Headline: Best-ever Grandma Camp Held in Washington, D.C!

Larry had a conference in Washington, D.C. , so we all decided to join him for a fabulous week !

Troy and Angela brought the kids to D.C. and got rooms in the same hotel as us. The Hyatt is just 3 blocks north of the Capitol Building, so we could walk to the Mall and take the Metro everywhere.
We got a tour of the Capitol through Senator Bennett's office and it was really cool, because we got to take the little train under the street from the Senate Office Building to the Capitol and come up underneath. We saw the House and Senate Chambers and got to go lots of places ordinary tourists don't.

Early one morning we rushed over to the Washington Monument and got tickets for our whole group (13 people) to go up at 6:00 that evening. That was really fun!

We also visited:
Holocaust Memorial, where the cast-off shoes made a big impression
Lincoln Memorial
Viet Nam Memorial
Air and Space Museum, complete with tour led by Larry
National Cathedral which was really cool because we got to get up in the tower and see the flying buttresses from the roof
Bureau of Engraving & Printing, where we saw them making $1 bills
Kennedy Center, with guided tour by a French artistic-type lady
Arlington National Cemetery (twice) and we got to see the changing of the guard and the mast from the battleship Maine (Remember the Maine!)
Old Post Office Tower, where we could see all over DC
Natural History Museum which has FABULOUS JEWELS, including the Hope Diamond and the diamond crown worn by Napoleon's wife.
Rode the Metro and the bus all over town
Swam in the hotel pool lots!
We really enjoyed a do-it-yourself paddle-boat ride on the river.

The last night was pure magic! We went to dinner with the whole family. Then we went over to our favorite fountain to write in our journals so we could remember everything we did. The moon was up and the Capitol was nearby and all lit up and there were even fireflies! Afterward we played in the fountain until the police came and kicked us out very sweetly, saying maybe we should not be in the water because homeless people and dogs bathe there. We left happily!