Washington DC ... Part 2

Last week I posted some of the pictures from the first few days of our trip to Washington DC trip over Memorial Day weekend.  We did so much and I had so many photos to share, I decided that I needed to break my post up on two different days.

So here are the rest of the pictures.  First up, our day at Mt. Vernon ~ one of our favorite stops of the trip!

Amazing views from the beach!

My favorite chickas!

Me and my girl!

The back porch of the mansion ~ what a view!

Next up we went back into DC and spent the afternoon at the Smithsonion Museum of our choice.  I went with the Band Moms and we visited the Air and Space Museum and then the American History Museum.

Dumbo from the American History Museum

and the original Kermit the Frog from the 1970's

Later that day, we went on a dinner cruise on the Potomac River.
The kids had a blast dancing the night away!

On Monday morning {Memorial Day}, we visited the Basilica of the National Shrine.  It was gorgeous & my pictures don't even come close to doing it justice!

And now...the reason for the trip ~ the National Memorial Day Parade!

Posing with some of the Japanese Tourists ~ it was awesome!  There were several groups who wanted photos with our band.  They must have known we are Indiana State Champions!  LOL!

Chilling out in the shade before the parade.

There's my girl getting ready to go! 

Almost time to go ~ in parade rest position.

And they're off ~ they looked so sharp!

Going by the Capitol!

And here's a YouTube Clip of their parade performance ~  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j0cN5Gf9Ns&feature=share

After the parade, we cooled the kids down and stripped off their uniforms as fast as possible ~ boy was it HOT! Then we stopped for dinner at Union Station at UNO's Pizza. On our way out of town, we made one last stop at the very impressive Iwo Jima Memorial.

WHAT AN AMAZING TRIP!  I was very happy to have been able to go with the band and watch these fantastic kids experience the sights and sounds of our Nation's Capitol.  It took me a week to recover, but I would trade the experience!