Jonathan had the day off again!
The weather today was supposed to be overcast until noonish, and then it was supposed to be thunderstorm-y. We have been in the south long enough to know that you should not underestimate the rain.
So, we planned our day accordingly. We decided to use the morning window to go see the sights on the National Mall and around the Tidal Basin and then we would come home and do naps. And then we’d go to the International Spy Museum in the afternoon, after the twins woke up.
First up, the National Mall. The kids had especially expressed interest in the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. So, we parked over by the Jefferson Memorial and started to walk in that direction, along the Tidal Basin pathway.
It was a lovely walk, with tons of cherry trees lining the walkway. We missed the Cherry blossoms, by a week or two, but I can imagine that it would be absolutely GLORIOUS. Even so, it was really lovely.
As we walked along, we encountered the Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorial, and so we checked that out really quick. It was a beautifully done memorial. It took up a surprisingly large area, and covered important aspects of his presidency: The Great Depression, the New Deal, WWII, etc. It provided us with some interesting topics of discussion with our little homeschoolers.
After the FDR memorial, we continued our walk along the Tidal Basin until we came to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.
It is an amazing tribute and was inspired by his “I Have a Dream” speech in which he said “With this faith, we will be able to hew out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”
The main feature of the exhibit is three enormous blocks of stone. Dr. King’s likeness is carved into the ‘stone of hope’ which stands apart from the two other blocks which represent the “mountain of despair”
A few of his most well known quotes are carved into walls which surround the Stone of Hope.
The Mountain of Despair 
A stone of hope. This is the block that Dr. King is carved into. 
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy” 
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” 
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
After seeing the MLK memorial, we walked back along the tidal basin toward the Jefferson Memorial, and on our way there, we also came across the George Mason Memorial. It commemorates the contributions of a nearly forgotten founding father. He was the author of the Virginia Bill of Rights which was an important inspiration to Jefferson as he drafted the Declaration of Independence. He was also part of the Constitutional Convention and withheld his signature from the Constitution because it didn’t abolish slavery and he felt that it needed a bill of rights to protect individuals from the government.
It was interesting to learn about his contributions. And we also appreciated the opportunity to sit and rest (and have snacks!) after all our walking. It wasn’t a terribly hot day, but the air felt really heavy.
After we were all feeling a little more perky, we made our way to the Jefferson Memorial, which is undergoing some renovations. Fortunately, we were still able to go inside. It was quite the place.
He insisted on crawling up the stairs for some reason. 
Mom and the twins… 
…ok and Jonas…. 
….oh, okay Clara too…. 
…Oh, and here’s Logan. Well, the gang’s all here! 
Isaac is “taking a picture” of Evie. And obviously, she is milking it. 
Enjoying the nice breeze. 
A lovely view of the Washington Monument 
Cutey McCute Cute. 
I love this guy.
After we had checked everything out there, we moved back towards the car. We had been keeping an eye on the weather, and it was going to start raining soon. It started raining about a minute after we all made it into the house: big fat raindrops and thunder and even a tornado warning. Talk about timing!
The International Spy Museum
I woke up from my nap, with Jonathan telling me to go get in the car. He’d already gotten everyone ready and loaded in the car. All I had to do was put on shoes and hop in too. He’s the best.
Jonathan has actually been to the Spy museum before. He came here as a teenager when he was in town for a journalism/newspaper thing and he loved it then
We got to the Spy museum and were informed that our stroller was too large to be permitted upstairs, but that we could use the small strollers they had on hand (fortunately, we didn’t have to pay for them.)
Unfortunately, not long after we got upstairs to the exhibits, the twins decided that the strollers were excellent toys. And they started getting into all kinds of mischief.
Eventually, we just took the strollers to a less busy part of the museum and left them. Because they were the opposite of helpful. I regret nothing.
It didn’t take long for the twins to realize that they could push the strollers themselves. 
And at this point they really started causing problems. 
Clara loved the carrier pigeons 
Ghillie suit 
We got to crawl through an air duct. 
I did it with a backpack on, I guess you could say I’d be a pretty good spy 
This was such a cool museum. I would love to come back sometime with only children above a certain age, so that I could really linger over the exhibits and watch all the films.
It was fascinating. A few of my favorite things:
*Videos of interviews with spies talking about how they got involved, close calls, and what it’s like to be a spy.
*All the gadgets (Lipstick pistols! Remote-controlled insects!) and disguises, etc.
*Exhibits talking about how spies and espionage made a difference in historical events: hunting down Bin Laden, the Cold War, the Revolutionary War, and World Wars, etc.
*Corporate espionage
We barely scratched the surface of everything this museum had to offer. There were also tons of interactive exhibits, which the kids really enjoyed.
Eventually our time at the museum came to an end. So we made a quick run through the gift shop and headed home.
But first, we picked up some Little Caesar’s pizza for dinner. I would say that this was a day well spent.
