Washington D.C.

After the week in Baltimore, we rented a car and drove to Alexandria, VA to stay with C.O.'s Aunt Phyllis. She has a beautiful home and is only a half hour drive or metro ride from D.C. Phyllis, once upon a time, worked at the Smithsonian working with fossils and minerals. So, the first day we were there, she gave us a little tour of the part of the museum where she worked.

"Rocks are beautiful and fun!"

On Sunday, we had Phyllis drop us off near the Washington Monument and from there we hoofed it to each of the nearby memorials. One of the units I have to teach to my first grade students this year is about holidays, monuments, patriotic songs etc., so we took many of pictures of the sights we saw to share with my students next fall.

When we were near the White House, the roads nearby were blocked off for security reasons since the President was going out by helicopter. We saw the big helicopters fly overhead and land on the White House lawn.

--AnnMarie