We are home from our whilrwind weekend trip to Washington, D.C. to visit Jonathan's cousin Kristine. It was a weekend full of adventures - some were caught on film, but you'll just have to take my word about others.
First, the drive up. I sat in the back to hang out with Evelyn because we weren't sure how she would do on the long-ish drive. She did really well for 98% of the drive. The other 2% was spent giving me looks like this classic one:
But we navigated the many roundabouts with statues of men on horses and drove around D.C. in Friday night traffic until we met up with Kristine. After an adventure in not-quite-parallel parking in a tiny alley, we had arrived.
Evelyn passed out as soon as the Pack-n-Play was up. (Also, see that rug? It looks pretty awesome but feels even better. I am loving it. Oh, and Kristine rearranged her whole room for our little family! She is pretty awesome.)
Before too long, we all hit the sack.
On Saturday, Kristine had an early morning Regatta in Alexandria, so Evelyn and I tagged along while Jonathan got his rest. It was pretty sweet to be beside the Potomac with the Capital in view, cheering for Kristine's veteran boat to beat the novice boat.
Kristine was in the stern (right?) - she's wearing a blue baseball cap and is the third person from the right.
This is a shot of her boat approaching the finish line... WAY ahead of the novice boat. Nice job!
After a stop back at Kristine's place, we decided that it was a good morning for a walk to the White House. We even partook in one of Kristine's traditions of grabbing a donut for the walk.
She said that sometimes people are disappointed by the White House - that they want it to be bigger or more impressive... I was thoroughly impressed though. We watched the snipers walking around on the roof and wondered what the Obamas were up to on this lovely Saturday morning. I especially liked walking around to see the back lawn. You can see the kitchen garden on the left side here and some kind of white box with drawers that we guessed might be a beehive?
After that, it was time for a Metro ride to the Smithsonians. This metro stop is in the middle of the National Mall, which of course means picture time.
Jonathan and Kristine had many opportunities to reminisce about their previous adventures in D.C.
And we mastered the art of stroller-on-escalator mobility. Which brings us to some important public transportation lessons. You have to walk with a purpose in those Metro tunnels or you'll get taken out by some road-ragey Washingtonian. You also probably don't want to try to squeeze on the Metro when the chimes are going off to alert you that the doors are closing. Just ask Kristine what it feels like when the doors close on you. And finally, it's important to have some idea of where you're going and how the lines work in the event that you and your baby are separated from Jonathan and Kristine late on a Saturday night at a busy transfer station. Thanks to some quick hand signals from those two, as the metro was leaving the stop with me and Evelyn, we were fine and all reunited quickly.
But I digress.
Saturday continued with a little self-guided "highlights" tour of the American History museum, which was pretty cool. I really liked the Lincoln exhibit, seeing the original star spangled banner, and some of the very random pop culture pieces they had.
Next up was a visit to Chinatown, where we ate at a super tasty Chinese place where the entire waitstaff knew Evelyn's name and age within minutes. They were in love. I nursed Evelyn, so she was hidden for a bit with the cover, and the very instant she emerged from the cover our table was swarmed with waitstaff. They demonstrated how to burp her, they stared, they cooed... Jonathan started laughing and then started choking on his food so another waitress started patting his back - it was a comedic moment for sure.
Not knowing how else to top off such a tasty but odd lunch, we finally agreed on cupcakes. How can you pass up a shop that sells cupcakes with real gold flakes on top?
We took our cupcakes to go and headed back to Kristine's place for a little relaxing. She put in a movie. It was possibly the worst movie ever. Ever. Of all time. You can try to guess what it was.
After our rest, we were all ready for our evening on the National Mall. There couldn't have been a more perfect time to go.
Evelyn might have a thing for Washington...
... but I have a major thing for Lincoln. I was totally in awe when we reached his memorial. Not even the icky stinky algae-filled reflecting pool, or the clouds of attack gnats, could deter my excitement.
We took in Lincoln and then sat on the memorial steps to look at the Washington Monument and Capital while Evelyn nursed. It was a very cool moment.
Next came the trek back to Kristine's. Jonathan had all sorts of blisters on his poor feet and it was quite an adventure to get back.
Good thing we got to sleep in on Sunday. We took it easy with some people (and pidgeon) watching in DuPont Circle followed by lunch at the historic and delicious Ben's Chili Bowl.
And that was DC. Kristine was a super fabulous hostess and she tolerated our whining about the heat and the walking really well. She also learned that I like to ask thousands of questions about just about everything, so now she has to brush up on her Seattle knowledge for our next visit. :)
First, the drive up. I sat in the back to hang out with Evelyn because we weren't sure how she would do on the long-ish drive. She did really well for 98% of the drive. The other 2% was spent giving me looks like this classic one:
But we navigated the many roundabouts with statues of men on horses and drove around D.C. in Friday night traffic until we met up with Kristine. After an adventure in not-quite-parallel parking in a tiny alley, we had arrived.
Evelyn passed out as soon as the Pack-n-Play was up. (Also, see that rug? It looks pretty awesome but feels even better. I am loving it. Oh, and Kristine rearranged her whole room for our little family! She is pretty awesome.)
Before too long, we all hit the sack.
On Saturday, Kristine had an early morning Regatta in Alexandria, so Evelyn and I tagged along while Jonathan got his rest. It was pretty sweet to be beside the Potomac with the Capital in view, cheering for Kristine's veteran boat to beat the novice boat.
Kristine was in the stern (right?) - she's wearing a blue baseball cap and is the third person from the right.
This is a shot of her boat approaching the finish line... WAY ahead of the novice boat. Nice job!
After a stop back at Kristine's place, we decided that it was a good morning for a walk to the White House. We even partook in one of Kristine's traditions of grabbing a donut for the walk.
She said that sometimes people are disappointed by the White House - that they want it to be bigger or more impressive... I was thoroughly impressed though. We watched the snipers walking around on the roof and wondered what the Obamas were up to on this lovely Saturday morning. I especially liked walking around to see the back lawn. You can see the kitchen garden on the left side here and some kind of white box with drawers that we guessed might be a beehive?
After that, it was time for a Metro ride to the Smithsonians. This metro stop is in the middle of the National Mall, which of course means picture time.
Jonathan and Kristine had many opportunities to reminisce about their previous adventures in D.C.
And we mastered the art of stroller-on-escalator mobility. Which brings us to some important public transportation lessons. You have to walk with a purpose in those Metro tunnels or you'll get taken out by some road-ragey Washingtonian. You also probably don't want to try to squeeze on the Metro when the chimes are going off to alert you that the doors are closing. Just ask Kristine what it feels like when the doors close on you. And finally, it's important to have some idea of where you're going and how the lines work in the event that you and your baby are separated from Jonathan and Kristine late on a Saturday night at a busy transfer station. Thanks to some quick hand signals from those two, as the metro was leaving the stop with me and Evelyn, we were fine and all reunited quickly.
But I digress.
Saturday continued with a little self-guided "highlights" tour of the American History museum, which was pretty cool. I really liked the Lincoln exhibit, seeing the original star spangled banner, and some of the very random pop culture pieces they had.
Next up was a visit to Chinatown, where we ate at a super tasty Chinese place where the entire waitstaff knew Evelyn's name and age within minutes. They were in love. I nursed Evelyn, so she was hidden for a bit with the cover, and the very instant she emerged from the cover our table was swarmed with waitstaff. They demonstrated how to burp her, they stared, they cooed... Jonathan started laughing and then started choking on his food so another waitress started patting his back - it was a comedic moment for sure.
Not knowing how else to top off such a tasty but odd lunch, we finally agreed on cupcakes. How can you pass up a shop that sells cupcakes with real gold flakes on top?
We took our cupcakes to go and headed back to Kristine's place for a little relaxing. She put in a movie. It was possibly the worst movie ever. Ever. Of all time. You can try to guess what it was.
After our rest, we were all ready for our evening on the National Mall. There couldn't have been a more perfect time to go.
Evelyn might have a thing for Washington...
... but I have a major thing for Lincoln. I was totally in awe when we reached his memorial. Not even the icky stinky algae-filled reflecting pool, or the clouds of attack gnats, could deter my excitement.
We took in Lincoln and then sat on the memorial steps to look at the Washington Monument and Capital while Evelyn nursed. It was a very cool moment.
Next came the trek back to Kristine's. Jonathan had all sorts of blisters on his poor feet and it was quite an adventure to get back.
Good thing we got to sleep in on Sunday. We took it easy with some people (and pidgeon) watching in DuPont Circle followed by lunch at the historic and delicious Ben's Chili Bowl.
And that was DC. Kristine was a super fabulous hostess and she tolerated our whining about the heat and the walking really well. She also learned that I like to ask thousands of questions about just about everything, so now she has to brush up on her Seattle knowledge for our next visit. :)
Comments
2. So glad you got to hang up close with Abraham Lincoln. He really has been one of your heroes since you were able to talk (what was that? About 8 months old?)
3. Evelyn Mae is quite possibly the most beautiful baby girl ever in the history of time. I love that she's adopted so many of your skeptical looks.
4. I love you and then I miss you and then I love you some more.