For Veteran's Day we decided to take the kids to the Air & Space Museum at Dulles. The kids were super excited and told their friends that they were going to see airplanes and helicopters. We got there right when it opened and the museum was great. It was our first time at that location as well and it is really well laid out. After entering the museum and walking down the long ramp we took a potty break. Bug had a dry pull up and actually stayed dry the entire day!
The first display we looked at was the Space Shuttle Enterprise. It was really big. I was surprised it wasn't a little bigger but still, looking at it, it's amazing that it can make it into space, especially with all of the tiles on the outside.
After that we stopped at the SR-71 Blackbird, my favorite. The kids loved that it was part of the Transformers movie in addition to the Transformers display. It's really neat that they can learn about different airplanes through these sorts of toys. Looking at the display and seeing the Optimus Prime that I had as a kid is now in the Smithsonian is pretty cool too!
We looked at the fighter planes and helicopters as well. Roo loved the helicopters.
The kids were great about staying by us and Bug even let us push him in the stroller for a portion of the time. The displays have very short railings around them to keep people from touching them, I imagine they can't possibly get rid of all the jet fuel, and Bug went under the rail by the shuttle. We only had to tell him one time and he didn't do it again, which was great because it would have made for a very long day!
The last thing we did was go up into the control tower. You could see Dulles and way beyond from there. It's really high up! And it was a windy day so it was really disconcerting for me. The boys loved the view and watching the planes fly by as they landed. It was really cool to see the entire surrounding area including the mountains.
We had lunch at the McDonald's in the museum and then headed home. Since the boys were so awesome the entire day, we got them each a new Transformer.
We really enjoyed the museum and it will definitely be a place we take the kids again and again!
