D.C.

What does it stand for... And why?

This was the first kid question of the day that I could only answer half of. I knew what the D.C. part stood for, it was the WHY that stumped me. For all you smarty pants who know, just skip to the pictures, for everyone else, let me share a little history lesson. (Thanks Wikipedia)

Washington, D.C. (pronounced /ˈwɒʃɪŋtən ˌdiːˈsiː/), formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790. The City of Washington was originally a separate municipality within the Territory of Columbia until an act of Congress in 1871 effectively merged the City and the Territory into a single entity called the District of Columbia. It is for this reason that the city, while legally named the District of Columbia, is known as Washington, D.C. The city is located on the north bank of the Potomac River and is bordered by the states of Virginia to the southwest and Maryland to the other sides. The District has a resident population of 591,833; however, because of commuters from the surrounding suburbs, its population rises to over one million during the workweek. The Washington Metropolitan Area, of which the District is a part, has a population of 5.3 million, the ninth-largest metropolitan area in the country.

Now you know!

About the day... We met up with friends having 11 children between 3 moms, we toured some monuments, splashed in some fountains, fed some ducks, and ate hot dogs and frozen treats on the street. It was a wonderful day. Robb was my part time photographer, I loved seeing D.C. from his point of view.

Picture of the Washington Monument by Robb

Lincoln Memorial

The Ducks

A little fountain wading

Sky by Robb

Friends

More wading at the World War 2 Memorial

Sitting on a bench at the edge of the tidal basin.

Jefferson Memorial