Kress Family Vacation: Day 7

My mom's conference concluded last night, so we were all able to spend our last day in DC together. We got up, finished organizing our stuff, and were able to pack up the cars and have them parked again to pick up later. We checked out about 11 and headed to our favorite street vendor site for lunch. I agonized over trying something new or getting another taste of the amazing lamb we ate on Monday. Matthew branched out and got a burrito bowl, and we got the kids some really tasty fried chicken, but in the end I decided on savoring something I knew I'd like and went back to the kabab truck. We ate at the same benches as yesterday, then spent a quick couple hours in the Natural History Museum. Hyrum really loved the dinosaurs and kept running back and forth between me and Matthew wanting to show us what he'd found.

 I had scheduled a tour of the Capitol and was instructed to arrive 45 minutes early to allow time for security checks and all that, so we left the museum at 2pm to walk the six or so blocks up to the visitors center. Abraham had fallen asleep, but had to be taken out of the stroller to pass through the metal detectors. The guards all laughed as he stood in line, still sleeping. When forced to wake up, his shy smile elicited more pleasant remarks and some shiny stickers. What a sly charmer! Along with the tour I had requested a sign language interpreter. Sometimes having cute kids in a stroller and a deaf person in a wheelchair can have its perks. Not only did we get through security quite quickly and without fuss, but our interpreter was able to put us in the front of the line for an earlier tour. Our nation's capitol building is one of the most impressive edifices I've ever seen, and the few portions we were able to enter were each in their own way very interesting. I particularly liked all the different statues from each of the states. The grandeur of the whole place is completely awe inspiring and I am so glad we took the time to visit. It would have been fun to peruse the museum there, but we had to pick up our cars before 6pm in order to avoid an extra fee. 

 We had time to stop for smoothies on the way back to the hotel, and drove away with 15 minutes to spare. There was amazingly little traffic and we got out of the city with hardly any delay. We stopped at Subway for dinner after about an hour of driving, then pressed on until about midnight. We ended up at a really bright rest stop and had a hard time sleeping, so at around 4am Matthew drove another half hour and found a more secluded corner of a gas station where we slept until 7am. We ate doughnuts and yogurt from Walmart for breakfast and arrived home at 1:30pm where the thermometer read 104 degrees. My mom, who had stopped to sleep a couple hours earlier than us, arrived around 6pm.