More from Washington...

One of our favorite museums was the Art Museum. Drew had studied several famous painters this year at school, so he was looking forward to seeing several of Picasso's originals. It was pretty cool! Here he is in front of one of my favorites....

Pointing at his famous signature...

 This piece was in the modern art section of the museum and I thought it was cool. Is it an owl or a fish?!?!

That afternoon, we boarded a bus and went to Mount Vernon. This was a stop I was looking forward to and it did not disappoint. I loved walking the grounds of the estate and imagining George and Martha walking the same path. They have preserved so much of the estate and his house, it is awesome. I especially loved seeing the bed that he died in (so weird to imagine)...the dishes that Martha picked out and to see how she decorated the home.
Jason and Drew are in front of the horse pastures on his estate.

Here we all are in front of the gates of Mount Vernon!

Here is more of the gang....

The boys in front of the doors on his front porch......

When we got back to DC, we went to Old Ebbit Grill for dinner. This is a famous restaurant across from the White House where many congressmen, US Reps....all the power people come and eat. It was just fun to people watch even though I didn't recognize anyone~

The boys got FBI hats and Brooke thought she needed one too.

I felt like we were on the set of Night at the Museum! It was so cool! This is right in the entrance when you walk in.

Grandma and Brooke went into the special butterfly exhibit. It was in a greenhouse, so I had to take pictures thru a window. There were butterflies everywhere and one landed on Brooke's back, which she was SOO happy about and still talks about it!

Here they are checking out something interesting that we couldn't see!

More from Washington.......

Our first big museum was Museum of American History. We found this awesome doll house that Brooke loved. There were so many people, I couldn't even read what was so special about it! I just knew Brooke thought it was cool!

We went thru the part of the museum that features things from the wars that America has been in. Well, we had our own Vietnam War Vet with us...Grandpa! We were so proud to see the helicopters that he flew on in Vietnam and the boys got a picture with him in front of one.

Another BIG highlight was riding the Metro. By the end of the week, we knew the drill....

Both boys would try to hang on these bars during the ride....another feature of Washington DC are the "hobos." That's what the boys call them and there were many that would hang out by the Metro stations. The boys were not used to seeing people like this, so that was a main topic of conversation.......why are they homeless? How do they eat? Where do they go to the bathroom? It went on and on.........I think they are pretty educated on hobos now...

One of our most favorite things that we did was go to the National Zoo! It was awesome and we had a great day there!

The zoo has 2 panda bears and I don't think any other zoo in the US has Pandas. The female was kept inside because they thought that she was in labor. The male was just munching away on bamboo....he was so cute. This is a stuffed bear, in case you weren't sure :)

Not a great picture of the elephant, but I had just gotten over being in a trance because the elephant was up right by the fence peeing....everyone was in awe, let me just say, it was quite a sight to see! Once I came to, he was walking away and this is the picture I got.

The reptile house provided more entertainment than I thought it would. I guess we were there at the right time of day when the snakes, lizards, and other scaly creatures were active....Jackson is having a stare down with an iguana and Brooke is amazed!

We went on a night tour of all the monuments. That was awesome....we were driven around in an air conditioned tour bus and got to get off at the monuments if we wanted. Here we are in front of the capitol.

The kids and Grandpa at the top of the Jefferson Memorial.

I loved the Lincoln Memorial. The kids counted the steps on the way up and I think there were 58 of them! The enormity of the statue is amazing and I wish we could have stayed a little longer here.

Not a great pic., but the boys in front of the Korean War Memorial.....at this point, the boys were getting really tired. It was about 10:00. Once we got back on the bus, they both fell asleep and they missed the rest of the tour, but we loved it!
There's still more to come...............

The Maupins go to Washington! (part 1)

We went with Jason's parent's to Washington, D.C. to celebrate the 4th! What a great place to be and what a fun city! Kathy had planned everything, which I was so thankful for.....we started off with a stop at Madame Trussads Wax Museum!

OK...I can't remember who this guy is....but someone important. Jackson tried to match every face of each person...

Hats Off!!!

Grandma and Brooke sitting on the bus by Rosa Parks.

Brooke was not so sure about these wax figures. They look amazingly real! She was about to tap her on the shoulder to tell her something.

The Maupin boys with our fellow Texan, George W.!

Notice Jason's hand on Madonna's leg........hmmm......a little frisky with the wax figure.

Our new BFF's Brad and Angelina!

On the night we arrived, Kathy had planned for us to go out to a restaurant called Cafe Mozart. We met up with an old family friend of the Maupins who lived with them in Germany. It was a delicious dinner (German restaurant) and Jason even got take out from there another night!! We had a fun time seeing Anne and her daughters.

After dinner, we walked down the street to the White House. Here's the whole gang!

Here we are at the Air and Space Museum. It was sooooo crowded that day, but we managed to get  some good pics.

The Maupin Brothers in front of the Wright Brothers. Note: This picture was taken just seconds after I had to break up an argument between the boys.....they can turn on the smiles in a heartbeat! The minute the picture was done, back to fighting......the joys of a family vacation!

A few minutes later, everyone was happier and was able to pose in front of the actual plane that the Wright brothers flew for the first time. Amazing!

The next day, we were on our way to the Spy Museum (the BEST museum) and it started POURING!!! We had to run into a hotel and sit for a while. Luckily, they had a little snack time in the lounge, so some of us participated in the snacking as if we were residents.....uh hum....Jason and Drew (and Brooke too). Jason went and got some popcorn for the kids to pass the time.

Here is the one picture I took at the Spy Museum!! You are not supposed to take pictures, but good spies always figure out a way to get a shot! You could crawl thru some air ducts and spy on people throughout the museum. The kids got Grandpa up there with them and I had to shoot a picture. This place was an absolute favorite for the kids and the rest of the trip, we were constantly looking for "suspicious activity" They say that the most spies in the world are in Washington D.C.!!

On the 4th, there was a big parade down Constitution Avenue, ao we camped out with the other million people and watched the show!

Must get a popsicle at 9 in the morning........

Brooke and Jason having fun waiting for the parade to start!

Notice how Brooke's hair gets curlier as time passes.......the humidity was unreal!

Here is a stop at the American History Museum with the boys in front of Lou Gherigs glove....

More to come soon.............