Washington, D.C. {2013} - Day 4

Today Hubby got up super early and headed out with his friend, C, to get ready for the 8:00am Army Ten-Miler race.  The 3 little ones and I, along with friend A and AH, arrived at Mile 7 in perfect time to cheer on our guys and see them run by...

After seeing them run by, we grabbed brunch before making our way over to meet back up with Hubby for the Youth Run...

where all 3 little ones were planning to participate.  The Presidential mascots from the Washington Nationals baseball team were a HUGE hit with my President-loving B...

The little ones did great in the brief Youth Run...

and I was able to get a shot of ALL of my runners, along with Honest Abe...

Happy to be home and ready to get settled back in for the week ahead of us!

Washington, D.C. {2013} - Day 3

After our busy day yesterday, and in anticipation of an early start tomorrow, we took it easy today and rode the Metro in to the National Zoo...

where the definite highlight was seeing the panda...

I like complete sets (I know, totally O.C.D.) and am thrilled that we have now visited to 3 of the 4 zoos that house Giant Pandas in the United States ~ Atlanta, Memphis and now Washington, D.C.  Next stop?  San Diego...

Might take a little more time convincing Hubby on that one, but I have faith that we'll get there one day!

So, the zoo was very crowded.  I'm guessing that has to do with the fact that it is first of all, FREE.  Also, it did just open back up from the shut down.  Regardless, I can't imagine visiting in the summer when I imagine traffic is at its peak.

I love a good zoo, but my initial thoughts are that - 1) It's sometimes worth it to pay a zoo admission, might cut down on groups of people and 2) Our little Greenville Zoo is pretty darn good.  We actually have a lot going on - elephants, giraffes, lions, orangutans, just to name a few.  Hey, we even have a live webcam of our baby giraffe, Kiko, who turns a year old next week!

After covering the zoo from top to bottom, we headed back to Annandale, and the home of our friends, for dinner and got the little ones in bed in time to cheer on our Clemson Tigers...

Needless to say, our decision to go ahead with our trip to Washington, D.C. looked a lot smarter a few minutes into that hideousness of a game!

Washington, D.C. {2013} - Day 2

We started off our day early and headed into town to catch our tour of the U.S. Capitol.  Our luck that the government opened back up just in time for our trip, huh?  By the way, with our trip planned no matter what because of Hubby's race, I've got a great list of things you CAN still do if the government shuts down should anyone ever need it ~ here's hoping not anytime soon!

Making the connections on my last trip to D.C. back in May, I arranged our tour through our South Carolina Senator, Lindsey Graham's, office.  Whether it's actually unique or not, it sure feels pretty special to be whisked through the underground corridors connecting the Senate building

to the Capitol

being led by an intern on a private tour...

Center of the City...

 

Abraham Lincoln...

the super expensive chandelier...

the Rotunda...

 {love this pic ~ looking up in awe}

James K. Polk!

When we got back, a tour of Senator Graham's office!

 


After lunch, we headed over to Ford's Theatre...

 


before crossing the street to conclude our day at The Petersen House...

and catching the Metro back to Annandale...

Another adventure on tap for tomorrow...

Washington, D.C. {2013} - Day 1

With the little ones on Fall Break the end of this week, and with Hubby registered to run the Army Ten-Miler on Sunday...not to mention B's love of all things Presidential, we headed up to D.C. for the long weekend much like last year...

We didn't get off as early as expected yesterday, but managed to make it into Virginia Wednesday night.  We spent the morning in Charlottesville at Monticello...

There was a great "hands-on" children's gallery that showcased touchable reproductions of many items in the house.  The little ones really enjoyed exploring this area before heading into the house...

I have always loved Thomas Jefferson's bed and remember thinking that it was the neatest thing ever when I visited as a child...  Finally, Hubby knows what I have been talking about when mentioning his bed and how it was built into the wall where he could get out of bed on one side and be in one room and get out of the bed on the other side and be in another room!

After lunch at Monticello, we headed down the road and made a stop at President James Monroe's Ash Lawn-Highland...

After the late afternoon tour, we continued on to Annandale, VA to settle in with friends, A & C and their daughter, AH...

Busy day tomorrow...

{Weekend Adventure} To Syracuse and Back

 I generally think of myself as a very planned and organized person, almost to a fault at times.  Well, one of the many things that I love about Hubby is that he shares the same sense of adventure with me and brings out a little of my spontaneity.

 

Sooo...  With the whole government shutdown thing, on Wednesday we found ourselves suddenly with a free weekend as Hubby's Drill Weekend was cancelled.

 

Right then and there, Wednesday night, I decided that we should go to the Clemson game on Saturday...

 

The kicker???

 

Oh well, it was just an away game - in Syracuse, New York.  Yes, that's what I said...  SYRACUSE, NEW YORK!!!

 

So, Hubby took a little more convincing, but by Friday morning he was game.  He bought our tickets, came home an hour early from work, and off we went...with all 3 kids...a 7 1/2 year old, a brand new 5 year old, and a 3 year old...  Phew!

 

But wait...it gets better...  So, my car (a Suburban with plenty of room) had been in the shop all week, so I'd been driving Hubby's car.

 

So, yes, our family of FIVE went to Syracuse, NY for the weekend in a Honda Accord...

 

Most people would think that was pretty nutty...  Actually, I kind of think that's pretty nutty, but we had a blast.  We really did!

 

Now, full disclosure...  1) - With one of my grandmothers on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and another in Pennsylvania, our little ones are no strangers to long car rides, so that is really not a huge deal for them.  Our oldest can now recognize most all state license plates.  2) - Our little ones will also sleep in the car...no problem.  In fact, we plan our travel knowing that they'll fall asleep after both lunch and dinner...all 3 of them.  It's really like clockwork.  We're lucky in that arena - never have had any sleep issues.  They sleep, and they sleep hard.  We can literally transfer them from their car seats to the hotel beds with no one waking up!

  

 

So, maybe it isn't as crazy as it seems???

 

Nah, it's still pretty crazy, I guess, but it's the kind of crazy that I have to admit I love...

 

We left Friday late afternoon and drove into West Virginia before stopping.  We continued on to Syracuse Saturday morning...

  

  

and went to the game...

 

Welcome to the ACC, Syracuse University!

  

  

I just love how the team came over to salute the fans at the end of the game...  We REALLY loved that Clemson's beloved C.J. Spiller made the trip over from Buffalo to show his support, too.

 

  

We fed the little ones dinner at the game, and they were fast asleep before we even got out of Syracuse...  We drove until we were about an hour north of my grandmother's house and stopped to get a good night's sleep...

 

The next morning, we got up...

 

 

and dropped in on my 98-year-old grandmother.  The little ones burned off a lot of energy...

 

 

before we packed back in the car to continue south...

 

Can you believe that my grandparents planted this tree when they first moved to this community in the mid-1980s???

 

 

On the way home, we made one last stop at Old Stone Church in Virginia...

 

  

Established in 1740, this is where Hubby's many, many greats grandfather, General Robert Anderson, was baptized in the mid-1700s, though likely at the previous log structure that stood where the church cemetery is today. The cornerstone of this current building was laid in 1747 (when General Anderson would've been about 5 or 6), and this stone building has been in continuous use since 1749...

  

  

There's not much more I love than spending quality time with my sweet crew, road trippin' and throwing in a little family heritage along the way...

 

Wonder where we'll go this weekend...

 

Just kidding...or, am I???