National Archives / Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden

We went to The National Archives, where it was Family Day. There were stations set up throughout with activities for the kids. Kevin and Brian got ‘National Archive’ tattoos; all three boys signed a copy of the Declaration of Independence; they reviewed large copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights; they each created a 5-minute World War II video documentary, they learned about colonial codes and codebreaking; and they wrote secret messages with a special pen. Kevin said that this was the most interesting museum we visited yet, and Justin especially enjoyed doing the codebreaking.

Afterwards, we walked through the National Gallery of Art and Sculpture Garden. We saw many different sculptures, and the boys raced to find the small marker of each sculpture to know its name. Some of the sculptures we saw were: bronze headless standing figures, a steel structure called Aurora, polished red granite seats in a circle, a four-sided pyramid made of concrete blocks, bronze stacked chairs, and a red metal modern sculpture of a horse. In the center of the garden was an ice rink with almost a hundred people waiting and watching while the ice was being smoothed over.

National Archives Building National Archives Rotundra (no flash photography allowed) Brian gets a National Archives tattoo on his arm Justin signs the Declaration of Independence Examining large copies of the Declaration, Constitution and Bill of Rights Brian listens to debate on prayer in schools Kevin and Justin work on breaking a colonial code Kevin tries out a chair of the polished red granite seats sculpture One of the many benches in the garden to sit and relax at