Today started with a tour of the White House!  An hour before going on our tour we stopped at the museum for the White House (kiddie corner just to the southeast).  It allowed us to get a feel for what we would see inside and all the history involved with the White House.  Then we were ready for our tour.  This was really fun and something we had all looked forward to.  Getting to go inside and see where so many important decisions are made was amazing!  We also saw so many historical furnishings, paintings, and dishes.  The really amazing thing is that although it is kind of like a museum, everything in there is used all the time.  It's hard to believe that furniture some of the first Presidents of our country used isn't just "on display" but is actually used by everyone who comes to the White House on whatever business they are there for.

Cameras were not allowed on the tour, so mine had to be left back at the hotel, but I did have my camera phone to take some shots as were leaving out the front entrance of the White House...

From the White House we walked over to Ford's Theater, where Abraham Lincoln was shot.  There is an amazing museum inside the theater building that we were able to spend an hour in before going into the theater.  Inside there were videos playing in different areas that told how the whole event on that fateful night unfolded.  Along the way we could see things like the clothes Lincoln was wearing when he was shot, and the gun he was shot with...

 Then we walked into the theater where we sat and listened to a tour guide tell us more about that night.  As he talked we were able to look over at the actual Presidential box where Lincoln was shot.

After leaving Ford's Theater we walked directly across the street to William Petersen's house, where Lincoln was taken when it was decided the White House was too far away.

Here he was taken along a thin hallway to the back, to the dingy little rented room of a War Department clerk.  There, they lay the oversized President diagonally across a small Victorian four-poster bed.  Here (behind a sheet of glass) is the bed...

Kind of a sad tour, but a piece of history that came alive for us - more so than just being read in a history book.  Abraham Lincoln was an amazing President and that was a truly sad day for our country.

Next we ate lunch at a really yummy cafe called

Breadline

, just down the street from the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue.  Oh my goodness!  We would go back there in a heartbeat!  The sandwiches, pizzas, and soups were freshly made and delicious!

Next we moved on to a Smithsonian - the Museum of Natural History.  All the Smithsonian's are HUGE!  There is enough in each one to spend a couple of days exploring.  In this museum alone there were exhibits about the ocean, Africa, the Ice Age, fossils, dinosaurs, mammals, the origin of humans, Earth/Moon/meteorites, gems/minerals, live butterflies & plants, insects, Egyptian mummies, bones, and more!

My kids were much braver than me in the insect exhibit.  There was a man passing around live insects for the kids to hold.  Here are Colton and Kyle with a HUGE hissing cockroach...

Colton even let it tickle his cheek with its antennae!

Then they held a millipede next...

And then a really chunky caterpillar!

Then they decided to hold the Washington Monument.

Here we were also able to view the Hope Diamond...

 and some other amazing jewels...

After grabbing some dinner we headed to one of our most memorable and fun things we did on our trip - a Washington DC at Night Bike Tour.  This was a 3 hour tour in which we followed our tour guide around on bikes to all of the monuments around the National Mall.  It was SO FUN!  Mark and I each rode a tandem bike - mine had Kyle on the back while Mark took Colton.  This helped alleviate our stress about the two youngest riding next to busy streets at night.  Bryan and Morgan each had their own bike.

The group we were with was small - about 10 people in all.  When we got to a monument we all got off our bikes while our tour guide told us a little about the background.  Then we were free to spend a few minutes taking pictures and walking around the monument.

Here we are at the Washington Monument...

and the White House...

the World War II Memorial...

with the Lincoln Memorial in the background...

the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall...

the Lincoln Memorial...

the Korean War Veterans Memorial...

the Martin Luther King Memorial...

the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial...

and our last stop, the Jefferson Memorial Building.  That's Mark and the kids walking up the steps in their florescent green bike vests.

The view from the Jefferson Memorial taking in the White House to the left and the beautiful Washington Monument to the right reflected in the Tidal Basin below.

What a beautiful and fun way to end our day!