Mr. Franklin Goes to Washington D.C.

If you've been following either of my blogs this last few months, you know that Franklin the Turtle comes to visit us fairly often. But if you haven't, Franklin is a stuffed turtle featured in his own line of books. The kids in Short Person's Kindergarten class take him home on a rotating basis, keep him for an evening or weekend, and then are required to journal about what they did with him. Or rather, the parents are since the kids cannot yet write that well. As it happens, it was our turn the Thursday before I was set to leave for Washington D.C.

Since I enjoy writing, I've been a trooper about this small requirement of my time. I enjoy the challenge of morphing into the character of a stuffed animal and writing from his perspective, but on this particular occasion the list of things I had to do was so extensive that adding one more thing to it did not generate the best reaction from me. I think I may have groaned. Right there, in front of the door to Shortie's classroom, "You have Franklin tonight?!"

Much to my embarrassment, her teacher heard me and came out to ask if it was too much trouble. I assured her that, er, no... it was okay, but of course, I've never been that terrific at lying. Clearly, it showed all over my body that I was attempting to figure out how in blazes I was going to get it ALL DONE!!! Eek!

"Well, you can keep him for longer if you need too," she said.

Longer, yes, that was what I needed. And then inspiration struck and I realized that I had been handed a wonderful opportunity to share some history with a group of Kindergartners. "Could Franklin go to Washington DC with me?" I asked. Short Person's teacher said that yes, that was a great idea, and that is how Mr. Franklin went to Washington D.C.

Chris and I took him everywhere, camera in hand. There are nearly 100 photos of Franklin all over D.C. I think I may have even been on a watch list after an innocent visit to the White House. Ask a few questions about where the President might work and they look at you all sort of funny-- especially when carrying a stuffed animal!

Anyway, the pictures and writing below are the finished pages of Franklin's journal. When he went back to the classroom, he also had with him a pencil with the "Library of Congress Washington DC" printed on it, a passport for the Library with links so that the kids can go explore online, and a shiny new penny for each of the kids.

**After spending about 2 hours trying to figure out the html to caption photos and then attempting to get them to float where I want them, I have given up. I created a slideshow of Franklin's photos instead. It is at the end. Enjoy!**

Dear Class,

It has been a very exciting week for me! A week ago, i got to go home with Megan. We played and played and she flipped me up in the air until I got really dizzy. It was a lot of fun.

When her mom got home from work, we helped her pack for a trip to Washington DC. That's when she gave me the best news ever! I got to go with her. I was really excited. Megan made sure that I had a coat and snow shoes for the trip.

The next day felt like the longest day of my life, but finally it was time to leave. It was going to take seven hours to get there. We left to go to Portland and get on the plane. I fell asleep and when I woke up, we were there!

Washington DC is where the President of the United States lives. After we took our suitcases to Megan's mommy's friend's house, we got onto a really fast train called the Metro and zoomed to the city. When we got there, we walked and walked and walked until we got to the President's house. It is called "The White House". I think this is because it is very big and white. The President works out of an office next to his house. It is called "The West Wing".

After we went and saw the President's house, we walked around to look at all the buildings. We also went and got some dinner called Weiner-schnitzel. I thought it was yummy! Then, we went back to the apartment to get lots of sleep for the next day. I slept really good and I was happy for that because the next day we went to a lot of places!

The first place we went was to Arlington National Cemetery. This is the place where lots of President's and people who fought for our country are laid to rest. Unfortunately, it was closed because there was so much snow. The snow was taller than me! Since we couldn't look around, we decided to walk across the Memorial Bridge and the Potomac River to the Lincoln Memorial. The Lincoln Memorial was built to honor President Lincoln. It was enormous!

After visiting the Lincoln Memorial, we visited a lot of other memorials. When we got done looking at all the statues, we went to a museum that had wax figures in it. I liked this place because I got to see what people and past President's looked like. I also like the wax museum because I got to see what it would look like to do a lot of different things, like...

When we got done at the wax museum, we went to a place called "Ford's Theater". This is where a very angry man named John Wilkes Booth decided to shoot President Lincoln. He was mad at the President for telling him that he couldn't do some things that Mr. Booth wanted to do, like own slaves. After Ford's Theater, we went to get something to eat and then go home.

On our last day in Washington DC, we went to see the Capitol Building, National Archives, and Library of Congress.

The Capitol Building is where Representatives from all over the United States meet to make laws. The building sits on top of a very big hill called Capitol Hill. There were lots of kids sledding down the hill when we were there.

At the National Archives Building, I go to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. The Declaration of Independence was my favorite.

The last thing we got to see was the Library of Congress. It is the biggest library I have ever seen! The people who work there said that it held a very big selection of books that people come to see so that they can do research.

The next day, we got on a a plane and flew back home, but I loved seeing all the places where our country does business. It was very inspiring and makes me want to learn about history. But, until that happens, or before it happens, I need a nap! This was one busy weekend.

I can't wait to see who I get to visit next! Although, it was a lot of fun seeing Megan when we got back home. She cuddled the cold from the snow right out of me.

Love, Franklin