Back downtown- June.

We decided to go back into the city one last time.  Mama did some planning so we wouldn't have to walk so much, because all the kids were going!

 Mind you, it was still about 95 degrees, but I insisted on wearing winter tights, socks and a belt with my dress.  Fashion knows no weather.

First stop- Ford's Theater.  (What did you expect?  We had Lincoln's biggest fan with us!)   Let me tell you- this place is a gem.  Most sites in DC are very well run, but this place was great.  We marched up and got our timed tickets with no problem.

 Before we got to see the theater, we viewed a great museum next door.  There was a ton of stuff to look at.  While the grown ups read, Henry figured out how to take timed self-portraits.  He took about 100 pictures of the museum.

 Including this one of the gun that shot President Lincoln.

 Look at how tall he was!  He didn't even bend down to get in our picture.  Probably because he didn't want to be seen with the kid who pratically ruined the day for everyone in the museum.  Miss Grumpy Britches herself- JoJo.  She was TERRIBLE through the whole museum.  She cried and whined, refused to walk, refused to be carried, and screamed "NO!" for the duration of the downstairs portion of our tour.  When it was our time to walk upstairs, we had to wait in line.  Mama got stuck again with a crying grump.  Finally, after receiving several dirty looks, she cut ahead of everyone to just get out of the building.  Luckily, we were able to retrieve the stroller outside and Jo's nuk and blankie.  And she remained locked in there for the rest of the day.

 After that debacle, we were able to evjoy what we came for.  There's Mister Lincoln's box.

 A very low self-portrait.

 A sweaty and flustered mama, who was later returned to good spirits by a steak and kimchi taco she bought off a food truck.

Look closely and right next tot he box you can see mama and I.  Henry walked all the way around to the other side to take the picture.  Note that mama is crouched down very low next to me and the railing on the balcony only comes up to everyone's knees.  Mama's already afraid of heights, so when I took off around the other side of the balcony to take the picture, she stood there frozen, expecting me to tumble off the other side as I set up the camera for their portrait.  Luckily, we all escaped alive.

 

Which wasn't the case for poor Mister Lincoln.. (Too soon?)  The President was rushed across the street to the Peterson house, where he died the next morning.  Again, the Peterson house proved to be three floors of very good exhibits and a cool gift shop.  Well done, DC.

After that leg of our tour, we stopped for lunch (and the aforementioned Far East Tacos).  

 Next up, we walked down to the Old Post Office Tower, which is now a sort of shopping mall.  But you can take the elevator up to the top of the tower and get a great panoramic view of the city.  Apparently, very few people know about this place.  It was really fun and Henry could tell us every street name and what most of the buildings were.  I was just impressed that some of the buildings had gardens on the roof.  Mama later heard that the Trumps have bought the building and plan on turning it into a hotel.  I hope they leave the Tower open. 

The original plan was for mama to take the kids home early, but everyone was doing so well (remember we locked Jo up in her stoller), that we decided to stay downtown and visit the Natural History Museum.  Henry was excited because he read a chapter book adaptation of "Night at the Museum: Smithsonian."  In it, everything in the museum comes to life.

 And that's why he's looking a little nervous standing in the shadow of the T. Rex skeleton.

 Thank goodness this one finally fell asleep.

 The big hit of the day turned out to be the Gems and Rocks wing.  Guess who loved it the most?

I picked out all the gems I'd like for my collection.

Everyone was very enthralled.  Except mama- she wanted to get to the mummy section before we had to leave.  She finally had to hurry us through because she said we were going slower than papa in the bullet display of the Gettysburg museum.  (2 hours- not kidding.) 

One last shot before the train ride home.  What a great day.  Thanks for coming to visit us, Uncle Cole and Grams!