Day 5....Monuments and some exotic food...

We slept in...Molly didn't sleep well last night due to this being the third change in sleeping arrangements in 4 days.  It was nice not to rush!  We got to the Metro a little after 9:30 I think...and went to the Mall again to start viewing the Monuments!  We walked A LOT today...I'm sore, John is sore...John said we probably walked about 12 miles today on foot around the city....maybe more!  I think Emily skipped most of the way...she has so much dang energy!  We were a little spoiled at my brother's place because his apartment is right by the Metro but our hotel is maybe 4 or so blocks and it is up hill back to the hotel!  We started at the Washington Monument...we didn't get tickets (they sell out every morning at about 8!) and I didn't know which day we were doing it in time to get online tickets...so we looked at it from the outside..we may check it out later on in the week if we can get same day tickets!  Next we walked over to the WWII memorial which was special for John and I..due to both our grandfather's serving in this war.  John's Grandfather  landed at Normandy..and received a purple heart.  He was in the Army.  My Grandfather was in the Army Air corp.  We took a lot of pictures here.  There was a live band playing music here and a computer where you could look up veterans in the data base. 

Next we took the LONGEST walk ever to the other side of the Tidal Basin to the Jefferson Memorial.  It was so worth it though...These monuments are just like nothing I have ever seen here in the US.  I guess I have seen similar type structures when I went to Europe but they are just so awe inspiring and grandiose!  It was a very long walk...so glad we had the stroller today! 

After that we walked on around the Tidal Basin to the FDR Memorial...Emily says this is her favorite President that she read about and we all agreed at dinner tonight that this was one of our favorite memorials..I think due to the fact that it stretched out in a series of picture stories about his different terms..it took awhile to walk through it, it wasn't busy, had lots of water fountains and peaceful scenes..it was a good one!  We all enjoyed the stroll through it very much! 

Next was the Korean War Memorial and this was actually a close 2nd for me as far as favorites go. It was very moving to me and visually beautiful...there were these beautiful sculpted military men walking in a field..It was just very real to me.  I'm glad we stopped there as well!

We finally made it all the way around the Tidal Basin and over to the Lincoln Memorial which is HUGE, Awesome, and very busy!  Too bad that there is a remodeling project going on on the reflecting pool so it wasn't as beautiful as it usually is but the Monument itself is just amazing!  Molly had had it by then so she was a little devilish...but we are so glad that we got to experience all the monuments...

Last but not least was the Vietnam War Memorial...Went there especially for my Dad!  There were many family members of veterans there.

We were all exhausted...at least I was!  We walked to the closest food establishment to get some nourishment and we all needed it.....we were getting a little crabby!  We ate at Potbelly's sandwiches and then all went back to the hotel to rest. 

The plan was to eat at an Ethiopian restaurant tonight..Nic found us a "famous" one that has won all kind of awards.  It was in his neighborhood and apparently the one that the Duggars of 20 something kids and counting went to when they came to DC.  I wanted to try some Ethiopian food myself and show the kids what our friend in Ethiopia may eat.  Our friend, Dibora, in Addis, Ethiopia eats igera (spelling?) which is a spongy bread..not sure if she eats some of the fancy food we ate but I just wanted the kids to try something new!  It was great!  Very authentic and the kids actually really liked it .... especially John Daniel!  They ate with there hands and tried everything on the platters.  It was very tasty!  John decided for us to just walk to the restaurant from our area to Nic's area.  It was a nice 25 minute walk through some interesting neighborhoods and very quint housing...I'm convinced that no one in DC cooks...the restaurants are about every other store and they are all always full!

Famous place...Bill Cosby eats here for FREE!

John Daniel loved these greens!  We all ate off a community plate, wrapped our food in the bread and ate with our hands!

THIS is one of the many reasons I love homeschooling!  We have talked about so many things...evolution, space exploration, people, foods, transportation, etc...many people say that we as homeschoolers want to shelter our kids but really I just want to shepherd them...show them the world and be there to experience it with them and teach them to know truth and how to deal with the world around them and filter everything through God's word...this is what we want to do..explore with them, teach them, show them, and broaden their horizon!  It has been so neat to see all this through their eyes and their perspectives! We have had an exhausting but amazing time so far!  It was a little bit more difficult today due to not sleeping well last night but here is to a restful night for everyone...so I need to get to bed!  Enjoy the pictures!  I have sooooo many!