The 4th of July

I was excited to be in Washington DC for the 4th of July; however, it was raining. We woke up to some really good donuts that Chris and his mom got for us. Then we decided to go to Mount Vernon (George Washington's Estate) because the church offers to let people park in their parking lot and in return they get free tickets, so we were able to go for free and thought it was a pretty patriotic thing to do! After Mount Vernon we ate some burgers (how American) and chicken nuggets (even more American) and did sparklers. If it wasn't raining I was planning on going into DC to watch the fireworks at the mall, but it wasn't worth fighting crowds, rain, and little boys for fireworks I could see on TV!

How could I miss taking a picture with George and George??  It is his partial name sake.  One of my great grandpas was George Washington McKinney, who was obviously named after the first president.  He had a brother named Napoleon Bonaparte.  I guess their parents liked strong leaders!

Hundreds of little flags in front of the mansion.

Hitching a ride on Papa Dude.

This guy was amazing on the flute.

Waiting on the fireworks.

They played music during the fireworks

Oma and Bentley

They had Colonial fireworks which were done during the day.  It was pretty neat.  Some looked like regular fireworks and others just looked like colored smoke.

Despite the look on his face, I think he was having a good time.

More fireworks

Colonials

Martha Washington; we couldn't find George.

The view from a side porch of the river.  On a sunny day it would have been really pretty.

The mansion house where he lived and died.  There is no kitchen in the main living area; it is off to the left right to keep the big house cooler.  The boys went with several others to look at the animals on the property while I went through the house with Emma and Zadi.  They told me that all the animals are of direct lineage to the animals that lived on property during George Washington's life.  I thought that was pretty cool.

Worn out after such a long day!

Radley really wasn't sure about the whole sparkler thing.

The boys wouldn't stay still long enough to get a cool shot with the camera.

God Bless the USA!!!

Bentley really wanted to touch the sparks.

Took this for Kenney

Light 'em up!!

Bentley and Oma saying Hi from the balcony.

One more from this cute happy boy!!

I don't usually see Radley's name on things so I thought this was pretty cool; it was on a license plate cover.

Papa Dude found a Bentley in the parking lot so naturally we HAD to take a picture of Bentley with a Bentley, and we had to stop for gas in Bentleyville Pennsylvania.