This past Friday, George, Frances and I made the drive north to the DC area to visit with my sister, Katherine, and her family.
We have been many times as a family (usually with Will who had to work this time - the little stinker), but Frances has always envisioned a night alone with her favorite godmother and I thought it was high time she had one.
Friday afternoon, we all took in a Nationals MLB game (the kids' first). It was a perfect day to be at the ballpark.
 |
| Popcorn is the surefire way to keep wiggly three-year-olds in their seats. For about 5 minutes. |
 |
| We had great seats! |
 |
| Silly cousins. |
 |
| The Nationals built an incredible playground right in the ballpark. Pure genius. |
It felt odd to be there without our number one fan, but Will sent me player updates and stats about the game and I sent him a video of the Presidents' Race.
 |
| Stock footage. Teddy lost this time. |
This might have been my favorite part of the day. I laugh every single time.
That night I left Frances in good hands and George and I made our way to a local hotel where we ordered room service and watched intellectual television ("The Care Bears Movie").
In the morning, we went for a run on the beautiful Teddy Roosevelt Island (steps from the hotel's front door).
 |
| Squeezing the statue of Teddy Roosevelt into the jogging stroller would have been easier than getting George in there - but he was a good sport. |
But nothing can quite compare to Frances's Saturday morning with Katherine, which included:
Brunch at the American Girl doll store.
 |
| Why yes, that IS a milkshake the size of Frances's head. Breakfast with your aunt must include dessert! |
 |
| Even the dolls had their own seats (and breakfast, of course!). |
I write this assuming that everyone knows just what an amazing product (and complete racket) the American Girl doll is to the average five-year-old girl and her parents, grandparents and now aunts (sorry, Katherine!). If not, please click here to be mesmerized. And for those of you with little girls who have not yet been exposed to these dolls (Brooke!), run like the wind!
A personal shopper.
And, from what I understand, every single American Girl doll accessory you can imagine under one roof.
 |
| Even a hot air balloon (which, thankfully, did not make it home with Frances). |
Needless to say, Frances returned with quite a loot. We spent the better part of Sunday afternoon taking it out, playing with it, and deciding on the perfect place in her room to house these new treasures, which also included some hand-me-down American Girl dolls and clothes from a very generous cousin (thank you, Alison!).
And now we're back and left to explain that we no longer have dessert for breakfast, dinner delivered to our hotel room, and a standing weekend date to shop for doll clothes. At least not until their visit to Nana and Pop's house.
Happy Monday, everyone! And a HUGE thank you to Katherine for making all of Frances's dreams come true.
What a wonderful trip! How cool that F was able to dine at the AG Cafe--I've heard they usually have long waits, tough to get on the list, etc. (Really!)
ReplyDeleteMost of all I'm glad I didn't miss seeing you at Saturday's unofficial RMWC reunion in Richmond (which I hope you knew about!). I didn't want to manage the trip with only 3 weeks until D-day.
I've taken all your advice about blogging, photographing, documenting, etc., to heart. I intend to start strong! Thank you SO MUCH for the inspiration!
I'm glad you had such a lovely weekend in DC. I love your post, as always!
Susan - you're always so sweet to read and comment! I seemed to have jinxed myself with keeping up with my blogging though; this summer has been tough. I was SO bummed to miss the RMWC reunion on Saturday (I did remember it, but double-booked myself. Boo). It's good to soak up some quiet time while you can though; before you know it, silence will be non-existent (in the most wonderful way, of course!). GOOD LUCK during these last weeks - I can't WAIT to hear the news!
Delete