 |
| DC Summer Vacation 2015! |
As much as I love a good summer vacay to the beach, I had been itching to get back to Washington, DC to see what's changed, eat at some of my favorite restaurants, and show my kids around one of my favorite cities. Besides, we took an epic beach trip last year, so we could skip it this year, right?
We decided to go the week in June that is the trifecta of special occasions for our family: our wedding anniversary, Father's Day, and
Xavier's birthday! We had lots of fun celebrating in DC! (It didn't matter that Xavier's birthday was technically the day after we got back - what he doesn't know won't hurt him, haha.)
The kids were old pros on the plane, and these flights were the smoothest ever since we decided to nix the car seats altogether since we were taking public transportation most of the time while we were in the city. I loved how it was a direct flight to Reagan (why didn't Southwest offer this 10 years ago when I needed it?!?), which was also just two Metro stops away from our timeshare in Old Town Alexandria. The kids weren't quite impressed with the Metro, mainly because in a bit of confusion they thought that by "subway," we were going to be eating at Subway a lot during our vacation. Sigh.
 |
| Loving the long "excavator" rides to the subway. |
We loved utilizing the King Street Trolley to help us explore Old Town and the waterfront. That first day, we enjoyed a yummy lunch at The Fish Market, and the kids and I met up with some awesome mom friends for ice cream and to play at the park while Justin and my parents got groceries and settled into the suite.
 |
| First trolley ride! |
 |
| Lissie and her new buddies are all about a month apart! |
 |
| Getting a picture with everyone looking was impossible. |
Saturday, our anniversary, we took a trolley tour of the monuments and paddle-boated around the Jefferson. My parents headed back to the timeshare in the late afternoon, while Justin and I visited the White House (since somehow he had never been before, and I am always up for a trip to my dream home) and trekked to one of our favorite restaurants before getting caught barefoot in the pouring rain heading back to Old Town.
 |
| Showing them my favorite study spot behind the Lincoln Memorial |
 |
| Safety first! |
 |
| My dream home..... |
 |
| Happy anniversary to us at Lauriol Plaza! |
On Father's Day, we started the day with Mass just walking distance from our suite and then headed to the National Harbor via water taxi to explore. It was totally new to us since it wasn't there when we lived there almost ten years ago, and it was fun to eat lunch, check out the overpriced ferris wheel, and play at the play area and sand pit with the Awakening statue. Poor Xavier was kind of out of it this day fighting a fever in the afternoon, but in retrospect we think he just couldn't handle the DC heat. We headed back to Old Town early, which was fine since Justin and I were off for some Korean BBQ, bing su, and even Amsterdam falafel and fries with old friends.
 |
| Water taxi |
 |
| Happy Father's Day! |
 |
| Family selfie! |
 |
| On Capital Wheel |
 |
| With my dad on Father's Day |
 |
| Poor Xavier couldn't hang - even with unlimited carousel rides. |
 |
| Reunited! |
 |
| Oh how we missed this!!! |
The rest of the trip was spent doing more touristy activities - the National Zoo and the natural history, American history, and Native American Smithsonians.
 |
| Showing him my favorite animal at the zoo. |
 |
| We found Uncle Peter and Auntie Jen! |
 |
| Xavier, the Science Kid |
 |
| She can't get enough of the dresses. He had enough of the dresses. |
 |
| My little "cooker," in awe of Julia Child's kitchen. |
We even got to spend some time with my cousin Cliff and his family. The kids enjoyed playing with cousins and eating yummy Filipino food!
 |
| Apparently Xavier is Cinderella, according to Ella. |
It was a fabulous family trip. I'm so glad the kids got to experience DC - they talk about it often and claim they hear the Metro every time they hear a loud noise on the highway. It was nice experiencing it with the grandparents - not only because they were extra hands and baby-sitters but because these are wonderful memories and moments to treasure for years to come.
 |
| These two found this chef on the sidewalk and immediately became friends with this "cooker." |
 |
| Just one of many sweet treats of the week. |
 |
| When Daddy's snoring wakes us up at 5:30am, you just gotta get up and enjoy fresh donuts! |
 |
| If I can't be First Lady, maybe she will..... |
 |
| My sillies in Old Town |
 |
| Love this kid! |
And the beach? Next year. Lissie's been asking to go, and I've already been planning our next big vacation. In the meantime, we've got a few fun road trips in our near future to round out the summer. Oh, and a couple of trips to the Nashville "beach," as well.
Happy happy summer!
