Got Washington?

The Enormous Elephant at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

The Hope Diamond at the Museum of Natural History (it's HUUUUGE!)

The EPA Building Here in Washington D.C.

Nancy Pelosi's (Speaker of the House) Office

Me and Barack Obama (acutally it's a cut-out, but sssshhhhhhh........)

The Sculpture in the Hart Senate Office Building

Senator McCaskill's (D) Office Sign

The Senate Library

The Ceiling inside the Dome of the Capitol

The Statue of the Maddest Politician to Walk the Streets of D.C. Whose Name I do not Know

You think you're laughing now, he's much funnier in person. So, we all got up at our regular time, and met downstairs at 7:50. We got to Senator McCaskill's office and one of her staffers came in and quizzed us on Missouri history for a couple of minutes until one of her other staffers came in and talked to us for about thirty seconds. Then the door opens right on top of him, he looks around and says, "Oh, hi Claire!" So Senator McCaskill walks in and talks about some of her basic policy for ten minutes and then asks for questions. Some of the other people asked questions about her opinions on certain issues with a beer company (Anheuser Busch), and then her appearance in some recent newspaper articles. Then she took pictures with everyone and shook hands, and all that lovely stuff. The Senator is actually really nice, and reportedly takes her shoes off in the office from time-to-time. And, to make things better, it was the weekly searsucker day at the office, so her staffers looked pretty awesome. I'm sorry to report, we failed to get pictures. I can see the smile slowly fading off your face. There was food on the table, I'm happy to report.

We got a tour of the Capitol building from two of Senator McCaskill's staffers named Rick and Reston (I think that's how you spell it), who were totally amazing, and should totally talk louder 'cause some of the tourists here have very loud voices. We toured several rooms, including the former Supreme Court (where all the Justices had customized chairs so their hinies could be comfy). We came back, and then realized that Barack Obama's office is two doors down from Senator McCaskill's, so we made a little detour there. His office is, um, different, but in a good way 'cause he had jelly beans.

We all ended up having lunch at Union Station and then we took a tour on a double-decker bus. Fourteen feet up in the air, and you meet a lot of tree branches. Especially in Georgetown. This double-decker bus took us around to all of the major monuments, and even took us through the surrounding Georgetown area. All in all, it was pretty cool.

And, just to wrap up this incredibly long blog, I went to this Italian restaurant and got the coolest bag ever (it's plastic with a smiley face on it, soo awesome!). And I got to speak to McCaskill's staffer about the budget, which was pretty fun. Emily and Ariel also talked, and I think we impressed them, between our eloquent Missourian talk and dress. Aaaaah, yes, I looove long blogs. This is Audrey, signing off. Finally.

P.S. I think Craig has some pictures from Senator McCaskill's office. If so, we'll put them on tomorrow.