Mommy Musings: Family Trip to Washington, D.C.

May turned out to be a whirlwind month for us with a lot of fun times with family and friends. Here is one highlight from early May - our first family trip to Washington, D.C.. Pa Mark and Ms. Mary Ann joined us for a fun filled week of activities in the nation's capitol. It was great to go back and visit!!

Our first morning in DC, I took the girls for a ride on the metro and to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. We actually saw a stack of $16+ million dollars. Wow!! I could never work near that much money. :-)

Kaitlyn and Madelyn played on the metro. Madelyn tried to chew on Kaitlyn's arm.

Kaitlyn figured out how many $100 bills she's worth - infinity to mommy and daddy. ;-)

Kaitlyn was fascinated with riding the metro the entire trip. She loved it. Madelyn on the other hand...

fell right to sleep after our morning adventure (and a bottle).

Pa and I took Kaitlyn for a quick swim after dinner that first night. She was sad that the pool was closed the next two days for mechanical work. It eventually opened back up and she got to go swimming again.

On Tuesday, we headed to the National Zoo. It was a gorgeous day and bit of a hike from the metro, so Pa offered his chauffeuring services to Kaitlyn.

It's like the zoo police are just waiting for someone to sit on the sign b/c within seconds of putting Kaitlyn on the sign, a police officer pulled up and told us to take her down. Oops!!

Even with hundreds of elementary school kids surrounding us while we walked around the zoo, Madelyn had no trouble taking a nap.

This isn't the photo, but in the bird sanctuary we saw a beautiful Toucan. It's colors were just amazing.

Towards the end of our zoo visit, Kaitlyn decided she wanted a stroller ride since Madelyn was riding in the Bjorn. At least she still fits!!

Pa and Mary Ann took Kaitlyn and Madelyn out to dinner, so mommy and daddy could have an evening off. It was much appreciated!!

Daddy and Pa - aww, doesn't my honey clean up nicely!!

It was a rainy outside, so Kaitlyn, Pa and Mary Ann ventured out into the halls to investigate what really happens during the day in a hotel. Kaitlyn had a blast!

Kaitlyn trying to figure out who rides a small bicycle around the hotel - maybe Madelyn?

As Kaitlyn told me later, "mommy, we exercised today!"

Pretending to fall asleep while waiting for Pa.

On Wednesday evening, we ate a fun and wonderful meal at Zatyinya in downtown DC. It is a small plates restaurant specializing in Lebanese, Greek and Turkish food and wine. We feasted! I highly recommend this restaurant if you are visiting the area.

Mary Ann's beet salad. We also had amazing fresh baked pita breads, hummus, shrimp, lamb, brussel sprouts, scallops, salads, etc.

Kaitlyn finished early, so we let her people watch at the window by our table.

Kaitlyn and Mary Ann became metro buddies and read signs together and talked about the interesting sights outside the train windows. Between the pool and metro, Kaitlyn would have been fine doing nothing else. :-)

Gonna ride, ride, ride, the dinosaur train! Any parent who has kids that watch Dinosaur Train on PBS have this theme song memorized. The show also sparked an interest in Kaitlyn to see real dinosaur bones. So, we took a trip to the Natural History museum to see an excellent dinosaur fossil exhibit.

Looking up at Pteranadons and Pterodactyls.

We're standing in front of a T-Rex skull.

Kaitlyn's arm compared to part of a dinosaur arm bone.

Wondering where to take our next adventure...

While stopping at a fountain, Kaitlyn started to chase some birds with her T-Rex toy. It was very funny and cute!!

Thursday night's dinner landed us at The Chart House in Old Town Alexandria on the water. We walked from our hotel and enjoyed a splendid view from the second floor of the restaurant.

All of our walking this week is starting to wear Kaitlyn out, so shoulder rides started getting much more common.

On Friday, we went to the US Botanical gardens and the Grant memorial/statute by the Capitol.

Kaitlyn and I both loved these flowers. They were shaped like little stars. It was pretty cool!

Kaitlyn had fun stair jumping at the Grant memorial.

On Saturday, Kaitlyn, Madelyn, daddy and I headed out to the Air and Space museum at Dulles National Airport before visiting good friends in Leesburg.

Kaitlyn loved that this plane was "upside down" in the hanger.

Kaitlyn celebrating seeing her first space shuttle.

Ahhhh...daddy and his girls.

The helicopter behind Kaitlyn is the "Spirit of Texas."

On Saturday night we had a great dinner at a Greek restaurant in Old Town. The atmosphere was lively and fun with a wide array of foods to choose from on the menu. They served us their special house made reserve wines (per our request), which were quite nice. Taverna Cretekou also has a gorgeous patio dining area, which is not common in this area.