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!

Puzzle Time

This kiddo LOVES her new puzzles that she got from her cousin for Christmas.  She will sit and do the repeatedly for a hour all by herself.  She has mastered each puzzle and knows where each piece goes without the rest of the puzzle even done.  

This is my point of view of Hadley lately, hanging on standing up with my leg.  She wants to be a part of the party too!

Madison's Birthday Party

Madison, Allie's best friend, turned 3 on the 13th and we celebrated with her cowgirl style!  We had a lot of fun at the park building stick horses and playing games.  We don't know what we would do without Madison!

Tubby Time

These little girls love bath time!  As soon as I start the water, Hadley speed-crawls over to the tub and stands on the side waiting for me to put her in.  I, on the other hand, hate cleaning my tub.  Both love and hate are evident in these pictures.  Hey, at least I clean the girls!