Washington DC or BUST!!!

{August 5, 2013} - it's time to start our journey towards New Hampshire!  We got the kids up nice and early and left about 5:00AM from our friend's house.  Today was going to be the longest driving day - our goal, Washinton DC.  (about 10 hours away!)  The kids slept until about 8am.  Then started playing and enjoying the ride.  I love Caleb's little leg!

I drove until 9am, then needed a break.  Shawn took over and was a great driver.

One tired mama!

We stopped about 10:00am for breakfast at McDonald's.  It was perfect - nearly half way through our drive and we were just stopping for breakfast!  The kids were doing great.

Caleb loved the pancakes.

Each of the girls and their water.  They did so great on the drive, little fighting and whinning.  We were so blessed.

We made it to the hotel by 3:30pm.  Not too bad!  We took a little break, then went and got some domino's pizza for dinner.  We then headed to the Washington DC temple for Family Night!  We visited the temple ground and inside the visitor's center.  It was great.  The girls loved being there and so did I.  What a perfect family night!

Each of the kids took a picture in front of the temple.  As you could tell, Caleb was not too happy....we quickly learned, he did NOT like the grass!

We got him on a little blanket and he was a little better, not much.

A couple walked by and we asked them to take our picture.  It turned out pretty well!!

The three sisters wanted their picture taken by the water fountain.

SO PRETTY!!  It's breath taking at night!  I love it!

We got back and got a good night's rest in the hotel.  I think we all sleep until almost 8:30am - which is sleeping in for us.  We enjoyed a yummy free breakfast at the hotel (I really think that is our favorite part of hotels).
{August 6, 2013}We drove into DC today.  We had a small list of things we hoped to see.  We tried to find parking near the Lincoln Memorial and walk from there - but guess what, no parking near there.  We told the girls we were driving past it and Andie said, "Check!  What are we going to see next?"  So, they didn't even see Lincoln, but that is alright.  We finally did find parking and then started talking.  We saw the Washington Monument.

 Then stopped in front of the White House

 We were glad we took the double stoller - everyone had a turn to take a break from walking.  Ali always thought her turn was the shortest.  (haha)

 We stopped by the Boy Scout of America statue for lunch.  PB&J on the go!

 Then we went to the Museum of American History (I think) and saw the Navuoo temple sun stone

 Then we headed over to the Museum of Natural History (I get all the names confused).  We saw all sorts of dinosaur skeletons, stuffed wild animals and such.  I know I took a lot of pictures there, but for some reason, they are not in my folder.  I wonder what happened to them?  How sad.

 Moving on.  After the Smithsonian, we were fortunate enough to meet up with come very good friends of ours.  Blake and Shawn were best friends growing up.  I meet Saleela a few years ago when they came to Atlanta, then we saw them on our trip in November 2011, when Shawn and I took a trip to DC.  Now they have an adorable little girl, with one more on the way!

 We met at a quaint little rooftop park, in down town Bethesda for a picnic pizza dinner.  This time, pizza was from Costco (Thanks Blake and Saleela!)

 We had a great time together!

 It is so fun to see Shawn open up whenever he is around Blake.  Many years later, and they are still such great friends.  They always just pick up the conversation that was from their childhood.  It's fun to hear them!

Here they are with their babies.  We had a great time in DC.  The girls were so excited to be there, since Shawn and I had gone beforehand without them.  When we entered the 2nd Smithsonian (with all the missing pictures!) Andie proclaimed, "Every time we go on a vacation in New Hampshire - I want to come here!"  I'm so glad they loved it and were able to see what we saw.