boothe. Ben was the first one to notice the date as he was reading the pamphlet yesterday--April 14, 1865. Same date (not year, of course) that the Titanic hit the iceberg. Then Lincoln died the next day, April 15. Same day the Titanic sank. Coincidence? Ben thinks those are bad luck dates now. :)

From what I understand, this museum part is fairly new. This is the actual gun Boothe used that night. It's much smaller that I would have thought.

The actual theatre was only open for an hour this morning because of rehearsals for a show they are doing there--that's why we had to get going so early today. It's pretty weird to sit there and look over to the presidential box and know that's where it happened.

I loved the ornate seats in the theatre.

The president's box.

Right across the street is the Petersen House, where President Lincoln died (in this room).

After Ford's Theatre we went to the National Museum of Natural History. The boys have been dying to go to one of these, ever since seeing the first Night at the Museum movie (they would still like to go to NY sometime to see that one). Between this museum and the Air & Space Museum, there were lots of reminders of the second movie, Battle of the Smithsonian.

"Hey dumb dumb...you bring me gum gum?"

This was my favorite skeleton in the ocean room. It's called a basilosaurus, and lived 40-35 million years ago. Pretty cool.

There were mostly either dead fish or their skeletons to look at in this room, but the boys managed to find a few live ones too.

The ocean room was definitely one of our favorites.

This huge elephant greeted people coming in the south entrance.

This key is THE prized souvenir so far (picture taken on a rock in the Gems & Minerals room today). It's a replica of a key in George Washington's home in Mt. Vernon. It is still in its original wood and glass case, hanging on the wall where Washington hung it. Ben's eyes were as big as saucers when he saw that key and heard the story--its the "famous Key to the Bastille, the infamous prison in Paris overthrown at the beginning of the French Revolution. A symbol of freedom and liberty, the Key was sent in 1790 to George Washington by the Marquis de Lafayette, a leader of the French Revolution who had served under Washington during the American Revolutionary War a decade earlier." So that's the real key to the Bastille in Washington's home. That, to me, was very fascinating because I loved studying the French Revolution when I was in school.

This is the famous Hope Diamond--it's 45.52 carats!

A mammoth in the Ice Age room...it's Manny!! Can you tell that kids movies are all I see these days?!

We found the Kid's Discovery Room where the boys were able to do some hands-on activities. Here Jake is sorting shells and then checking them out.

After the museum and lunch, we had an appointment through Senator Bob Bennett's office, thanks to Tyler who is in Senator Bennett's ward, to have a tour of our nation's capitol building. Candice, from Kamas was our tour guide, and we were with one other family. After the whole thing was over and we were in the car, Ben said how great the tour had been. Daren asked him what his favorite part was--the short train ride over, of course!!

This statue is in the main room of the newly finished Capitol Visitor's Center. It's a replica of the statue on top of the dome outside on the capitol, and it's name is Freedom.

Each state has 2 statues located throughout the capitol building. This one is Philo T. Farnsworth, from our great beehive state. He is considered the Father of TV. Is that a good or bad thing????

The Old Supreme Court Chambers from 1810-1860. Many of the pieces of furniture in the room are still original.

There was so much beautiful architecture throughout the building, from the tiled mosaic floors,

to the dome in the rotunda,

to the rotunda itself. It was a great tour, but just after this room we had major meltdowns from both Will and Jake, so we were unable to go see the rooms where the House of Congress or Senate meet.

The next stop (I told you there was a lot to cram in today!) was not so easy to get to. There are a lot of memorials in D.C., but this was way off the beaten path. Still, our boys wouldn't have let us live it down if they didn't get to see the Titanic Memorial statue.

Once they finally realized where we were going, it was a dead on sprint to get there!

Yep, this is it. No ship, darn it (according to Will)!! I doubt the crowds are flocking to this one, but it's a nice tribute to "the men who gave their lives so the women and children could be saved."

Will kept asking, "What day is it today?" Donut Friday, of course. We found a Dunkin' Donuts after the Titanic Memorial, and then tried to catch the sunset from the Lincoln Memorial, but traffic was way too crazy, so we just headed home. It was a very loooong day for all, but so much fun.