Day 27 - 7/17

Today is our first day in the heart of D.C. It's amazing to think that our country's lawmakers and policies come from here and that we are so close to it all. We first saw the National Gallery of Art. In the middle of the main room, there is a fountain with a figure on top of it, pointing his finger in the air. Seeing this, Julia copied him and received many compliments about her cuteness. This museum had many beautiful and interesting paintings and sculptures. One of them was Girl With Watering Can by Renoir. This painting is my mom's favorite.

Throughout the museum there were people who were painting reproductions of different paintings. They were good reproductions and the people were very approachable in talking about the painting they were observing. When I look at paintings, I like to notice the details that give a painting more meaning. One of them had small cheribs, but the way they drew them came off to be as somewhat disturbing. I don't know what's weirder, the fact that only the child's head is used or that it looks like a crowchild. Probably one of the more significant paintings we saw was one by Leonardo Di Vinci. It was painted in the 1400's and was a picture of a woman. This picture is so special because it is the only one by Leonardo Di Vinci in all of North America.

Early in the morning (before everyone woke up) Dad and I went to the Bureau of Engraving to get tickets for their tour. This is the place where paper money is printed and shipped to the Federal Reserve. When we went on the tour, they talked a lot about the different security features. The 100 dollar bill will be the newest one to be released with new features such as liberty bells that change in light. Also I learned that the 100 dollar bill only costs 11 cents to make, while the nickel cost 6 cents. After finishing the tour, what impressed me the most what how meticulous the process is. But then again it has to be to thwart counterfeiters. We also measured our height to see how much we are worth in 100 dollar bills.

To finish up the day, we went to the National Air and Space Museum. This branch of the Smithsonian Museums has two parts. We already visited the larger one a couple days ago. This one had exhibits that featured WWI and WWII planes and pilot gear. We also saw the original Wright brothers' plane they flew in 1903. They also showed a movie of different NASA shuttles going off into space and astronaut related items, such as space food and clothing. This museum was fun for Dad especially because he is into technology and science. The girls liked it as well because they could see vintage pictures of Snoopy fighting the Red Baron.