Today we decided to take it a bit easier and give our legs a rest.  This morning, we drove out to Manassas National Battlefield where the battles of Bull Run took place.  It wasn’t anything like Gettysburg, but the history around the place is pretty amazing.  The visitor center had a audio presentation that coincided with a large display with lights that showed where each part of the battle took place and what happened.  Ben LOVED this and didn’t want to do anything but watch the lights flicker and move around.  🙂  Zach’s favorite part (go figure) was the gift shop where he begged for everything in sight!  🙂

We took a walking tour of the site and learned a bunch of neat things about the battle itself.  I probably was more interested than anyone else…

It was a nice day but a little on the chilly side and it was windy so it felt colder than it actually was.  We had to bundle up.  About half-way through, Ben decided he had enough and took off running.  Angela caught him and then took him to the car to thaw out and get ready for lunch and our drive downtown to take a tour of the US Capitol.

The Capitol tour was the highlight of our trip so far!  Angela arranged VIP tickets through our Senator’s office there and we met the personal tour guide in the rotunda of the Capitol Visitor’s Center.  She was very nice and very knowledgeable (I’m sure from a bunch of practice)!  🙂  We walked all throughout the building and took way too many pictures to post here.  We saw the Speaker of the House offices, the Capitol rotunda (where they have state funerals, etc.), and the old chambers where Lincoln, John Quincy Adams, and many other famous legislators met.  They have markings on the floor where their desks were.

Angela loved every minute of it.  She is very interested in politics and I wouldn’t be surprised if she runs for some kind of office when the kids are grown up.  🙂

After the tour was over, we got tickets to go see the Senate and House Chambers.  Ben couldn’t go in so Angela went in to see the Senate chambers while I watched Ben, and then I went in and took a look and then brought the rest of the kids back out with me.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything going on in there and it was deathly quiet.  There were a few people in there, but no Senators and no debates.  We did see a couple of officials in there milling around and checking their facebook accounts (our tax dollars hard at work)!  🙂  We had to laugh!  Due to time constraints, we didn’t get to go in and see the House Chambers.  They were actually doing something in there.  Oh well, maybe some other time.

After the tour, we walked back to the car, drove back to the hotel, had dinner, went swimming, and are going to sleep VERY good tonight!  We have a HUGE walking day tomorrow (the rest of the National Mall, Holocaust Museum, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, etc.).