Follow the three-day weekend plan, and add the following activities. Unless your kids are very young (and therefore don't have the attention span for this), you can dedicate a day to learning about how our government works and touring government sites (see Chapter 8). This is best done during the week, when you might be able to catch the U.S. Supreme Court and/or Congress in session. Write ahead of time, and see if it's possible to meet with your representative or senator while you're in town. It will be a memorable family event, and one that you should definitely bring the camera to record (even if you didn't vote for him or her).

Begin with a hearty breakfast at Eastern Market. Perhaps one of the adults can run over to the line for free tickets to the Capitol while the other waits with the kids for a seat for a breakfast of blueberry buckwheat pancakes or the breakfast “brick” — eggs, sausage, and a roll. If there's time, explore the marketplace.

Try to get a morning tour of the Capitol, the legislative seat of our government. The guided tour will take forty-five minutes, and you'll probably want to walk around a bit. Make sure you let the kids try the whisper that can be heard across the room. Then tour the U.S. Supreme Court.

You might want to head to Union Station for lunch at either the food court (with forty kiosks to choose from, there's bound to be something for everyone), or a sit-down meal at Uno Chicago Grill or America. If the kids are feeling rambunctious, let them run through the National Postal Museum across the street from Union Station. It will take less than an hour and will be surprisingly entertaining for everyone.

Then head to the Library of Congress, the world's largest library with 26 million items, and follow it up with a trip to the National Archives, where the kids will see the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

Everyone will be pretty tired, so a nice leisurely dinner is probably in order. You can head to Georgetown and eat in a historic restaurant like 1789 (pricey, but memorable). Benihana is always a hit, Clyde's has a great hamburger, or enjoy a relaxing dinner at Firefly downtown in the Hotel Madera.

If you've brought the car, drive out to the new Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles, where you can see even more aviation artifacts and specimens. The museum has the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, as well as the space shuttle Enterprise and an Air France Concorde. You can have lunch at the center or drive to the nearby Westfields Marriott, where you can have a spectacular Sunday brunch or a delightful afternoon tea. In the afternoon, drive to Tyson's Corner, one of the outlet staples of the city, and shop until you drop. You can have dinner at one of the many restaurants in the outlet center or neighboring malls, or head back to the city for a meal at one of the many Ethiopian restaurants, where kids get to eat with their hands.