Washington DC Day 3

Mt. Vernon-- George Washington's home is still a place you can visit today. It's kind of like Conner Prairie in Indy but a whole lot more historically important.  You can walk through his original home, seeing the final resting place of President Washington and his wife as well as walk through a museum. 

Arlington National Cemetery-- Luckily we were able to make it to Arlington on our last day to walk through the headstones, see JFK's eternal flame and watch the changing of the guard.

Sarah Fitzpatrick-- My dear friend Fitzie lives in NYC but was in DC to do an interview for 60 Minutes (she's a producer). Fitz grew up going to Tecumseh and we were counselors together for five summers. She met up with my school at Arlington and then stuck with us as we drove back to the city and visited a couple more monuments. I loved that several of my girls were so excited to meet her.

Lincoln Memorial-- One of the most iconic spots in Washington DC, we didn't want to miss this. 

Jefferson Memorial-- It looks like Jefferson is gazing straight into the White House from his spot here.

Capital Building-- Every year we have an all school picture with the Capital in the background. These 8 kids got chosen to be the "runners" who will show up in the picture twice. It's kind of like magic.

Smithsonian Air and Space Museum-- Always our last stop and lunch spot, if there's enough time you can find the planes of Amelia Earhart and the Wright Brothers as well as famous shuttles, satellites and rockets.

Obi Wan and Yoda made it back to the airport by 3:30 in anticipation of our 5:30 flight.

Unfortunately we didn't end up leaving DC until about 7:00 but our kids weren't upset about spending more time together. The other half of our group had a delayed plane as well and they didn't get back to Indy until 2am.

As we were picking up our luggage I head someone yell my name and turned around to see my friend Natalie Finney aka Finney Baby. She was returning from a trip to Texas this weekend and I was so happy to run into her.

Even with the freezing cold temperatures and changing plans, the 8th Grade DC Trip was one of my highlights of the school year. Hanging out with all of these kids and teachers is one of my favorite things.