Trip to D.C.- Installment #2

So after our fun day at the indoor waterpark, we trekked out to D.C. (with an inadvertent route through Pittsburgh which was interesting) and arrived that evening. We started our next day with a trip to the National Zoo- great zoo and awesome weather! In fact, we were treated to warm sunshine our entire trip- lucky!

Here are the rascals at the entrance of the zoo- they could've played on this sign for hours.

A bit sunny for Nate- his face made me laugh. Note the panda bear in the background.

Don't you feel like this some days?

This was essentially Elin's first trip to a zoo that she remembers- she of course loved it, wanted to take some animals home, pet the elephants... you know, the normal stuff.

"Whew... we need a break."

Next visit was to the Air and Space Museum. I'm not sure how much Elin got out of this, but Nate looked like he was in a candy store. Especially with the hands-on gadgets, most of which were over his head but he didn't care. He loved the rockets! He also saw a moon rock, Hubble telescope, space shuttle, etc... I was in a bit of heaven myself.

It still amazes me that we got this thing to the moon over 30 years ago- crazy!

It was very nice to spend some break time on the mall between the Washington Monument and the Capital Building- especially for the kids. Tons of space to run and play in the pebble walk-ways. When Elin first saw the Washington Monument, she said, "Look- A big pencil!"

Lunch break! As you can see, our days in D.C. consisted of a lot of breaks, a must if you have kids. We found this cozy garden behind the Smithsonian Institute- very quiet and relaxing.

Of course the kids loved the metro- especially underground. Not so much during rush hour, though.

And here's Elin after a long day of... oh wait, that's a T. Rex! We had a fun visit to the Natural History Museum. The T. Rex was a big hit.

Fossils, fossils, and more fossils! Here they're checking out how real scientists dig out real fossils.

Elin wouldn't let us miss the butterfly garden... and it was pretty cool. Butterflies everywhere, even landing in Elin's hair.

Nate's favorite part of the Museum... the Ecology section. And this was his favorite piece- a magnetic rock (struck by lightning).

Cool art! Of course, you can see Nate trying to climb the metal tree.

We found a real tree for him to climb.

We hit D.C. during the cherry blossom season... which is when the rest of the country decided to visit as well. The trees were beautiful, though, and almost worth the crowd!

We were so lucky to be able to stay at our friend's Kerry and Dave's home. It was a perfect place to springboard into D.C. while we visited. I've known Kerry forever (well, since high school, which is the same thing), and it was great to sit down and catch up with them, play some games, and eat Maggie Moo's ice cream. Kerry and Dave- you have a lovely family and home. Thanks again for everything!