My Babies' Blog: DC Trip

Back in May we took a trip to Virginia, DC, and Maryland; it was partially a work trip for me and partially vacation. We drove out on Mother's Day (5/10) and I spent Mon-Wed working while Sean did fun stuff with the girls. On Monday they checked out the National Mall and Sean's friend Dave met us for dinner, on Tuesday they went to Annapolis and spent the day with Dave, and on Wednesday they visited a park and playground on Fort Belvoir.

Stopping at Bob Evans for food somewhere along the way out there.

Saw all three memorials (and got the pics to prove it). :)

Ava wants 'dat'

Sean and Dave

We hung out at the hotel for awhile afterwards. Ava liked being in jail and both girls had fun playing with Uncle Dave.

They walked along the dock and also by the Maryland State House in Annapolis.

Hiking, throwing stuff in the water, and enjoying a playground on Fort Belvoir.

We switched hotels on Wednesday from the one in VA that my work was paying for to one on Andrews (that was much cheaper). Originally we just had a room, but when we were checking in I found out they have TLFs, which is what we were supposed to be in since we had more than 2 adults, and it worked out so much nicer to have the full kitchen and living room instead of just a single room with a small fridge and microwave. On Thursday Sean's parents flew out to meet us also, but they didn't land until later in the afternoon. So in the morning we went to Mount Vernon.

Leaving the visitor center. The property is beautiful and we got there early enough that we didn't have to wait too long for our house tour (less than an hour).

We walked around the outbuildings and the upper gardens while we were waiting. Fiona didn't quite understand the significance of the slave quarters and how different it was from the main house, but she did realize that some people had very little room of their own. Both girls enjoyed walking around the awesome gardens.

The tour of the house took about 15 minutes. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but took one of the exterior and another off the back 'patio.'

After the tour we explored the lower garden (which was the vegetable garden). We learned that the artichoke was George Washington's favorite vegetable, which Fiona remembered. We bought a pack of Mount Vernon artichoke seeds as a souvenir.

Then we walked to their tombs, out to the pier/dock, back through another small farm, through the woods past the barns and animals and back to the house. I think we saw everything there was to see. It was a gorgeous day and we had ample snacks and seating areas for those that needed them.

After we picked up Grama and Papa, we got some local fruits and goodies from a farm market just across the road from the airport and then headed back to the base. We checked out a playground on base and then had a family dinner.

On Friday we went to the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, which is part of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. We decided to get a free guided tour while we were there. He started out by the Discovery and went through all the space items (rockets, etc.) first and then went through the aircraft, from the Wright Brothers through WWI and WWII and then finished up at the SR-71. It turned out to be quite a long tour (Ava fell asleep for part of it); it lasted about 1-1.5 hours. We were about to leave when I saw they have an observation tour so we went up there too. We saw aircraft taking off and landing at Dulles. They also had a mock control tower that we walked through. After we left we grabbed some pizza and found a park to eat at, and then decided to walk around the National Mall as a family. We parked by the Jefferson Memorial, then walked up to the Washington Memorial, past the WWII Memorial, and then to the Lincoln Memorial and back to the van.

A couple of shots of Sean and Fiona by the Space Shuttle Discovery.

And one of me. It was pretty amazing to see.

I let Fiona take some pictures since she was getting bored with the tour. She took a lot of airplane pics, plus a couple with people in them.

Our airplane :)

The airplane Fiona chose to get her picture by.

And one of Sean.

In the observation tour and looking towards Dulles.

Playing after lunch.

Family pic in front of the Jefferson Memorial.

Goofing off while walking to the Washington Memorial.

Someone wasn't happy...even with a ride on Papa's shoulders.

Fiona wanted to take more pictures so I let her take a few of the ducks and the Lincoln Memorial, and our shadows, as we were walking that way.

Fiona wanted to make a funny face...and that's Ava normal smile face.

Back to the van we go!

On Saturday we drove out to Annapolis again. We parked by the Naval Academy and walked around there first. Then we walked downtown to get some food. We had a hard time deciding and ended up going to Buddy's Crabs and Ribs. It was a little greasy, but not horrible. Dave met us there for lunch as well. Afterwards we stopped to get some delicious fudge, and then up to the Maryland State House. On our way back to the waterfront we stopped by a historic house (Hogshead House) that someone had told us about earlier; Carol and I went in with Fiona while Sean and Bob stayed outside with a sleeping Ava. We got to the waterfront just in time for a Chesapeake Bay Bridges cruise. It was a gorgeous day for the 90 minute cruise. Afterwards we drove by Sean's old house and then headed back to the TLF to pack up and leave the next day. On Sunday we drove Bob to the airport to fly back, but Carol decided to ride back with us in the van since the weather looked too windy, cloudy and stormy for her to fly.