DC Trip: National Air and Space Museum

We really enjoyed our visit to the National Air and Space Museum. It was an absolutely freezing cold day that day with an icy wind so it was great to have an indoor option to take advantage of. We went to the Steven F. Udvar Center located just next to Dulles International.

They had a small plane the kids could get in. They actually let them control the wing and tail flaps. Here are Joshua and his cousin Jonathan:

Daniel & Simon:

There was a really cool stealth plane Jake got pretty excited about. It was impressive:

Here we have the "Mobile Quarantine Facility" which was neither stealthy nor impressive. But I thought it was kind of cool in a retro sort of way. Apparently they made Neil Armstrong & Co. stay in this little mobile home for like 3 weeks after they returned to earth in case they had "moon germs." I understand the need to be cautious, but confining them to such cramped quarters was downright mean!

Here are Tracy and I next to a toy that our Dad had had as a child. Not the actual toy, but one just like it. It is the lighthouse tower with the counterbalancing airplanes on the bottom left:

Joshua was absolutely miserable by the end of our trip up here in the observation tower. Apparently he had hated the whole thing. Granted, my legs were killing me by this point, but c'mon. Tracy truly put us all to shame with her energy and native cheeriness considering she is the one who was in her 7th month of pregnancy at this point.