Friday we drove down to Mount Vernon to George Washington's Estate. When we got there we were lucky to see the torchbearer for the Special Olympics run by. We had no idea that was taking place, but it was pretty neat to see.
We took the National Treasure tour when we first got there. The kids loved it, especially when we got to go down below the house where they filmed the tunnel scene.
Mount Vernon is pretty impressive. Washington's mansion sits on a 500 acre estate . We spent most of the day wandering around the property.
They still have a working farm, and have recreated the 16 sided barn that Washington invented.
They had a sheep shearing demonstration too.
The paths through the property were so pretty!
We found some cute little piglets on the farm.
And the boys fed the bulls some leaves.
George Washington's tomb is on the property.
It was neat to see his coaches he rode in.
While Rob and I waited in line for our mansion tour, the boys took advantage of the giant front lawn for a game of tag.
Lincoln found this huge leaf and thought it was awesome that it was bigger than his head.
We weren't allowed to take pictures in the mansion. The inside was so cool. All the walls were painted vibrant colors. Apparently that was a sign of wealth then. It was neat to be in there and imagine the president living there.
They also have a museum on site with some great exhibits and artifacts from the president. We watched a movie about the revolutionary war that had some cool special effects. The boys learned a lot.
A pair of his dentures were on display. He didn't have wooden teeth, like everyone thinks. These dentures were made of a combination of horse, cow, and human teeth.
After Mount Vernon we went to the Air and Space Smithsonian. We got to see so many neat things like the Apollo 11 command module...
the plane that Amelia Earheart made two of her record breaking flights in...
and we got to touch a moon rock!
Bryson loved that they had planes that he could climb in.
When we were done at the museum, we went over to Arlington National Cemetery.
We saw JFK's grave.
And the tomb of the unknown soldier. We got to see the changing of the guard. It was interesting to notice that both of the soldiers steps were so precise that they walked in the exact same spots and that the runner they walk on is worn only in those spots.
I had no idea how big the cemetery was. You could see the grave markers lined up so far.
It was a very memorable day. We learned a lot and gained great appreciation for our soldiers past and present.
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