Hello all! Today we went to the Smithsonian Folk life Festival and National Archives. At the National Archives, we were able to see the original documents of the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. It was very interesting, they are kept in vacuum sealed vaults within a very controlled environment as far as temperature, low lighting, humidity control, etc. in order to keep preservation of the parchment and ink that make the documents. And yes, you can still see John Hancock's signature along with all of the other famous signors. Another funny thing at the Archives I did not know is that they keep all letters sent to the White House and the Presidents. They had on display some funny letters kids had written, and one of those letters was from Fidel Castro as a 12 year old boy that they found. It was not very well written as his mastery of the English language was not very good, but the purpose of the letter was to ask the president to send him a ten dollar bill. I'm not sure of the significance or why a ten dollar bill, but it was kinda funny to see.
Smithsonian Folk life festival was really neat. It was held outside on the grounds around some of the Smithsonian museums. NASA had tent after tent celebrating their 50 year history and it was a great opportunity to interact with employees of the many different facets of NASA. We were able to meet and listen to people who worked in their robotics division, geologists, archeologists, engineers, map makers, educators, a lady that programs the Mars rover, even astronauts from NASA offices all over the US. You could visit a NASA office and not get to meet the variety of people we were able to learn from all in one spot today. WAY COOL!! We also checked out the cultural exhibit where we saw a dance from a country (I can't think of the name of now and I'm the only one still awake) near the Himalayas not Tibet, It starts with a B... Sorry can't think of it. Anyway, that was interesting. The 3rd exhibit was "Texas", we didn't spend much time there. (Hope I don't offend any Texans, but it was hard to compete with the whole NASA thing...)
Tomorrow is our last day here. We are leaving Union Station at 4pm to head back home on the train. We do have plans to do one last stop, The International Spy Museum. Dad will have to blog it for you as this will unfortunately be my last blog. Goodbyes always suck, No matter how old I get I still cry every time we have to leave Dad and Steph. If I have not said this enough, we are so grateful for everything and fortunate to have been able to do this. I'm afraid I have a bit of my dad's adventurous spirit in me, take me some place I've never been and I will love every minute of it. It's hard to say goodbye to DC, it was spectacular. As I promised in my first blog, many great memories were made, and I hope my posts helped preserve those memories and help you experience a bit of it with us.
September Song out, but never forgotten...
We love you-Thanks for everything!
Patti
Oh I almost forgot, I promised to say hello to all of my friends at home and work. Wish I was there, NOT! :)
Austin and DJ learning Robotics, NASA style
Smithsonian Folk life festival was really neat. It was held outside on the grounds around some of the Smithsonian museums. NASA had tent after tent celebrating their 50 year history and it was a great opportunity to interact with employees of the many different facets of NASA. We were able to meet and listen to people who worked in their robotics division, geologists, archeologists, engineers, map makers, educators, a lady that programs the Mars rover, even astronauts from NASA offices all over the US. You could visit a NASA office and not get to meet the variety of people we were able to learn from all in one spot today. WAY COOL!! We also checked out the cultural exhibit where we saw a dance from a country (I can't think of the name of now and I'm the only one still awake) near the Himalayas not Tibet, It starts with a B... Sorry can't think of it. Anyway, that was interesting. The 3rd exhibit was "Texas", we didn't spend much time there. (Hope I don't offend any Texans, but it was hard to compete with the whole NASA thing...)
Tomorrow is our last day here. We are leaving Union Station at 4pm to head back home on the train. We do have plans to do one last stop, The International Spy Museum. Dad will have to blog it for you as this will unfortunately be my last blog. Goodbyes always suck, No matter how old I get I still cry every time we have to leave Dad and Steph. If I have not said this enough, we are so grateful for everything and fortunate to have been able to do this. I'm afraid I have a bit of my dad's adventurous spirit in me, take me some place I've never been and I will love every minute of it. It's hard to say goodbye to DC, it was spectacular. As I promised in my first blog, many great memories were made, and I hope my posts helped preserve those memories and help you experience a bit of it with us.
September Song out, but never forgotten...
We love you-Thanks for everything!
Patti
Oh I almost forgot, I promised to say hello to all of my friends at home and work. Wish I was there, NOT! :)
Austin and DJ learning Robotics, NASA style
Yeah, these guys are real astronauts. How cool is that!
The boys got to sign their names on this tire that had been up in space.
The festival was right next to Washington Monument (and Capitol Hill on the other side.)
Talk about your prime real estate with a view.
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