Happy Birthday Dad!

While we were in DC, Mike had his big 3-0 birthday, so the day could no go unnoticed even if we were away from home.  The day before, Allie and I picked out some birthday doughnuts at the Safeway grocery store that we would walk to from our apartment.  We also got some cool candles and had to buy a lighter (which they ID for) to have the full experience!  Nothing like starting off your cold birthday morning with some hot chocolate and chocolate doughnuts!  

On his birthday we also went and toured the White House with the girls.  The girls did not do so well, Hadley just wanted to get down and crawl around (which I am sure is not condoned in the White House) and Allie wanted to touch everything.  It was cool to see, although I thought that we would get to see more than just a couple of rooms.  They would not let you bring any camera so we just had to take mental pictures :).  It was also a FREEZING day and we had quite the adventure walking around looking for the big red bus to tour the city, having a bus start on fire and staying inside a Barnes and Noble while waiting for a new bus and having it snow big beautiful snowflakes, going onward to the National Cathedral and waiting FOREVER for our bus outside with frozen girls only to take the city bus to the nearest metro stop as everyone was frozen solid.  Poor girls, we didn't pack enough warm clothes and they froze just a bit.  It was all fun and we ended the night warming up at home.  Mike is not such a fan of cold, but it was sure fun to be able to spend his birthday with him in DC!

Bugs, Native Americans and Space!

On Friday, we hit a lot of different museums earlier in the day before Mike joined us for the Air and Space museum.  The Natural History museum has a great kid-centered area where the girls could get down and play, which was much needed after a lot of "no touching" places for the past couple of days.  

 Here is Hadley crawling through the termite tree and enjoying being out of the stroller.

 Allie was braver than most of the other adults and teenagers around her and was excited to hold the massive grasshopper and caterpillar.  She also pet the hissing cockroach and the tarantula, brave little girl!  

After the Natural History museum, we went over to the new Native American Smithsonian which was pretty cool!  We watched a couple of videos, saw some cool artifacts and then headed over to the children's area where they have basket weaving, coloring, a teepee and canoes to play in.  The girls also loved this area and we spent a lot of time there, waiting for Mike to finish so we could meet him next door at the Air and Space Museum.

 This is the view of the White House from the Native American Museum, which is now the closest one at the end of the mall.  It was quite the dreary day.

 At the Air and Space Museum, we especially enjoyed anything that we could climb into and play around.  Here Allie is piloting a helicopter.

 Here we are inside an early jetliner 

At the end of the day, we were walking towards the metro and Mike bought Allie and I some beautiful roses.  I had texted Mike earlier in the day when we were walking on a trail in the mall and Allie said, "Quick Mom, I need something in my hands."  I asked her what and she said that she needed some roses.  I guess I have taught this girl pretty well in life if she needs some roses quickly.

Post Office and Library

After a few days exploring all the Smithsonians, we decided to try a few less visited places. One that we had never been to before was the post office museum (which the girls liked a lot), and the other was the library of Congress (which the girls liked a little less). I probably should have known that before we even went, but you live and learn.

In the post office museum, we had a chance to drive the USPS semi-truck. 

Allie got to drive for the first time! 

Hadley enjoyed the ride too. 

Don't worry, all the mail got delivered on time (no matter rain, snow, sleet, hail, [or crazy drivers] the mail will get there on time).

The girls got to ride in the old pony express wagon to see how the mail used to get delivered. Hadley just wanted to crawl all over the place, so this was a good chance to keep her contained.

Later we got to make a postcard and see how to sort and send the mail! 

It was cold in DC for our Texas family. Allie got a new hat, and she even kept it on some of the time. She used it more for a little purse to carry her toys.

We also went to the old post office. 

We got to ride all the way up to the top of the tower and look out over the city. 

Hadley liked the wind blowing through all the windows. It was a great view of the city.

I like this picture with Hadley, she looks super cute. 

(Her cheeks are red from wind burn, but it makes for a nice rosey appearance!)

 We tried to get a good picture with all three of us, but it always seems that at least one person looks silly. More often than not Allie gives the funny look for the pictures. We all had fun up in the tower looking at DC from above.

We also decided to visit the Library of Congress. 

It sounded like a good idea at the time (after getting two little girls into a library after keeping them corralled in a stroller for most of the day it was noted to be a not so good idea) and was a really neat building inside.

Lucky for us, there were not many people there so we could goof off a little bit and take lots of fun pictures.

Hadley wanted to crawl everywhere again. 

She just wants to be free to roam around all the time.

Hadley got pooped out and took a rest in the middle of the floor, but she was happy about it!

Allie decided to join her on the floor so they could giggle and laugh. 

It made a great soft echo off all the marble surfaces.

After lots of fun adventures, I have learned that little girls need lots of play time, even in the middle of the library (sorry to anyone who wanted a quiet visit).

American History Museum and the Mall

On Monday, the girls and I ventured out to go see the American History Museum and walked down the mall to see the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.  It as a decently beautiful day so it was perfect to walk around.

Allie saw this suit of armor and said, "Hey, it's like Little Einstiens!" 

At the end of the day, Allie said that the violins were her favorite part of the day.  Little did she know these were worth millions, she must have great taste!  She really is such a lover of music, singing all day long and pretending different items are musical instruments.  

This is the doll house, but I really just wanted to post a picture of her cute new haircut that I cut right before we left.  I think it is super cute and makes her hair have a style and less stringy.  Her first real chop of her hair.

We also loved the trains in the basement and since it was a weekday, it was pretty empty so the girls just played and crawled around down in transportation for a while.

It is amazing this did not end in disaster since Allie only has 10 lbs on Hadley.  

This is to document that I actually was there, and didn't let the girls run wild without me. :)

It is a bummer that the Washington Monument is still closed from the earthquake, so this is as close as we could get.  I guess the benefit is that there weren't any lines?

At this point in the day, Hadley had fallen asleep in the stroller so we took our time and let Allie play around by the new WWII memorial.  The last time I was in DC was in high school so it had been almost 9 years since I had seen everything.  

One difference I noticed was how much longer the walk felt from the monuments to the Lincoln Memorial. I guess pushing around a double stroller with your whole life in the bottom gets a little heavy.  Allie loved taking a picture by the statue mostly because that was what everyone else was doing and she wanted to be cool too!

This was along the Potomac side, but sadly, we did not get to spit in the Potomac per Shaw tradition.  Maybe next time.

It was at this point that Hadley woke up from her 2+ hour stroller nap and we made our way over to find Mike and headed back to the Smithsonians for another hour.

Welcome to DC

Mike spent all of February in Washington DC working at the National Headquarters in a management rotation and we tagged along for 10 days.  I love DC, so having a free place to stay and a husband created a quick sell on this trip.  

We were able to stay at this awesome apartment in the U-Street area which was over 100 years old.  On our walk up to the metro we would pass Duke Ellington's house which was pretty cool.  The only problem was that it was FREEZING while we were there.  It had been warm until Saturday when we got there.  The girls did pretty well on the flight and I have almost mastered the ability to fly solo with the girls around the country, although it is never fun.  Mike met us at the airport and we rode the metro to the apartment at night so I did not get to see how cool the area was until the next morning.

This was our view from the front window.  We felt pretty safe for being only about a mile north of the White House.  The only problem with the apartment was lugging my double stroller up and down the front porch stairs, usually full of kids, groceries, or blankets.  I am glad I don't have to do that every day!

Sunday was our first full day in DC so we attempted to go to church, only to find that the church building that is listed online is waiting to be demolished (which we found out the 2nd week).  We just thought we missed the time listed so we walked over to the National Botanical Gardens which warmed the girls up (both were crying because they were so cold). 

 It was beautiful and felt a little more like home, until Hadley decided to have a blowout of all times and soiled everything except her coat and tights.  That put an end to it all and we headed back home to get Hadley some clothes and warm these southern girls up!