Weekend getaway

Will and I could hardly believe it had been a full year since  our little brood had destroyed Katherine’s house visited my sister, Katherine, and her wonderful family.  So, Friday evening we packed up the Toyota as tight as we could and headed up 95 for the weekend.

The traffic north was terrible (you roll the dice every time you travel on I-95), but the kids were surprisingly good - very little fighting or whining for an over four hour trip that was supposed to take less than two hours.

The weekend did not disappoint--the weather was perfect, so we were able to do our typical Washington DC 'touristy' things Saturday and Sunday.  Will and I are both nerds in that way--we love, love, love Washington DC.  There really is something almost magical about seeing these incredible historic landmarks in the background (and sometimes foreground) of every picture moment.  It is hard to get a bad photo of these sights.

Saturday was a Smithsonian Day:

We only toured one museum (2-year-old and 4-year-old legs can only walk but so far), but we ran around a lot on the mall and caught a ride on the merry-go-round child-magnet.

The most common scene of the day--Frances and George holding hands with some combination of their aunt, uncle and cousins. 

American History museum

The faster-than-average merry-go-round; so of course, Frances LOVED it.

Sunday we toured the Martin Luther King, Jr and Franklin D. Roosevelt memorials, two of my favorites:

MLK memorial was breathtaking.

FDR memorial is incredible.

My two favorite pictures from that day:

George and Franklin had a lot to say to each other that day

Daddy and his favorite girl

  

Frances and George did great, particularly considering what we were asking of them (DC is no small city), but undoubtedly their favorite part of the entire weekend was being at Katherine's house.  What's not to love about watching movies (waaaaaay past bedtime) snuggled with everyone in Aunt Katherine's bed, eating sandwiches cut in the shape "F.H." (I know, I can't compete!), and backyard bubbles and baseball.  

Needless to say, both kids cried when we left ... or at least, after they woke up and realized we weren't at Henry and James's house anymore.  

Both kids napping on the drive home = SUCCESS!

And I may have cried a little, too.

Thank you, Katherine and family - we all miss you already!

Happy Monday, everyone!