Day 5

Our first visit this day was to the Supreme Court. I was shocked at the number of people who asked the police officers what building this was. It's a pretty important place!

We had great fun on the marble stairs

and admired all of the statues of the previous Supreme Court Chief Justices.

When we exited the Supreme Court, we noticed the skies had turned black. I wasn't sure if we'd make it, but we headed to the National Botanic Garden.

We made it to the jungle before the rain!

When I said before that Wes found every fountain in DC, I wasn't kidding.

He climbed through five feet of vegetation to get to this one!

The catwalk through the canopy was pretty cool, but I really posted these two pictures for some camera help. This first photo was taken with the flash, which came on automatically. I didn't like the reflection from the leaves and railing, so I turned the flash off....

...but then the photo loses the beautiful green colors and looks washed out. I'd love some suggestions here from you camera pros!

Wesley and I ate our picnic lunch in front of this fountain after the storms had passed at the Botanic Garden.

They have a special exhibit right now titled, "One World--Ours." It features artistic globes with a message of sustainability. This one was about water conservation.

Our hotel was just behind the Capitol, and the Botanic Garden is just in front of it, so we walked by this building A LOT. It was great! If you want to check it out, here's the link: http://www.usbg.gov/ Our next stop was the Museum of the American Indian, the newest Smithsonian Museum.

Wesley watched this video of a pow-wow no less than 5 times.

The prisms in the beautiful, open entry way make awesome rainbows!

This space also featured several native boats. This is a traditional canoe from Hawaii.

On the walk back to the hotel, I thought Wes was sleeping, but when I looked, this is what I saw. What do you think is so fascinating about the bottom of his shoe?

After the 95+ degree heat and high humidity, returning to our air-conditioned home was fabulous. Wes also loved looked out the window. This view is of a building where Phil spent most of his time, the Madison building of the Library of Congress.

Just lounging after seeing the sights...