The Gs Hit DC

One of the best parts about moving is exploring the new surroundings and finding places to go and eat. Everything is new and exciting and thrilling. It’s like a restart button on life. As for places to eat and things to see, we are completely spoiled here. If we lived here our whole lives, I don’t think we’d be able to cover it all. I love it and I keep pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. I can’t believe I get to live here.

We’ve been good about exploring locally but we needed to go explore some of THE city. So we decided to go into the city yesterday to explore and see some sights. We didn’t have an official timeline or agenda. We were just planning things as we went. It was awesome! We had a great day and everything worked out well.

We live about 45 minutes outside of the heart of DC. For our California friends, it’s about the same as the trek from Eastvale/Corona area to Los Angeles. But unlike California, we have public transportation options. So yesterday we decided to take the Metro. Even though I love good public transportation, I was dreading the trip. Thankfully, it wasn’t nearly the drama I thought it’d be. Every thing was rather easy to figure out (with Bill’s help, of course!) and an uber-friendly attendant at the Metro stop helped us figure out the tickets and fees, etc. And the kids, oh my goodness, they LOVED it. I think we could have just taken a ride on the train and the kids would have been happy with that. 

It was a beautiful sunny day. There was still a chill in the air but not nearly as cold as it’s been here lately. 

We decided to go to the National Museum of Natural History (say that five times!). Entrance was FREE. It was busy but not overwhelmingly busy. It did become more crowded in the afternoon but by then we were almost done seeing everything we wanted to see.

It is a beautiful building with lots to see. The exhibits kept the kids' interest throughout the day.

The exhibits were family-friendly and they had just opened an exhibit especially for kids - with lots of hands-on activities - and both our kids had fun going through. 

Here's a picture of Grant with his favorite animal - a Giant Squid. 

My favorite part of the museum was watching the show “Jerusalem” in the IMAX theater. Some of it was probably over the kids’ heads, but I still think it’s important to expose them to things they might not fully understand. I haven’t looked up any scientific evidence to prove this but I do think that we absorb a lot in our subconscious before it actually registers in our brains. So, we dragged the kids into the show when they really wanted to see the ocean IMAX instead. But it was a very interesting show – and even the kids were engaged in it.

And yes, homeschool friends, I'm counting this as a Field Trip! 

We left the museum in the late afternoon and walked to the Capitol building. 

The sun was setting and everything was “glowing” in the late afternoon sun. It was truly beautiful. I’m a person that gets inspired by my surroundings and nature, and this setting made me want to go “conquer the world” …but then I realized I can’t even “conquer” my kids, so I better keep my work at home for a little while longer. Still, it was inspiring and I felt rejuvenated by time we headed home.