Road Trip to D.C.

(Okay, so this is my journal from my most recent trip so that means lots of pictures and a long post.)

Last Wednesday I headed up to DC for my sister's graduation from the School of Medicine at George Washington University. She graduated from the Physicians Assistant program. Since I was driving up with Aiden I decided to break the trip up and visit family and friends. So Wednesday night we stopped in Charlotte, NC at Grandma Angie's house.

















Cousin Damian LOVED playing with Aiden. Angie had bought Aiden some new books and Damian couldn't wait to read them to Aiden; which is exactly what he did when we got there. Damian was even nice enough to share one of his MANY toy swords/knives with Aiden. This picture is shows how Damian likes to carry them... in his boots!


Thursday morning Aiden and I headed up to DC to stay with my sister for the weekend. When we got there we got set up at her friend, Rebecca's house. The next day we headed up to Alexandria to eat dinner at a French restaurant (yummy!) and walk around the town. They do "Ghost Tours" there at night where a guide will walk you around some of the old buildings and talk about there histories. This is one of the guides posing with Aiden and I. Alexandria is such a cute town! Old style buildings and being located right on the river makes it very picturesque.



















The coolest thing we saw while we were there was this guy playing water glasses! The crowd around him was huge and he played a ton of older and newer songs on his glasses. He said he teaches music and does this for fun on the side. He also said he is with an orchestra. Here is a short video of his playing.








Saturday morning we headed to the Holocaust Museum which was wonderfully done and VERY heart wrenching. We spent 3 hours in there and probably could have stayed even longer to take in everything. I can't believe what some people are capable of doing to others. I definitely recommend this to any of you who havn't been. (They don't allow cameras inside so sorry, but no pictures to post.)

Saturday afternoon was Remi's departments graduation on campus. She and Rebecca were able to walk across (without tripping!) and receive their diploma's. YAY!!























Afterwards there was a reception with a buffet and live music. Aiden was the star of the night with the photographers. They all kept on snapping shots of him- hopefully we can find the pics online when they are posted

Sunday was the graduation for the whole University and it was in front of the Capitol. VERY cool. They had the Capitol in front of the ceremony and the Washington Monument behind it. For the ceremony George Washington and Martha came up on stage for the graduates. :) That morning was very windy and cold so I ended up wearing the poncho as a wind breaker. After graduation was over we walked along the National Mall and saw the World War II Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

On Monday Aiden and I headed out to see Mount Vernon, which was George Washington's manor. What a beautiful area!! I would love to own a home right in this area because it is right on the river and there are walking trails everywhere but all the houses I saw there were HUGE so I am sure it is very expensive to live there. We saw Washington's house and his tomb, where the slaves where buried and even the latrine! My favorite was this crazy looking CHAIR carriage that looks extremely uncomfortable!

Monday afternoon we drove to Richmond to visit one of my best friends from high school. She and her husband live in Richmond while her husband goes to medical school. I had so much fun spending the night with her and catching up because it has been 2 years since we saw each other last. Thank you Chelsey for letting Aiden and I stay with you! I seriously LOVED talking to you and seeing your cute place!

Then Tuesday came and we headed back to Grandma Angie's house to spend the night. Aiden decided to not want to be in the car any longer and screamed the last hour to her house. NOT FUN. I learned something new about my nephew Damian... he likes to pull his feet to his mouth and chew on his toenails. Yuck! Look at this kid! (on the left)

We headed home Wednesday morning and I got very excited to see familiar land marks like the giant peach and the sign for the South Carolina welcome center. I knew that my time in the car at that point was very short! Even though the drive had been beautiful, I was very, very excited to walk in my front door again to my own home.

A view from the drive.