Week in Washington, D.C. and the 4th of July

We got to DC in the hottest week of the year. It was miserable with the heat. We bounced from place to place to find AC. The Botanical Gardens are always one of favorite places to visit. The heat was so bad Dad was scoping out more indoor things. We were able to get a last minute tour of Voice of America. It was really neat to see how the whole communication network around the world works. Up next was the Native American exhibit and lunch with fry bread and honey. We learned to read the khipu. The khipu was an ancient way to keep track of numbers. We took the evenings to cool off in the pool. We enjoyed a few rides around on the campground wagon before hitting the showers. The Natural History Museum had free admission to the butterfly exhibit. We got there early and spent a lot of time talking to the docents. The butterflies loved my hat. We extracted our DNA and made necklaces. They even have a special collections area you can browse and explore. The 4th of July was spent at Mt Vernon having a classic holiday. Ben Franklin read the Declaration of Independence. We saw George Washington’s false teeth. We wrapped up with daytime fireworks. We went to College Park the Univ of Maryland for the evening fireworks. Everyone was exhausted so only Mom , E and I went. We ate fair food and played cards to pass the time.  Our next to the last day we spent at the National Zoo. It was so hot the animals were all hiding. We visited the Air and Space remote building.This was way cooler than main building in the mall. We saw some amazing airplanes. I loved the SpaceShuttle Discovery!