This was our one chance for the whole family to spend a weekend together in the DC area, so we didn't waste a minute of it! The kids and I kicked it off Thursday with a picnic lunch along the Chesapeake Bay watershed in Arlington. They couldn't finish their food fast enough; they just wanted to get down to the water and throw rocks. That night we left the kids with a sitter and met up with acquiantances from high school who were in town for the week. We ate at LaTasca, one of our favorite DC restaurants.
On Friday afternoon we met Aaron at his "work-school" (Alex's word) where the kids got more shots for our overseas move. We also got to meet Aaron's French-language learning advisor, who's from Algeria. She has been hearing about us for 6 months now was excited to finally meet the family of her "favorite student ever." The kids were a little overwhelmed by her kisses and hugs, but I reminded them to get used to it, because we're moving back to a culture where they just love kids!The kids thought it was hilarious that everyone there in the hallways knew who Dad was, and would stop to say hi and talk. They said it was just like Dad coming to their school and meeting their friends and teachers in the halls. Funny.
To make up for the trauma of immunizations and having to meet all these overly-enthusiastic people, we then took the kids to the National Zoo. Since it was late in the day, there were actually parking spots and the crowds had thinned out. We also found that since the air was also cooler and it was feeding time, the animals were running around, instead of curled up underneath rocks and bushes. Even the elusive pandas were sitting in plain view of the crowds, eating their bamboo.
We wrapped up the day with dinner and an evening swim at the wonderful heated pool here at our apartment complex.
On Saturday we parked at Union Station at began our double-decker bus tour of DC. It's one of those hop-on/hop-off deals that makes about 20 stops at popular places (monuments, museums, Capitol, etc). Unfortunately the extreme sun, heat, traffic, and hundreds of tourists hopping on and off made the day longer and more frustrating that it should have been, but overall we had a great time. We went to the American History museum, where we saw a performance by a fife-and-drum corp from Yorktown. Olivia loved the display of First Ladies' dresses; I had a hard time pulling her away from Michelle Obama's gown. The kids are now the proud owners of Washington DC hats. So touristy!
More swimming, a movie, and everyone was down for the count by 9pm.
In the afternoon we played at a park in Great Falls, and then it was back to the pool! On to a busy, busy week.....
2 comments:
GREAT pics and glad you have had such a terrific week back in DC! Also see everyone's favorite park is getting attention well deserved :) Sorry we missed you at the pool, but will catch up this week. Miss Olivia's pics are just as pretty as can be!
Love the rose garden pics!
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