On Saturday we decided to play tourist and go into the city and visit the Natural History museum. Bridget requested a "dinosaur museum" and we hadn't been in a while.

When we travel, I go to great lengths to not stick out as a tourist. If I need a phrase book, I keep it in my purse and study it at night, in a bathroom stall or try and hide it under the table. If we need a map, I try and be discreet (I really like the Moon Metro series, btw). I just want to blend in. I spend a lot of time in the summer annoyed by tourists on the Metro and I don't want to be the same thing to another person. 

However, this weekend I decided that this was totally silly and whipped out the camera on the mall to snap some photos of Brendan and Bridget with the Capitol in the background. After all, we were surrounded by tourists and no one knows that we live just across the river. Plus if anyone asked, we could always pretend to be from Baltimore, Pittsburgh or Ohio. No problem. A nice lady even asked if we wanted our picture together. Sweet. 

The museum was a total hit. Once we got to looking at stuff, that is. By the time we got bags packed with diapers and lunches and the camera and the kids into the car and to the Metro station and finally to the museum we all had to hit the restroom and John was hungry. Note to nursing moms, there's a quiet spot next to the IMAX theater entrance with a single bathroom (and changing table and chair!) and benches outside. While I nursed, Bridget let loose to the totally awesome muzak that was playing:

And then, the rest of us decided we should get some lunch. So it was down to the cafeteria to eat the food we brought with us.

Now, finally, we were ready to see the museum. Bridget declared it "the best museum I ever saw."