Unfortunately, my father passed away a couple of months ago. As a result, I had to do some paperwork at the Romanian Embassy in Washington DC. My husband and I decided to add a few days to the trip and turn it into a family vacation or an educational field trip. Homeschoolers never leave learning mode.

Our children went through Virginia and the District of Columbia for the first time. They rode the metro for the first time. They went to the Smithsonian for the first time.

We only had time for the Museum of Natural History and the Air and Space Museum. They saw the Capitol building and the Washington monument. They experienced a big city atmosphere: the old, tall brick buildings, the impressive monuments and statues, the homeless begging in the streets. Daddy and I spent most of the time explaining to them what they were seeing.

I used to like living in a big city, but I was single then. Now, you could not pay me enough to make me move into a big city. This trip reminded me of that lifestyle and how much I do not want it anymore.

We also took them to the Romanian Embassy where it was nice to meet other Romanians. It was a good experience for my children to hear others address them in Romanian. We don’t have any Romanian friends nearby.

Of course, I am recording these three days we spent in DC as school days, for great learning was had by all.