at a glance: Vist to Washington D.C.

So we took advantage of Scott's spring break and headed to Washington D.C. to do some site seeing and find some potential places to live. My brother Jake flew out and came a long. It was so fun to have him with us. Jake just has an energy that is contagious and made the trip so much more fun.

We started the seven hour drive a little later than anticipated but were still able to see the beauty of West Virginia for the first time. It really is a beautiful state. It was fun to see it through the eyes of those who have never seen the trees of the East. It really is beautiful.

The first night of the trip started off a little crazy as we tried to figure out how to squeeze 5 people in one king sized bed. The awesome(?) hotel decided a king bed was okay for 3 adults and 2 children and didn't have anything else available. Jake, bless his heart, ended up sleeping on the padded bench with some sheets and pillows. The next morning, while Scott and I were getting girls bathed and ready I went back into the main part of the room and found Jake sprawled on the bed, dead asleep. The bench just didn't cut it I guess.

Thursday we looked at different apartments and worked our way closer to downtown. By Thursday night we were all pretty beat so we just went swimming and fell asleep to The Office. Friday morning started off with a tour of the Capitol building. It was, as always fantastic. It was so fun to be there with someone who had never seen it before. It makes you realize how incredible it really is.

We then hoped on a trolley and hit some more sites. Kayt loved the trolley ride. She felt it was her own personal parade. She waved the whole time. It wasn't to anybody in particular, just waving. We had to constantly remind her to keep her hand in the window so it didn't get taken off by a passing car! Friday we did the memorials, Arlington National Cemetery, which is always a sobering experience, and went to the National Cathedral. While at Arlington we were also able to see the changing of the guard.

Jake almost got beat up by a homeless guy he accidentally bumped in to. Okay not really but we were both a little nervous as the guys stared Jake down. All Jake could do was smile at him. It was pretty funny.

We went to the National Museum of Art and saw some fantastic artwork. We saw Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, da Vinci, Van Eyck, Renoir and on and on. It was beautiful. Of course all security eyes were on me. I gave them their most excitement for the day I guess. A women with two kids are a super threat apparently?!

The trolley took us through Foggy Bottom and Georgetown and we were really able to get a feel for the city.

It was so much fun. I am going to just throw the pictures up and write what each is. Enjoy!!

Kayt and Jake had a great time in the back seat!

Lincoln Memorial

WW II Memorial and Washington Monument

Arlington National Cemetery and Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier

The White House

Dinner in Union Station

Korean War Memorial

The Jefferson Memorial (my personal favorite)

Iwo Jima Memorial (memorials are the best seen at night)

The Cherry Blossoms Lunch in the Park (we threw a piece of bread in the are for a seagull to snag which it did, and some cranky men got mad at me. It was pretty funny. I almost threw a piece on their table as we were walking by, but decided I wasn't that immature.