Day Three - Back to DC!

Today the Garden Girl Cousins came with us to D.C. to explore three different museums. We started by riding the Metro in.

The Caterpillars are fast becoming pros at the ins and outs of Subway travel!
We walked from the Metro Station to our first stop: The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

After a potty-break (always important with 7 kids!) we made our way to the O. Orkin Insect Zoo.

I can safely say that this will be BY FAR B10's favorite experience in D.C. (And CW didn't think it was to shabby, either!)

After that came the Reptile Room and the BONES Room (full of different skeletons - I really liked the duck billed platypus and didn't get a picture). Then we made our way to the Geology Exhibit so Aunt CC and I could see the Hope Diamond. CW was fascinated by the jewelry and rocks.

We stopped on the second floor in a little alcove that looked over the main rotunda. There was plenty of room for us all to stretch out and eat lunch.

Aunt CC and I planned ahead and packed sandwiches, pickles, goldfish, cheese and water bottles so we wouldn't have to purchase lunch in-town.

Post-lunch we made our way to the exhibit I was most looking forward to in the Natural History Museum: the Western Civilization Wing. One of the coolest parts of this exhibit was the different places where it showed the average heights of people from a certain time/place and you could compare yourself.

Let's just say B10 and CW would both be "giants" in the Ancient World!

Inside the exhibit were many mini-movies that the Caterpillars and Garden Girls enjoyed (especially the ones about Ancient Egypt).

Then the older kids, B10, Princess Flower and CW, were allowed to go inside the Forensic Anthropology Lab and handle REAL people bones in order to "work on a case". That was pretty cool!

It was time to head to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum by way of the National Mall (and we got a few photos with sunny skies of the Capital Building).

The entrance hall was my favorite place, because I was able to see the first private sector "spaceship", the Apollo 11 module and The Spirit of St. Louis!

We only visited two galleries, starting with the Kid's Gallery about how things fly.

The kids all got to "fly" a Cessna plane, which they loved!

Then we went to the gallery about how we view the universe, starting with the "naked eye" and going all the way to the intricate telescopes that scientists now use. GO woke up and B10 held her after I fed her. She seemed to enjoy the exhibit. ;)

Back to the Metro - to head to the museum of Aunt CC and My's choice - The International Spy Museum! Before we could get there, though, we had to make a required stop at the local Starbucks. After spending 5 hours in D.C. with 7 children (all under the age of 10), this was a necessary treat!

The Spy Museum didn't allow pictures, but it was awesome. Even the gift shop did not disappoint.

That pretty much ended our day, though - it was after 6:15 p.m. when we left to head back to the Metro. One train switch later (from the Red Line to the Blue Line) and we were on our way home.

Aunt CC cooked a delicious dinner of Italian Chicken, peas and wild rice, which B10 and CW gobbled up before taking baths and crashing into their respective beds.

I'm super excited to find out what tomorrow will bring! (Especially since it's Butterfly's 5th Birthday and we get to celebrate with her!)

~Lone Butterfly )i(