Iceman

Brandon especially likes this photo (taken in the bathtub). He says he remembers his cousins Monica and Melissa doing the same thing to his hair, in the era of Top Gun.

Year Two, Month Five + Four Days

Home, Saturday, 4/17/10

Our hotel room in DC was perfectly located and MUCH bigger than our room in NYC. At least four times as big. It had two bedrooms and two bathrooms. (No idea how/why we got such a big room.)

We got home late Saturday afternoon.

We bought Brandon and Hinton matching t-shirts.

They say: New York City. Dew the City.

Our little angel. At least for the moment.

Huge, enormous, gigantic thanks go to my parents for taking care of Hinton while Brandon and I were on vacation. It sounds like he was much better behaved for them than he ever is for us.

DC, Friday, 4/16/10

On Friday morning we went to one of the Smithsonians - The Museum of American History.

We saw Lincoln's top hat:

They had a pop culture section, which included the leotard Nastia Liukin wore when she won the All-Around Gold Medal in 2008:

It is kind of hard to see in the photo, but at times there were mini-Cherry-Blossom-hurricanes as the winds picked up. (We just missed the Cherry Blossom festivals - which means we also missed the Cherry Blossom festival crowds.)

I found this to be a little more impressive and intimidating than the "drive the wrong way and your tires will be slashed" blockades that I have seen on the West Coast.

Our last official tour was at the Capitol.

The ceiling of the Capitol. George Washington was painted in.

In the old Supreme Court.

We ended the day with a visit to the Holocaust Museum.

DC, Thursday, 4/15/10

We started Thursday with a visit to the White House. Of which we were not able to take photos. Of course.

We also got to go on a tour of the Library of Congress. This was double the excitement for me, because I am a nerd for libraries and because I had never been there before.

Inside the Library of Congress:

After the Library of Congress we went to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving. But we were not allowed to take any pictures.

Our next stop was:

This is the balcony where Lincoln was shot:

Across the street from the theater:

The bed that Lincoln died in:

Thursday night we went to see Shear Madness, a very funny, somewhat improvised, murder mystery play. They take a vote towards the end of the play, and the audience gets to decide who the murderer is. They play it out however the majority votes.

DC, Wednesday, 4/14/10

We walked by the White House again on our way to meet our group for the National Parks Tour (that we arranged through our Congressman).

Our tour guide drove us to all of the following parks and memorials, and shared a little information along the way.

Our first stop was a visit to the Washington Monument.

At the top of the monument:

Views from the top of the Washington Monument:

Arlington Cemetery

JFK's grave:

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier:

Changing of the guard:

World War II Memorial:

Lincoln Memorial:

Korean War Memorial:

Vietnam Veterans Memorial:

FDR Memorial:

We walked by this sign a couple times. Brandon found it to be especially amusing.