After the wedding, we went to tour Washington, DC for a couple days. There is so much to see in that city. By this point in the trip Jack was becoming majorly home sick. I'd guess about 20-30 times a day (if not more) Jack would say in a sad pitiful voice, "I want to go home." He is just a creature of habit and being away from his routine just made him sad. When asked what he missed about home, one thing he mentioned was eating a sandwich while sitting next to daddy. It was just the little things that he missed like sitting at our kitchen table, playing with his toys, watching shows on our TV. All this to say, it was nice being able to see the sights of the city, but by the end, we were more than ready to be home!
1st stop - the Air & Space Museum
Checking out the astronaut mural
Sitting in the pilots seat
Amelia had to give it a try too.
But what was Jack's favorite part of the Air & Space Museum you may ask? Surely the airplanes, right?!?! Nope. It was the escalators!
So up and down he went on the escalator. Who knew he would have been happy with going on vacation at the local mall?
The next day Jack mentioned that he wanted to go back to the airplane place. When we asked what he wanted to see there he said, "I want to ride on the escalators!" At least that part of the trip was exciting for him!
Next we walked out the doors of the museum and were greeted by the grassy mall area with a view of the Capital and Washington Monument. The highlight for the kids at this point was playing in the dirt and gravel. Once again...its the simple things.
At the Capital
Amelia with the Washington Monument in the background
Our family in Washington, DC
More fun in the dirt!
Right by our hotel was a Krispy Kreme donut shop. We made that our yummy breakfast 2 of the mornings.
We visited a couple of the other Smithsonian Museum's. And when I say visited, I mean walked through a couple of the rooms quite quickly...since all we heard was a small voice next to us saying, "I want to go home."
I loved seeing all the animals at the Natural Science Museum.
Snack time - Popcorn!
Jacob and Tara were in DC the same time we were and they were kind enough to arrange for us to go on a private tour of the Capital with them.
Here Barrett is standing in the very center of the capital which is also the very center of the city.
The kids look over joyed to be on this tour. Maybe in another 10 years or so the tour will go over a little better for these two.
Jack (3 years old) and Amelia (18 months old) in Washington, DC
After a long day of sight seeing, my Aunt Lousie & Uncle Mauro (who live in the DC area) treated our family and Tara's family to dinner out and then invited us back to their house for dessert. This was SO much fun (my favorite part of visiting DC actually!) The kids loved being able to roam around the backyard, play, eat desserts, and it was so nice having some time to visit with family.
Finally, freedom to run free. The freedom didn't come without boo-boo's though. Ice and band-aid's needed for both kids at one point or another throughout the evening. Still a perfect and just FUN evening.
Louise did up a nice table full of snacks, juice, and not pictured here is a tray full of little cartons of Ben & Jerry's ice cream for each person. Such hospitality shown to us!
Our evening on the porch - chatting and eating ice cream.
We even got to catch fire flies!
Next up...the Washington, DC Zoo
Petting Zoo area
Aquarium
Monkeys in the rain forest
Once coming out of the rain forest it began to rain on us! We were waiting undercover for it to hopefully pass and Jack rain out into the rain and said, "Take my picture in the rain!"
The rain wasn't letting up anytime soon so we just had to make a run for it in the pouring down rain. The kids likes this part cause Daddy was pushing them fast in the stroller.
Pulling over for a view of the elephant
Panda Bears
Amelia's favorite animal to see was the snapping turtle.
This lion was putting on a show for all of us and roaring loudly!
That evening we made a trip to the Lincoln Memorial. Amelia was asleep so never actually saw it. But this picture proves that she was there...even if she didn't see it with her own eyes.
My honey and I at the memorial.
Jack and Daddy took the stairs down
We have a book called "Good Night Washington, DC" that has pictures of many of the sights in the city. We have been reading it the last couple months, so it was nice to see the sights in person and show Jack & Amelia the real deal.
Holding the Washington Monument. Ha!
Vietnam Memorial
Korean War Memorial
Dinner was at a Chinese restaurant in China Town. A yummy meal after a busy day!
Jack even got to see a window full of waving cats!
The White House
One last stop at Krispy Kreme
Our plane home was taking off from Baltimore, Maryland. The plan was to do a little sight seeing in the area, but once we made it there and found parking we only had 30-45 minutes to look around. It was rushed but we got to get a glimpse of it.
Jack and the transformer
Amelia and the mini car
Lunch/Dinner was at the airport. We got a seat right next to the window so we could watch the airplanes and eat our McDonald's food all at the same time.
This boy was happy to be on his way home!
Unfortunately, we weren't as close to home as we thought. Our first flight to Charlotte, NC that was suppose to take off right after 5pm on Wednesday night ended up leaving 3+ hours late due to weather issues. We knew we were going to miss our connecting flight to Dallas so Barrett called and got us scheduled for the next connecting flight out which was going to leave Charlotte just after 10pm. Sure enough though when we landed in Charlotte, we had to sit on the runway for over 30 minutes which made us miss our next flight (which was already delayed by about 30 minutes). End result...there were no more flights out that night! :-( We were now scheduled for an early morning flight home and slept on cots in the terminal of the airport (along with 100+ other people.) Crazy thing, this was the first time we checked all of our luggage onto the plane, so we had nothing with us! There was no point going to a hotel with no luggage, no car seats, and only spending about 4 hours there before having to head back to the airport. Soooo, sleeping at the airport seemed like the better of the options.
The kids really did good for the situation we were in. Jack had fallen asleep on the flight then stayed asleep even once he was in the stroller, so he slept straight through from about 10pm-5am. Not bad for a nights sleep in a stroller at the airport.
Amelia on the other hand was wide awake and not in the mood for sleeping at the airport.
Our cozy corner for the night
Our address for the night - Gate D10 at the Charlotte Airport
Finally around 2am Amelia gave in and fell asleep.
Throughout the night, Barrett and I get maybe 2 hours sleep. I don't recommend ever sleeping on a cot. Not comfortable at all!
Rest at last!
Jack was a little confused to wake up and find himself still at the airport.
At one point it felt like we would never make it home, but we did! By 12:30 the next afternoon we were home! Home at last! It is fun to be away, but oh so marvelous to be HOME!!!!! No plans to travel on a plane anytime soon. We like our home. :-)
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