we were all ecstatic for the upcoming family vacation to washington dc. we were quite excited to join the many relatives that would be there to support the celebrations and ceremonies that john's dad was key to, and were also really looking forward to seeing all the museums and monuments. not to mention, we were staying in a hotel next door to the zoo. unfortunately for us, politics got in the way of seeing some pretty darn cute pandas!!
even though my legs got attacked by mosquitos, our clothes were often wet with sweat or rain, the metro was closed for construction for two days, and - last but not least - EVERYTHING we had planned to see was closed as a result of the federal shutdown, we still had a wonderful trip. we took countless rides up and down the elevators and escalators to keep the kids entertained, took many trips to the hotel coffee shop for mochas, and ultimately were able to spend more quality time visiting with family than we would have if we had been waiting in lines at the Smithsonian.
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| 5:30am and off to the airport...can't forget the morning milk! |
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with all the functions we were attending for abuelo, leanne was kind enough to join us in DC!
(not going to lie, it will be hard to travel without her in the future) |
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| let's board! love the purple glow and hip music as you get on the virgin america plane |
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we were up until midnight downloading videos on the iPad (it was our first time looking for kid's stuff so it took awhile!)
this peaceful scene on the plane lasted about 5 minutes |
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| abuela outdid herself again - lots of wonderful toys were waiting for them in the hotel! |
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| jackson was a huge help in opening the gifts |
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| their suite had great big windows with amazing views - perfect for spotting buses! |
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| mr. president...are you in there? what about bo? |
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| sadly, this is the best of 5 shots |
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| we forced the kids to take a picture from the front later in the day...they were not impressed. |
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| we can never resist getting flying livi shots |
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| our rag doll |
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| the big guy |
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| our chubby baby face |
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| not too much more facial definition here |
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| the positive side of the shutdown was that DC felt empty |
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| looks like nana snoozie has some competition for jacks' favorite lady friend |
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| our saviors...twins make you appreciate how much an extra set of hands (or two) can help |
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| mr. lincoln - where are you?? |
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| i think we got some smiles!! |
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| models for leanne's school calendar |
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| checking out the spot where jennie and forrest were reunited |
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| with the metro closed over the weekend, we had to do a lot of walking |
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| with almost everything closed, we managed to find one semi-child-relevant museum to visit |
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| dining al fresco while john attempts to view some of the exhibits |
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| had some fun at rite-aid |
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| apparently toddlers do not like werewolves...who knew? |
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| family dinner |
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| a major highlight of the trip was the frequent trips on the choo-choo...through the tunnel |
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| hooray for the subway |
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| just a bunch of hoodlums |
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| all dressed up and off to the president's ball (prez of the american college of surgeons that is) |
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| front row seats for the host's speech |
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| no, the pope wasn't there |
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| el jefe |
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| a series of wonderful celebrations! |
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with the metro closed, rain and nothing open, we enjoyed all the hotel had to offer...
including the plush sheets, |
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| the essentially unlimited bowls of cereal, |
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| videos of family (in spanish), |
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| the piano, |
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| facetime (with Jacks hiding in a nearby cupboard), |
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| the escalator, and finally |
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| more escalator! |
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| and when it eventually hit 10:30pm, we all settled in for the night...and this was my view |
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| our last day was filled with cupcakes...finally! |
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| looks tasty |
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| you ready? let's do this! |
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| tasted as good as we had imagined |
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| after 5 days of doing grown-up things, we found a gem of a park |
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| the firetruck was the highlight |
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| jacks even sacrificed his spot on the swing since they couldn't both fit in there |
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| headed back to home sweet home! |
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| surprisingly, waiting in line is actually one of their strong suits |
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| didn't sleep on the way out to DC, but thankfully they slept on the way back! |
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| just waiting for our luggage, and then 'all done'! |
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