We took our family vacation this year to Washington DC, over the Fourth of July week. We stayed near the mall and traveled on the metro. The Smithsonian Folklife Festival was going on on the mall, we learned about Bhutan, Texas and Nasa. We saw the monuments, visited many museums and swam and relaxed. A special highlight was seeing my friend Amy. She took us to dinner at the ESPN zone. The kids thought the games were awesome and my fabulous husband played with them to give Amy and I a chance to catch up. 
Amy, Kate, Sam and I.
Waiting for the fireworks. They were only 20 minutes long, but fantastic!
Our new friend from Bhutan.
The monks create mandalas our of colored crushed limestone as part of their meditation. Beautiful, so fragile and ephemeral.
Sam won't get dehydrated as long as he has a steady supply of popsicles! Waiting for the parade.
Scott raises his urn.
Kate at Natural History Museum.
Etched into the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Our tour guide showed us that that the words have to be wet to be read easily.
