4th of July in our Nation's Capital

Our last day trip into Washington DC...

We get to end with a bang!

We had just one last thing to do on our DC bucket list, tour Ford's Theatre.  I really wanted to take the family into DC for the big parade and fireworks so we added one more to that days activities.

We were able to get the perfect parking spot right across from the Newseum.  We had our home base.  The day was going to be long and had a good chance of rain. We needed our car close to pack for every possible need or in case we needed to leave if anything got rain out.

We headed into town at 7:30 in the morning in order to secure tickets into Ford's Theatre. After getting the tickets we got to wait in another line for the tour.  This is when it started raining the first time.  We came prepared with our umbrellas, so no big deal.  It was really great to go into the the theater and have the ranger tell the story of how Lincoln was shot.

Ford's Theatre Tour

Peterson House

Our next stop was to tour the house where they took Lincoln after he was shot, and then later, had died. 

Independence Day Parade

The parade was so much fun!  Well most of us thought so,
some thought they should have thrown candy;)
We watched the parade right in front of the Natural History Museum.  There were tons of school bands and fun balloon floats.  The most interesting part was how many people from other countries totally covered in the red, white, blue and seemed so excited to be a part of the celebration.

National Gallery of Art

Loved going into the Gallery.  Isabel was the one that was really excited seeing the art, the boys not so much.  She specially liked the one of some sailors on a boat with a big shark in the water.

National Gallery Sculpture Garden Downpour

On our way to the Natural History Museum we got caught in a huge downpour.  After hiding out under the trees we decided to make a break for it.  We should have stayed in the Gallery, our shoes were flooded by the time we got to the museum and they stayed that way the rest of the day.

Capital 4th Fireworks

Truly the best way to celebrate our countries independence is to see fireworks in our Nation's Capital.  We able to pick out a little spot for us on the Mall.  We laid down our trash bags, blankets wouldn't work after the rain that was dumped that day, and waited for the show.

It was perfect! 

We had the Washington Monument to the left and the perfect opening through the trees to see a spectacular firework show.

~ July 4, 2015 ~