A downtown tour

Thanks to Dad for emailing me these pictures...I forgot my camera once again!

On Thursday, my dad and three sisters came for an overnight visit. After lunch on Thursday, we took what was meant to be a quick driving tour of downtown. But as we approached the Capitol Building and Supreme Court, the girls became excited and asked if we could go inside one of them. Fortunately, we found a free two-hour parking space only a few blocks away. We decided to visit the Supreme Court building, which was the closest to where we were. You can see in this picture how excited the girls were to be there! They ran up the stairs with amazing energy.
Court was not in session, so we got a generous glimpse of the courtroom. At the suggestion of the security guard in the main Supreme Court hall, we also went downstairs to the exhibit and gift shop area. We were so glad we did. We had no idea that there were so many paintings, sculptures, and documents down there. One was a statue of John Marshall, a former Chief Justice. Brooke took this picture of Dad and I.
We also were amazed with this beautiful circular staircase. It's closed off to foot traffic, but there is a landing for viewing. It is made of marble and is particularly special because the design needs no central railing or support.
Next, we got back in the van and headed towards the White House, which was requested by Brooke. Sadly, due to my lack of knowledge of downtown, it took us a while to find it. (The security blocking off a lot of vehciular traffic near it didn't help either.) But we saw lots of sights along the way, including this great view of the capitol.
But finally, we found the White House. First from the back, and then from the front. We pulled over in the van for less that a minute, enough to get a nice look and snap this picture.
It was a fun afternoon. The next day, Dad and the girls took me to my weekly doctor's appointment (baby is doing very well). Then Dad helped us with some household constuction projects before leaving in the afternoon. It was a great visit.