The next day we planned to go to Mount Vernon. I remember George Washington's home quite vividly from my last visit. This was one of Mike's favorite places to see, too. We were lucky to have D&C and the girls along with us. Of course...more lines, but Doug & Cath volunteered to wait in the line to get into the mansion, while Mike and I walked around the grounds. Cath looked like she was enjoying herself playing with the girls on the vast green lawn. We saw the new movie which was pretty funny as Pat Sajak was the host and dressed up in colonial-style dress. Too corny....
More beautiful gardens. Like Jefferson, Washington wanted to be known as a farmer!
Necessity is the mother of invention and this was shown by Washington's 16 sided barn. He developed a way to have the horses walk around on the wheat, releasing the grain through slots in the floor, where his servants would gather, clean and then use it to make food. Mount Vernon, just like Monticello, was it's own little city.
Anyway, I love the view from this hilltop. D&C had gone at the point to feed their kids, so we had to ask around for someone to take our picture. Must have been a bad day for tourists, because people were cranky! Must have been the heat. It was 80 degrees and humid! This was quite an adjustment for me coming from snowy and cold Kville!
Even though Washington wanted to be known as a farmer, he loved 'the formal' high-society heirs. He was called, Your Excellency, which is what we all want to be called! Here is a picture of his tomb/gravesite. He and Martha are just behind the gate in white marble(?) vaults. It's a big building and apparently 25 other family members are also buried inside. After a little shopping in the gift store and a quick bite to eat, we headed to Arlington National Cemetary. 
Very touching to see the rows and rows of graves of people who fight for freedom. 
We visited JFK's grave and then on to the Changing of the Guard. Always a neat display of precision, tradition and honor. We also got to see a wreath laying ceremony. We love to hear the almost complete silence broken by the tap of the guard snapping his boots together.
Cath took the girls home for a rest and we all headed over to the Jefferson Memorial. We walked around part of Tidal Basin, but all the cherry blossoms are gone! I have a picture of Jefferson's statue, but it's sideways, so I have to fix it. But, here is the view from the steps to the Washington Monument.
Then, we headed over to the FDR Memorial where Mikey has the classic 'pull my finger' pose! This is a pretty monument with a lot of water falls and quotes. We then headed back to pick up Catherine because they got a babysitter and we went to dinner in Old Town Alexandria. We went to Las Tapas (I think), a Spanish restaurant where you order 3 or 4 small plates of food and then share. We had A LOT of food because everything looked so delicious! We then walked around the quaint stores, and down to the wharf. Fun night life with lots of street musicians and people out and about. We made a quick stop at Pop's for an ice cream cone and then D&C drove us around DC! We didn't make any stops because it was late and we needed to get the friend who came to babysit home, but we drove around Capitol Hill and saw many of the buildings. Doug and Mike especially liked the IRS Building saying it was the most boring on the block!
That was exactly what I needed! Mike and I just got back from Virginia and Washington DC! A big thank-you to Doug & Cath for being such great hosts with the mos-test! We had comfortable accomodations, good food and great tour guides thanks to them! We had a great time getting to know their 3 little princesses better...and we are amazed at how well they do everything with 3 babies in tow! So, here's the recap....and remember this is also my scrapbook, so the pictures/explanation might get a little long.....plus, I'm really tired and I might not be coherant...or maybe spell the words wrong! Maybe I'll do a day at a time...
This is a working farm still, where the volunteers take home the food. Anyway, beautiful gardens...why don't mine ever look like this? I did find a neat way to plant peas. I will try and then post if it works....Mike and I were able to walk right down by the gardens. Beyond the vegi garden were orchard trees, grapevines, etc. Really an amazing place. Underneath the house were the areas where the slaves worked. They even had an underground tunnel/more like a hallway/that they would use to move around the property, bring food to the dining room, etc. We spent most of the day here. It was very interesting to hear the stories of Jefferson's life. His gravesite is also on the property...if I can figure out how to rotate the picture, I will post it. It's about here that I got a phone call from Sydney. Mike's Mom and Dad came to stay with the kids and they were having a great time! Grandma came prepared with fun projects and did a great job entertaining, getting kids where they needed to be for their activities and taking care of the house and washing the clothes! (Renae, I told you not to worry about that, but Thank You!). 
When we got back to D&C's, we picked up Doug and headed to a Washington DC Nationals game (vs the Mets). We took the Metro out to the new stadium. It took FOREVER to get tickets out of the automated ticket booths, but we ended up with pretty decent seats. We got dogs and Fanta for dinner. Sorry, but the hot dogs at Rice-Eccles are MUCH better! That took forever, too, and we started to see a trend for this trip....standing in lines. The Nats won and we even saw a Grand Slam (by the Nats). That was pretty fun as none of us had seen one before. We left after the 7th inning stretch and singing of the all-American classic, 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' We wanted to get back on the Metro before the rest of the fans came. It was still crowded even though we left early. We spent some more time talking with D&C when we got home and ended up going to bed after 1am.....(another trend). We had a great first day!
Annual Arvy Easter Egg Hunt
Most of the Arvy cousins......what a cute bunch!
Birthday buddies.....Brandon & Eliza
Matt & his kids checking out the loot!
Thanks Grandma & Papa for another fun family party! We love you!
