Under the Lemon Tree: Washington DC

We spent a few days exploring DC, or "Downtown DC" as Alex likes to call it. I've put a few highlight photos here, but there were way too many pictures to share in this blog, so here is an online album! The flight out was a bit crazy. Soon after take-off both boys fell asleep for about an hour. Then they woke up and were squirmy, squirmy, squirmy! It was late by any time zone standards when we got in, but they were both wide awake and ready to go. Where do they find the energy? As we were waiting (and waiting) for the shuttle bus to the rental car, Alex kept pointing to every bus and asking "How about this bus?" We finally got the car and were on the road and the boys finally fell asleep.

Here the boys are posing with the Washington Monument the next morning. (if you squint you can just see it through the haze). Our hotel room view was amazing, and the location was pretty awesome too! Just a couple of blocks down from the White House. Phil had this first day off from work, so we headed to the Museum of Natural History to check out the dinosaurs. Zachary enjoyed the bees in the insect exhibit. Alex seemed to enjoy looking at everything. He is such an explorer. Later in the day, Grandma and Grandpa Prather came into the city to have dinner and walk around the sites. We spent a lot of time at the Sherman Memorial with Zachary sleeping and Alex running around and around the base of the monument. Eventually we wondered over to the White House to see if anyone was at home. If they were, they weren't answering the bell.

Thursday Phil had to go into work, but Grandma and Grandpa came back into town and took us to the National Zoo. It was really muggy, and I don't really remember seeing very many animals, but we did see the panda bears, and really that is the main purpose of the National Zoo. It was the first time either boy had ridden on a subway system. I wasn't sure how they would react, but they both did really well. Zachary even held on to the hand-pole! Alex was fascinated by the trains coming and going.

Friday was another work day, but we had big plans! Our curling friends who have moved to NC came up to see us. We met at the hotel and walked by the White House for Mae, who is a big Obama fan and then found a nice shady spot of grass on the Ellipse. Kirsten brought a bunch of fun toys to play with, and a box of cookies that Mae and Alex pretty much finished off.

This is not the best picture we have, but I love how the little ones are crying and the big ones are trying to pretend they don't know them.

We walked over to the Washington Monument because Alex wanted to touch it. The Collins clan had to head home early but we had lots of fun in the time we had.

While talking to our friend Rachel about dinner plans, she told me about a carousel on the National Mall by the Smithsonian Castle. Since the boys were too wound up to nap, I decided to be adventurous and take them there. It was a bit of a risk, there was definitely a storm coming up, but it all still sounded fun. On the way over, Phil called to say he was done with work, so he planned to meet us there. I thought it would be fun if Phil rode the carousel with each boy and I would take pictures. Alex went first, mostly because he knew he wanted to ride, and was barely containable while we waited for Phil to get there. Sure enough, just as the ride was ending, the skies opened up and it started to POUR! Phil thought we should run over to the Hirshhorn Museum to get out of the rain and view some art. During the storm, the carousel was under repair. Sadly the repairs took longer than expected and Zachary didn't get a chance to ride. Don't worry, we'll make it up to you Zachary! After a drenching walk back to the hotel, we had some time to rest and dry off before heading out to dinner with Rachel. She reminded us that everytime we all get together on Pennsylvania Avenue, it rains! Hmm... we'll have to keep that in mind!

Saturday morning we headed out of DC to Grandma and Grandpa's place in Laurel, Maryland.
Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from DC: