Washington D.C.

Last week Brad and I took off to D.C. We were so lucky to go. It was so last minute! Brad got a call from work on a Thursday morning asking if he would like to go to a convention in National Harbor, Maryland--close to DC. He was nice enough to ask me to come along. I was a little hesitant at first because I would be by myself touring DC; Brad would be working. Then I realized I was CRAZY not to go because it was basically five days kid-free...not that I don't LOVE my kids but you all know what I mean.:) We took off the following Monday night at 10:00 pm. We had two layovers and we would get into DC about 9 the following morning. We wanted as much time as possible Tuesday to tour before the convention. I don't know why I always think I'll be able to sleep on the plane because I NEVER can. So, after a sleepless night we arrived Tuesday morning. We were able to check into our hotel luckily and sleep for a few hours before heading into DC.
DC is amazing! I'd never been before and I loved it. We headed to the National Mall and saw all the monuments. We stopped at the Washington Monument first and then headed to the World War II monument. This monument was pretty new and it was beautiful! While we were looking around this man came up to us and asked if he would take our picture for us. I had my camera around my neck and I think that's why. Before we know it he's snapping away. Telling us where to stand and what to do. The best part was when he wanted to snap each others reflection is our sunglasses. What??!! We got a pretty good laugh about it afterwards. It was nice of him to take all the pictures, just a little weird. We looked over a little bit later and he was asking some more people if he could take their picture. I guess he just loves pictures.








Awesome pictures courtesy of picture guy at the WWII memorial. You can catch a glimpse of him in my sunglasses. haha





These geese and ducks were all over in the reflecting pool. These girls started to feed them and they were chasing them because they wanted more. They came pretty close to us. They weren't scared at all.




Vietnam War Veterans Memorial and Lincoln Monument--No I was not taking a picture of the black girl. She just happened to jump in...




White House. They had a bunch of the grass fenced off. I guess they were trying to help the grass out. It was pretty patchy. They do have a road right in front, but there were policemen out and they wouldn't even let us walk on the sidewalk. Come to find out the First Lady was out on the lawn exercising with elementary school kids. We did eventually get closer. We tried taking pictures of both of us ourselves in front of the Whitehouse, but then someone felt bad for us and took our picture.It's interesting because you can go right up to the other side. While we were there we heard all these sirens and looked over and there was the motorcade for the president complete with the black SUVs and limos with the American flags on the front. It was very 24/Jack Bauer-ish. :)





We ate at the Old Ebbitt Grill next to the Whitehouse. It was a really neat place and had a cool atmosphere. Its been around forever with many important figures in history reportedly eating there.



Last but not least the Jefferson Memorial. I loved this memorial. I thought it was beautiful!! Especially being right on the lake.




It was a busy day for us. Next time we will for sure be taking the buses around the mall. It was a LONG walk to go to all those places and the 90 degree heat didn't help but it was amazing to be able to see the things that I've only seen pictures of. I'll post the rest of the trip later.