A timely post! Yay! We had planned to head to Grundy to visit Melinda over the weekend but at the very last minute those plans got put on hold. We had an entirely clear three and a half days in front of us so we decided to come up with a quick backup plan and get out of town! I had planned to pick the kids up at noon on Friday so I went ahead and got them early from school.
We went to lunch and then I took them to check out the butterfly exhibit at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. There are butterflies in this picture but they wouldn't get close to them!
A little closer.
A butterfly they could get close to. From this point on it was all about the photo-op for Taylor.
Chase was a good sport.
Then he offered to be the photographer.
Then Taylor was back in charge.
Chase ran out of patience with the pictures!
One more!
Done.
Saturday morning we left early for a two day adventure to Washington D.C. The kids had been wanting to go for a while so we decided it was a good time to give it a try. I picked a hotel off the internet and we showed up at 9:30am. They let us park our car and check in early. Good pick!
It was a 3-block walk to the White House.
From there we covered another 11 miles. It was amazing that the kids are old enough to do that and not complain....well not about the walking. They did demand to be fed somewhat often!
Washington Monument.
Checking out the map. We discovered that map reading might not be my strongest skill.
At the Washington Monument with Lincoln in the background.
World War II Memorial.
Visiting Abe. We asked him what Grandpa Caddell would say about Abe. Got this face!
Abe had quite an audience.
When someone offers to take your picture you always wonder if you're going to end up with a family photo or one less iphone! It worked out!
History lessons with dad. Always a good time.
They do like each other.
Vietnam War Memorial. If you look close you can see our reflection towards the right side.
There was a little extra activity in the area because of the holiday weekend. We got to see a few wreath laying ceremonies.
Korean War Memorial
Chase couldn't get past why they had pictures on this one instead of names.
Dave checking out MLK Jr Memorial.
Kids taking advantage of a time to rest!
Checking out Jefferson from a distance!
They need a bridge straight to it. The roundabout route was not going to work!
George Washington statue at the American History Museum.
Being the president.
Being the president that needs a step stool.
Flipping our way to the Capitol.
As close as we could get to the Capitol. We waited about 5 minutes for the guy in the background to move out of the way but he could not stop taking pictures of that motorcycle!
Following our fearless leader.
Supreme Court. You can walk right up to the front door here.
Dave went up to check and see if they were getting an office ready for him!
Our last stop of the day was a Nationals game!
We made up for all the walking by eating our body weight in baseball snacks.
Donuts!
The kids said the metro sounded veeeeerrrry appealing after the game! We made it back to our hotel around 8:30 and were asleep within 2 minutes!
Sunday morning we took the metro out to the zoo.
Animals are few and far between at this zoo but we found a few friends.
Flamingos were a favorite. Speaking of favorites, Chase was not willing to wear anything but his Harper jersey while we were there. We didn't forget to pack him clothes!
Souvenirs are always a highlight. Animals that cling to your arm....does it get any better?
We checked the zoo off the list faster than expected so we grabbed a snack, of course, and decided to keep touring!
I'm not sure why they follow me. I led them astray more than once. Sunday we managed over 6 miles!
It rained as soon as we got to Arlington National Cemetery. We waited out the shower and then decided by looking at the radar we had an hour or so to look around before the next rain came through.
You can see that Taylor is starting to fade by this point!
Just about over it!
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
She pulled it together for one last picture!
A final stranger offer for a family photo!
Done. As we were headed back to the metro but still about a mile away, the sky opened up. We huddled around a big tree for about 45 minutes waiting for the rain to slow up some. It eventually did and we made it back to our car at the hotel with damp clothes and soaking wet feet! It ended up being a perfect trip and we're glad we decided to go for it!
On Monday, Chase decided to hang out with MeMa but Taylor wanted another adventure. She just decided to eat strawberries for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Now she's a fan.
She's wanted to go pick strawberries all season and we finally made it out there before they were all gone! Now we're 2 days in to an 8 day stretch of baseball and softball games and only 2 weeks left of school! Let the summer fun begin!
