Our Trip to Washington DC

Rob had a scheduled business trip to Washington DC to attend an educator conference for his biotechnology program. We decided to tag along. The flights were on time and relatively easy. Both Cora and Finn slept through the entire 2nd flight, including take off. We started out by taking the Metro rail from the airport to the hotel. Cora was SO excited to ride a train. And she was even more excited when we arrived in the hotel lobby. We stayed in the Omni Shoreham hotel, which is where President Clinton had his inaugural ball and where the movie The Pelican Brief was filmed.

This is our very nice hotel room. Rob just about choked when he saw on the door that the rate is 2000 dollars a night. Luckily McCook Community College was paying the much lower conference rate.

Here is Finn after his first taste of Sprite soda. I missed his first reaction which was to stick out his tongue and shiver.

Here is Cora at an Asian restaurant with her unique kid's cup. I think it's a sauce container they cut a hole in. It looks like she's drinking a beta fish.

Rob with his kung pao chicken.

And here I am...

The very next morning we got up bright and early to go to our scheduled White House tour. In order to go, you have to contact your congressperson at least 30 days in advance and have a background check. I didn't put Rob's name on the list because I thought he'd be in conference meetings when we were scheduled. I didn't know they were going to sign us up at 7:30 AM, so Rob was able to walk with us. It was dark, but there were a surprising number of people in the tour and quite a few people walking around the city.

You can see the beginnings of the sunrise.

Rob walked around and saw the National Mall while we were on the tour.

And here we are after the tour. I saw President Obama's dog out on the lawn with four security guards watching him. I have a photo on my cell phone, but I can't figure out how to get it onto my computer yet.

Here is the ginormous escalator out of the subway.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the National Zoo while Rob was in meetings.

A panda.

Finn still crawls around when he isn't next to something to help him stand up.

The next day we attended the Postal Museum. Cora really liked all the stamps.

Cora in a replica carriage.

She really liked the ABC's display of stamps. She found all the letters in her name and all the letters in Finn's name.

Finn enjoyed the fish at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Rob joined us in the afternoon to see this museum.

We walked around the National Mall and saw the memorials and monument.

The WWII Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial

The view of the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial.

The Smithsonian Castle

The Wright Brothers' 1903 plane at the Air and Space Museum

A scuplture in the Art Museum's sculpture garden.

The National Archives Pretty columns at the archives

Finn liked the tofu at the sushi restaurant.

A statue of George Washington in the Smithsonian Museum of American History

Finn learned to use a fork all by himself in the museum cafe. He was so proud of himself.

We flew through Minneapolis on the way home where Nana and Grandpa Kochan stopped by to see us during our 3 hour layover.

We had so much fun. We're also so glad to be home.