DC Trip

Jakes and I went to DC to see the Cherry Blossoms.  Unfortunately, we didn't get there in time.  Our schedule just didn't match up to get there.  BUT there is SO much good stuff to see in DC that it wasn't a wasted trip.

I had signed up with SpotHero and gotten $25 in parking credit.  The app is SO easy to use and they offer parking in so many cities around the country.  I plugged in DC and figured out where in the city we wanted to be (close to the National Mall, of course) and chose the best parking garage for us.  On the day of the trip, we plugged the address of the garage into the GPS and hit the road.

We got to DC, grabbed the cameras and started walking. First thing on the agenda was a river cruise that I got at a discount through Amazon Local.  Its like Groupon or LivingSocial, good deals sometimes.

Our Boat

Seeing DC from the river side gave us a different view of the city.

Kennedy Center

And since we missed the Cherry Blossoms, Jakes decided we should check out a couple of the museums.

We ended up at the Air and Space Museum.

We spent the afternoon wandering around taking pictures.  Jakes was in heaven.  He loves science stuff and he was reading the placards and studying everything.

Moon Lander

My Professional Photographer

We only had time for one museum and there are so many others to see. We'll be back!
I love spending time in DC.

Graduations

Jakes had a BIG week! 

He graduated from Special Education!

Yes, THIS giggle face!

This Giggle Face has worked so hard over the years to learn everything we have thrown at him, academically, emotionally, and socially.

Way to go, my Jakes!  I love you!

Neatest Information

I found the neatest information and wanted to share with you.  In doing some research on hobbies, I found that most colleges, such as MIT, post their past courses online for FREE.  Yes, you can take a course from MIT, with all the notes, slide shows, tests and everything for FREE! Some of the classes that I looked at needed a text book which you could purchase through Amazon.com for very cheap.  For the class I was looking at the books would have cost $12 and $8 of that was shipping costs.

There are courses that you don't need to purchase textbooks for or that have all the information right there online.

I was amazed at the course catalog for MIT and other notable universities!  Of course, you are not getting credits for taking these classes but if you ever wanted to know about Astrodynamics or linear algebra, here's your chance!  I know I'm going to be checking out some of the courses, I just haven't decided which one first.

Here are the websites that I've found so far:

MIT: http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

Online Education Database:   http://oedb.org/library/beginning-online-learning/200-free-online-classes-to-learn-anything/

Free Online Classes and Online Courses     http://www.guidetoonlineschools.com/articles/tips-and-tools/online-classes

Lots of choices of things to learn and who knows where it might lead!