The White House

Our oldest daughter (nicknamed Panda for this blog) loves learning about US presidents. She was so excited to see the White House. We weren't able to tour the White House, as we needed to provide information at least 21 days in advance for a security check and we found out the dates we were traveling 15 days before we left. To my dismay, the intern that showed us around the Capital building told us that most people who submit their paperwork are turned down anyway.
We took a nice stroll around the White House. There was no parking anywhere near it, so we parked a few miles away and had a taxi drop us off. We could actually get a lot closer to the backside of the White House than the front. 
There was a huge police and secret service presence. The kids were excited to see snipers on top of the roof. 

                                                                    Front lawn

Back of the White House

Eisenhower Executive Office Building

adjacent to the White House. In my 

opinion, it was more grand 

and striking than the White House.