DC part deux

In April we had the opportunity to go back to Washington DC for 10 days. Mason was super excited, as he had been talking about our month in DC ever since we got home. I even had a boy in my Primary class (who was also in Mason's preschool class) tell me about his friend who went to Washington DC and then he proceeded to tell me everything that we had done while we were there. It clearly left and impression on Mason. So, although the weather was chillier and much rainier than when we went in September/October, it was once again a big hit and we had a ton of fun. We stayed at the same apartment building. (Though this time the apartment was smaller and had a few issues. Kind of disappointing.) It was kind of like going home. Mason could easily navigate much of the city on his own, so I just let him do his own thing. Just kidding. But really, he would tell me where all the Metro stops were before we were even close enough to see the signs and I felt completely comfortable dragging the kids on and off public transportation and all over the city. Nic had a conference the first part of the week, then took off a few days at the end of the week, so we were able to do some extensive exploring.  DC really is an awesome city. Both in general and for kids. Here are some of our adventures.

Since it was so rainy most of the time we were there the kids and I spend a good amount of time in the museums. In fact, the walk to get to the museums from the metro usually resulted in me having to remove my boots and actually wring out my socks before I could slosh my way through the exhibits. Good thing they are free. And awesome.

This picture below cracks me up because it was taken right after Mason decided to play a game with all the joggers who run up and down the Mall. He would stand in the middle of the walk way and when the joggers started to veer to one side to avoid him, he'd move to that side, and he kept doing that until the last minute when he'd scream and run away. He kept a stone face the whole time. Maybe that sounds like some little kid just being annoying, but I thought it was hysterical and (as far as I could tell) so did the people he was doing it to. In fact, one guy had to stop running he was laughing so hard. I usually try to make my children behave in public, but at what other age can you run up to someone, scream at them, and then run away and have its be somewhat acceptable?

During the few clear afternoons we went back to "our park" to get out our tiny apartment wiggles. Soon we found that the park closest to our apartment (that had been under construction when we were there in the Fall) was complete and was fantastic. We started going there and it was quite a bit nicer.

This picture was taken right outside of the big grocery store by our place. The location of our apartment really was awesome.

The Museum of Natural History had an awesome butterfly exhibit with hundreds of butterflies inside a relatively small tent. They were everywhere and not afraid to land on us and let us get close. This was hands down my favorite thing we saw. The kids loved it too.

Mason has been very into marine biology lately and loved this part of the Natural History museum.

 The new park.

This is a yummy pizza place near our apartment. Outdoor seating is the best with kids. Notice the donkey and elephant stuffed animals in front of Sage. Nic won the "guess how many gumballs in the bucket" game at his conference and won the bucket of gum balls and the stuffed animals. The kids were pretty excited about the stuffed animals and we sent the gumballs home with Deb and Dave.

In the Fall the National Cathedral was closed due to the recent earthquake, so we were unable to visit. This is one of my favorite sites in DC so we made the trek (via every bus line possible because of some sort of police blockade) to visit. The kids were less interested, but I enjoyed it. (Are you seeing how the raincoats came in handy? We would have been very wet without them.)

Waiting for the bus. I strongly prefer the metro, but it just wasn't an option.

We walked up and down the Mall one day.

Deb and Dave were nice enough to extend their return from a trip to San Francisco so they could spend a zoo day with us. They even brought the kids back treats from the Jelly Belly factory in California. 

We love the zoo.

This is the big swing line that the orangutans are allowed to take from one building to another once a day. This picture was taken moments after this particular fellow positioned himself squarely above the gawking crowd below and urinated all over them. Luckily we were far enough away that we weren't sprayed, but it was quite possibly the funniest thing I've ever seen (it would not have been had we actually gotten peed on, however). Each orangutan after him also positioned themselves in the same way, but stage freight must have got the best of them and the crowd was spared. Mason still laughs about this. So do I.

 Moments before the pee incident.

 We loved spending time with Dave and Deb and feel very lucky that they wanted to spend the day with us.

We spend the last full day checking out some of the places we didn't see in the Fall. Namely the Library of Congress and the Capitol. Neither were real kid pleasers, but we decided they could suffer through and they ended up doing pretty well.

Mason wanted to take one last trip up the clock tower. So a sleeping Sage and I walking around the block a thousand times while Nic and Mason headed up. See their two smiling faces in the center window?

And finally we took one last ride on the subway. Mason likes it when the train goes outside then back underground, so we finished off our metro cards and took a big loop so he could get his fill. He really really loves the subway.

 Sage pretended she loves the subway, but in reality she cried most of the time she is on it. Probably because I was usually by myself and therefore didn't let her get out of the stroller like she wanted to. Hopefully someday she'll understand the logic behind her containment.

I think I can officially say we have covered that city from end to end. Being pregnant this time made things a bit more difficult in terms of hauling strollers up and down stairs and moving (or rather waddling) quickly through crowds during major downpours. But we did it and I'm glad we did, and I'd go back in a heartbeat.