Weekend in DC

We added to our crazy 'get this done before we move' list this weekend.  We've talked about going up to DC for over a year and it's just never happened.  So Ben booked a hotel room and we committed to a weekend away.

We drove up Saturday morning, parked our car at the hotel and started walking.  First stop: CVS for umbrellas.  Packing is hard for just an overnight...and there was not supposed to be rain.

A friend warned me that the kids would be more excited about the transportation than the monuments and boy was she right.  They were all super excited about riding the Metro.

 

 

 

We went to the Natural History Museum

The place was super packed, but these two were so cute holding hands through the crowds.

We could have spent a week in that museum!  Surprisingly, Alison's favorite part were the mummies and she actually took the time to read the information about them (I feel like that's a big step in going to museums).

 

Then we walked by the Washington Monument on the way to see the White House.

I love how homeschool ties into normal life and being able to teach on everyday experiences.  For example, Alison has vocabulary words every week and 2 of her words this week were 'pillar' and 'column' and was perplexed by them.  She got that they are synonyms but couldn't get her brain around what a pillar actually is.  Viola!  Everywhere we looked in DC there were examples of pillars and columns.  Love it.

 

It was so cool to be standing in front of the White House, but also a little unnerving with all the guards and men with guns standing on the roof.  I'm all for protection, but it made me nervous of what they were looking for through their binoculars.

 

After the White House, we ventured back to the hotel.

And this is the part of the trip that proves my "booking hotel/planning trips" point.  Ben booked and planned everything because he's been to DC several times for work and new the in's and out's.  The hotel was in the perfect location and when he checked-in, they upgraded our room to the presidential suite!  2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and 3 TV's!  No one wanted to leave!

We got there just in time for free drinks and appetizers.  This is my kind of hotel.  The kids were happy and it was nice to get a snack in their belly before we tried to find some dinner.

We found some dinner nearby and then let the kids watch some fun kid shows before crashing.

Alison slept in the living room:

 

The boys shared a king bed in one of the rooms:

 Bad picture, but they were so cute in that bed watching TV.

And I will never again book a hotel room.  Some people just have gifts, and Ben's is planning trips.

P.S. It was SO nice to not have to think about anything and just follow Ben.  He had everything mapped out and knew where to go and it was blissful.

Sunday morning, we let the kids swim after breakfast.

Something about swimming at hotels is magical to our kids and we thought it would be good for them to have some fun before we made them walk all day.

We walked first to the Lincoln Memorial.

It was breathtaking.

Colin agreed.  However, his breath was taken away by the security guard that freaked him out (the guy was really just standing there, but something still scared him).

And this is the picture of the crazy parents who took their 3 kids to DC (thanks to the selfie stick Ben bought for the trip...it was great buy!):

I definitely appreciated everything in DC more as an adult and would have loved to spend more time there, but it was hard work carrying/pushing a 3 and 5 year old for 10 miles.  Alison was awesome and never complained once; she is a really great traveler. 

Standing right here was my favorite part of the trip.

 

We walked over to the World War II Memorial and this was my secret to keeping the kids going:

pockets full of Halloween candy.  It was genius.

 

Then we walked to the Washington Monument

 

We had a food truck picnic lunch.

 

We went to the Air and Space Museum after lunch and then to the Capitol.  

Big news: Colin stood on a scale at the museum that told what you would weigh on the moon and we found out he's finally 30 lbs!  Yea!  We've been waiting for this day for a long time!

We drove back home Sunday night, stopping by Ikea for some shopping and dinner.  I loved being in DC and can see us going back when the kids are older and can walk or ride bikes the whole way.  We saw people running everywhere and it made us jealous of being in a place where it's the norm to be running.  Ben and I talked a lot about how fun it would be to go back and run the streets.  Someday.  Someday we'll go back and the kids will roll their eyes at us when we talk about wanting to go for a run by the White House.  So, we won't be cool then, but can it at least be documented that we took them when they were kids and they loved it?