NO LITTLES... It was such a gift to us that Julie Chism offered to watch Reed & Esther for us while we took this day to do some tours that we had scheduled appointments for. And a gift it certainly was! This wasn't a day to be toting around a stroller and worrying about keeping little ones quiet. And it really wouldn't have been fun for them either. So we kissed the littles goodbye and left them in the very capable hands of Mrs Chism! :)
Our first stop was to pick up House and Senate gallery tickets at Senator Wyden's office. So we found our way to his office after going through security a few different times. It was incredibly interesting to walk through the halls and buildings of where so much of our government's work takes place. And where legislation happens that affects us on a local level. It was great conversation points with G & T.
US CAPITOL BUILDING
This is the dome of the Capitol building where they will be working for two years to check for damage from an earthquake last year. They call the plastic around the edge a 'donut,' so it can catch any debris but yet the center masterpiece can still be viewed.
This is in the lower level of the Capitol Building and represents the exact middle of Washington DC, with each quadrant representing SE, SW, NE and NW.
And some of the amazingly small and intricate artwork...
Okay - truth be told, that's not really what we did! Are you surprised? We were totally allowed to find our way to the Library of Congress via the tunnels that are open to everyone and beautiful marble hallways! ;) Thanks for pretending with me though. lol
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Wow! That's definitely how this description begins! This building is beautiful! And I would almost call it more of an art gallery than a library.
But I will let Mr Tate Lauinger give you a little introduction to it first....
What a character... ;)
And one of the most unique things we got to see is a Gutenberg Bible! Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press and printed the first Latin Bible in 1455. There were 200 originally printed and only 3 left that they know about. It is obviously behind glass and very well protected but you can turn the pages in an electronic version and see where they have it open to currently. Our tour guide said they periodically turn the page just to preserve it correctly. The boys have studied Latin the last three years so it was fun for them (and me) to be able to point out words they knew. What an awesome privilege!
Again, another building we could have spent hours upon hours in! And anyone is able to get a Library of Congress library card - wouldn't that be fun to do!?! :) But again it's not a check-out library. They assign you a desk for while you are in the library and you may use that desk with those materials for as long as you'd like but you don't take any of the books out of the library. And the only people allowed on the actual library floor are card holders. The rest of us had to look through a glass room up above.
-----------------------------------------------
A glorious evening of yummy food, fun and fellowship at the Chisms was the perfect ending to a great day! :) And the littles had a FABULOUS time keeping Mrs Chism on her toes! <3
Our first stop was to pick up House and Senate gallery tickets at Senator Wyden's office. So we found our way to his office after going through security a few different times. It was incredibly interesting to walk through the halls and buildings of where so much of our government's work takes place. And where legislation happens that affects us on a local level. It was great conversation points with G & T.
US CAPITOL BUILDING
General Ulysses S Grant! ;)
This is in the lower level of the Capitol Building and represents the exact middle of Washington DC, with each quadrant representing SE, SW, NE and NW.And some of the amazingly small and intricate artwork...
And I only add this photo because of where we are walking, not so that you have to see our backsides. lol So we had been told that there are these tunnels that go between some of the buildings in DC. I had no idea if these so called tunnels were just for government employees, were they like bunker-isn type tunnels, were they dark, dingy and frightful!?! lol And THIS was our opportunity to take our own tour of the infamous tunnels!
So we showed our fake id's, looked official and waltzed into these so called tunnels like we knew exactly what we were doing and where we were going! Ha, ha, ha....
So we showed our fake id's, looked official and waltzed into these so called tunnels like we knew exactly what we were doing and where we were going! Ha, ha, ha....
Okay - truth be told, that's not really what we did! Are you surprised? We were totally allowed to find our way to the Library of Congress via the tunnels that are open to everyone and beautiful marble hallways! ;) Thanks for pretending with me though. lol
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Wow! That's definitely how this description begins! This building is beautiful! And I would almost call it more of an art gallery than a library.
But I will let Mr Tate Lauinger give you a little introduction to it first....
This was the Young Readers Library which was actually quite small compared to the entire thing but very well done. Like the rest of the library, it is not a check-out library. It is a read-while-you-are-there library and probably more of a show library. When a book is submitted for copyright, the author has to send two copies. And sometimes, that second copy ends up here in the Young Reader Library at the Library of Congress.
What a character... ;)
More of the beauty throughout the building...
Again, another building we could have spent hours upon hours in! And anyone is able to get a Library of Congress library card - wouldn't that be fun to do!?! :) But again it's not a check-out library. They assign you a desk for while you are in the library and you may use that desk with those materials for as long as you'd like but you don't take any of the books out of the library. And the only people allowed on the actual library floor are card holders. The rest of us had to look through a glass room up above.A glorious evening of yummy food, fun and fellowship at the Chisms was the perfect ending to a great day! :) And the littles had a FABULOUS time keeping Mrs Chism on her toes! <3
Tomorrow we have the exciting International Spy Museum, the Lincoln Memorial, National Archives, WWII Memorial and oh ya - that 'WETTING our appetite' thing!!!! YIKES! ;p
Ta, ta....
No comments:
Post a Comment