We left for DC the Tuesday before Thanksgiving right after lunch. If you can't tell we're all for our kids to sleep in the car for their naps. Our directions said it would take 7 hours, but I always forget to factor in "New York" time to that equation as it generally tacks on an extra 2 hours to get through the traffic there. But all in all we made it in about 10 hours including a stop off for dinner with the Wendy's dollar menu. The kids did remarkably well, and I am forever reminded what great kids we do have.
The directions to my aunt and uncle's house took us to right through the heart of DC. We didn't realize it until we looked to the left and Eric said "is that the Capital building?" And then we saw the Washington Monument, the reflecting pool and the Lincoln memorial. It was so cool, and got us stoked that we had made the trip down. We got to my aunt and uncle's house around 10, got the kids settled, chatted for a few minutes then went to bed.
The next morning we talked out a game plan for what to do in the next few days and it was here I started falling in love with Washington DC. EVERYTHING to do in DC is free. The zoo, the museums, the monuments, pretty much everything. My aunt and uncle live about 10 minutes from the Mall, making it even easier to zip in and out of attractions to put kids to bed or feed them lunch, etc. We decided to try out the air and space museum first since Jack loves rockets and airplanes right now. My Aunt Brenda offered to watch Avey during her nap so off we went.
The museum was amazing! There were sections on rockets and planets and satellites and airplanes and bigger airplanes and a kid's hands on section. Jack LOVED it, and the rest of the week he made everything into an "airplane or rocket". (His would "fly" his fork around at dinner, and other toys like cars and call them airplanes or rockets, it was really cute.)
We then went back "home" for lunch and to put both kids down for their afternoon nap. After they woke up we went to visit the monuments with Brenda, and feed some ducks.
Here's the Vietnam Memorial. Sorry, not a really great picture, but it was a pretty beautiful memorial.
Duck feeding. (Brenda's in the red coat in the middle of the kids. I realized we didn't get very many pictures of her because she was usually the one that took the pictures. So sorry you can't get to know her very much through these pictures, she's fantastic!)
The directions to my aunt and uncle's house took us to right through the heart of DC. We didn't realize it until we looked to the left and Eric said "is that the Capital building?" And then we saw the Washington Monument, the reflecting pool and the Lincoln memorial. It was so cool, and got us stoked that we had made the trip down. We got to my aunt and uncle's house around 10, got the kids settled, chatted for a few minutes then went to bed.
The next morning we talked out a game plan for what to do in the next few days and it was here I started falling in love with Washington DC. EVERYTHING to do in DC is free. The zoo, the museums, the monuments, pretty much everything. My aunt and uncle live about 10 minutes from the Mall, making it even easier to zip in and out of attractions to put kids to bed or feed them lunch, etc. We decided to try out the air and space museum first since Jack loves rockets and airplanes right now. My Aunt Brenda offered to watch Avey during her nap so off we went.
The museum was amazing! There were sections on rockets and planets and satellites and airplanes and bigger airplanes and a kid's hands on section. Jack LOVED it, and the rest of the week he made everything into an "airplane or rocket". (His would "fly" his fork around at dinner, and other toys like cars and call them airplanes or rockets, it was really cute.)
Can you spot me three times in this picture?
We then went back "home" for lunch and to put both kids down for their afternoon nap. After they woke up we went to visit the monuments with Brenda, and feed some ducks.
Here's the Vietnam Memorial. Sorry, not a really great picture, but it was a pretty beautiful memorial.
Duck feeding. (Brenda's in the red coat in the middle of the kids. I realized we didn't get very many pictures of her because she was usually the one that took the pictures. So sorry you can't get to know her very much through these pictures, she's fantastic!)
Eating from Eric's hand.
Avey trying to enjoy it.
Jack trying to feed the ducks from his hand too but he was a
little too scared when the ducks got much closer than this.
Avey trying to enjoy it.
Jack trying to feed the ducks from his hand too but he was a
little too scared when the ducks got much closer than this.
Balancing the monument on his nose.
Yep, this is the place on the back of a penny.
An Einstein Statue. Eric and Jack had fun posing with it.
And that is the end of our first day in DC. More tomorrow!
Comments
The end.