We embarked on a plane, headed for the nation's capitol last week. It's been an amazing trip, where we've seen, learned and ate a lot!
warning: this post is heavy on pictures!
This was Regan's 7th plane ride, and Sidney's 3rd. Both of them traveled fairly well, although halfway into the flight, they were finished watching movies and required a little creativity on my part to keep them entertained the remainder of the flight. I pulled out my bag of tricks including babies, books and colors. Wouldn't you know it, Sidney fell asleep about 20 minutes before we landed.
Day 1: Sight see in DC.
Our first day, we ventured into "the Mall" area to take in all sorts of sights. It was a walking tour and we saw all things DC including the White House, all monuments and even Ford's Theater. The biggest difference on this trip to DC is that I played tour guide, navigating us from the hotel to a parking ramp and ultimately around the city. Given that I had been there multiple times in the past, I wasn't too nervous about the job. Thankfully, Grandma Sheri/Pampa were pleased as punch to see whatever I could show them!
WWII Memorial.
There's debate that this memorial is too contemporary, but I happen to like it a lot!
Regan was incredibly interested in the history. Walking through the Vietnam Memorial, she asked me to read every name on the wall. We would still be there if I obliged to her request, so instead she got one name per section and we were finished in a decent time.
Lincoln Memorial totally intrigued her mind. After hearing the history (as much as we could provide to a 5 year old), she stood in awe wondering why someone would shoot him. We left the memorial, walked A-L-L the way down the stairs and she begged us to return to the top so she could get one more look. We allowed her to go back up and then reminded her we were heading to THE place where he was assassinated; boy was she excited.
I guess the biggest disappointment of the day was to learn that the large "reflecting pool" is under construction until something like 2013. It's one of the neatest pictures to capture so I was incredibly sad to see dirt, bobcats and construction crews instead of glass-like water.
A visit to DC is simply not complete until you see the White House, from both sides. The girls were more excited that the lawn sprinklers were running and they could cool off as they watered the sidewalks as well.
At the back side of the White House, we happened to be "at the right spot, at the right time" and watched as The President left in the helicopter across the yard! That was an amazing experience.
We finally made it to Ford's Theater. This is the only place on our vacation that I had never been to before. I was completely impressed with the Ranger Talk and would highly recommend it.
Inside Ford's Theater. The only thing we can't figure out is why there is a picture of George Washington under the booth where Abe Lincoln was assassinated.
Let's just say it was an incredibly long day and Pampa was "just resting my eyes" on the drive to the hotel. He said this a lot on our drives....though we all could hear his snores to know that he truly was sleeping!
This car ride happened to be extra long. Ryan was getting irritated by the traffic, not to mention the whining coming from the 3rd row. He finally announced "where is John Wilkes Booth when you need him?".
Day 2: National Zoo.
This zoo is more than amazing. It's incredible! It's an up-close and personal experience with more "amimals" than any zoo I've been too. My favorite are the pandas, although they didn't cooperate for us and instead were hiding in their dens/bushes trying to cool off.
Ryan's favorites are the gorillas. There were a bunch of them in this exhibit and the Mr was posing for pictures.
It's H-O-T in DC this time of year. But the zoo knows how to keep people cool with these sprinklers. Regan remembered them from her last visit and hopped right into them in hopes to cool off. Sid wasn't far behind but was a bit more cautious at first. And yes, us adults walked through them too; it's that hot here!
I have this picture from our trip in 2009 (click
HERE) so naturally I had to take another one from this years' trip. It also happens to be next to a sign that I've never forgotten, reminding us of the bees/wasps in the zoo. I guess that was fair warning.
We got our share of hotel pool time while in DC as well. Regan is a true fish. I'm hearing the weather in Minnesota wasn't the greatest so 90/humid and an outdoor pool felt very refreshing!
Friday night we finally met up with the other set of grandparents and started the festivities for the reason we headed out to DC to begin with: Ben/Jon's formal dinner was Friday evening. We got dolled up and headed down to the water-front for dinner.
It was a gorgeous evening and the backdrop from the river made for great pictures.
Sidney was "so so tired" that her little legs couldn't make the trek back to the hotel and she asked for a ride. Uphill the entire way meant a shoulder ride instead of traditional "on the hip".
Day 3: Ceremony
Jean's house was the setting for day 3, where we met up with Jon's extended family to celebrate! It was a beautiful day with too much food and lots of fun. The girls had a blast at the picnic-style wedding reception as they played in an inflatable pool, drove around on kid-sized 4 wheelers and played in play houses. Congrats Ben and Jon!
It was a MN meets ME with a ribs and crabs dinner complete with bibs. Yes, I was more than grossed out to watch as those around me cracked open the crabs with tiny mallets. Regan asked at one point if "those crabs were alive?", I responded simply "no, they are cooked". She then asked "but were they alive and now they're eating them?". I quickly blurted out "nope, these are different crabs" in order to 1) avoid the question but more importantly 2) hope she believes me and continues to eat meat unlike her mother!
Jean has a beautiful koi pond in her back yard that happens to make for some really great pictures. The girls continue to be in love with this pond; Regan knew exactly what she was looking for as she raced to the pond.
Day 4: Arlington National Cemetery
We started out the day with a few more photos at Jean's before proceeding to Arlington National Cemetery.
I think this girl may someday want to model.
Thankfully, Sheri grabbed a quick photo of me with Ben. It's the only one I have with just the two of us!
I then pulled out my trusty red folder and we climbed back into the van so I could once again, play tour guide. This time, I took the family to Iwo Jima and Arlington National Cemetery. The theme for the trip was something along the lines of "a little for the girls, a little for the adults" in terms of sight-seeing. This day was mostly for Pampa Arnie. He loved every second of it.
The rows upon rows of white headstones will always take my breath away. You can't begin to imagine just how many of them are there until you see it in person. And even when you see it once, the second, third and fourth times will still make your heart ache for all of those who died.
A cemetery can be a tough place for kids, so the amphitheater gave them opportunity to explore and wander without being repeatedly told to "be quiet and respectful" or "use your whisper".
After 4 full days of DC, we all feel a little bit like this:
That's all for now folks....we'll post about Baltimore, MD a bit later!
