Oh Yeah, We Went to DC!

It has been madness since we returned from our month-long furlough!
We jumped right into pre-school orientation, ballet/tap/gymnastics lessons, birthday parties, airport celebrations, church, oh and a few other things like endless housework/laundry/cooking/yardwork/etc.

So before the memories of our DC trip completely escape my brain, allow me to upload a hefty batch of photos...

First of all: the metro.

 

I am including this as "something we did" while visiting DC since we spent a considerable amount of time zipping up and down the lines. 

Aubrey thought it was grand...

Our first stop was the Museum of Natural History.

Daniel: Hey Aubrey, you should try to put your head in the croc's mouth like it's eating you!
Aubrey: Great idea, Dad!
Ashley: I can't take you two anywhere...hang on, let me get a picture...

The next day we went to the National Air and Space Museum.
P.S. I want Aubrey to be an astronaut for Halloween this year.

Months before our DC trip, my mom contacted her KY State Representative and scored us a tour of the Capitol.

Below (left to right): Outside Rep Guthrie's office, view of the dome from inside the building, Ashley standing at the exact center of the DC grid and would-be gravesite of George Washington (in his will, he stated he would be buried at Mt. Vernon), Daniel and Aubrey inside the rotunda.

(Below: left to right) Speaker of the House John Boehner's office (normally guarded by secret service when Congress is in session), the rotunda ceiling, old supreme court chambers, spot where Abe Lincoln sat.

The White House! My parents and I were able to tour it (again, due to my mom and her travel planning skills). We went through three security check-points. You could not bring anything with you otherthan a photo ID, keys, and wallet. It was super-intense and the tour kept you pretty restricted as to what you could explore. Despite that, it was definitely a tour I'll always remember.

Aubrey: So what exactly is the President's job?

Ashley: To lead our country.

Aubrey: I thought that was MY job!?!

Ashley: That explains a lot.

Aubrey for President!

Then we walked for what felt like a gazillion miles to the Lincoln Memorial.  We were able to also get some nice views of the Washington Monument. The Reflection Pool was being drained for maintenance, or maybe it was just really that hot and it evaporated. I would believe either explanation.

By the way, there is an urban legend that Abe is representing his initials in sign language (A with his left hand, L with his right). What do you think?

One day we went to the Baltimore National Aquarium while my parents took a day to tour Mount Vernon (which they LOVED, by the way). We took in a dolphin show and, because it was the aquarium's birthday week, the Backyardigans showed up for some fun! Aubrey was out-of-her-mind excited. Tasha and Austin weren't there -- Aubrey insists they were probably taking a rest -- but Uniqua, Tyrone, and Pablo were!

The last day before heading home, the gang went to the zoo while I stayed back at the apartment to clean. More on that in a future post...

I will conclude this trip recap post with some incredible night-time photos Daniel took of our nation's capital!

It was a jam-packed week of fun and memories!
Kinda makes me want to say the Pledge after posting this...
:)

Our "Golden" Anniversary

On August 9th, Daniel and I celebrated 9 years of marriage.

Instead of a golden birthday* -- we decided this was our "golden" anniversary.
*The birthday when you turn the same age as your birthdate.

Besides, we were in DC with Grammy and Pop Pop (aka: free babysitters).

Perfect!

So.

Daniel made reservations at La Chaumiére.

Aubrey went to the pool with the grandparents while I showered and got ready at a leisurely pace.
(Glorious.)

As I was putting on my earrings, I heard the doorbell to the apartment ring.

Daniel was standing there with a bouquet of the most beautiful flowers.

It was mix of traditional with an Asian flare.

(He knows my heart is now constantly wedged between the US and China.)

Everything was going swimmingly up until I had the genius idea of walking down to the pool to tell Aubrey goodnight (and to maybe have the grandparents snap an anniversary picture of the two of us looking so good...).

I will not go into full detail as to what unfolded next.
I will say that there was a soaking wet child who decided to have a massive meltdown in front of everyone at the apartment pool.
There was an impressive amount of sobbing and snot.
High-pitched screams.
Thrashing.
Wailing.
It wasn't pretty.

And on that note, we walked to the car with the sound of our child reaching octaves only dogs could now hear.

So...who's hungry?!

Yeah...it kinda zaps all joy and excitement.

After driving through DC rush hour traffic (good times), we arrived at our restaurant destination.
Now we just needed to find a parking spot.
Oooohhh...there's one!
What? The parking meter says "$0.25 for 7 minutes?!" Let's keep looking for something better.
Realizing that was the best option after driving up and down and up and down, we booked it back to the spot before it got snagged.
"YEAH! IT'S STILL THERE!"
As Daniel finagled into the spot, a BMW (no judgment, just observation) turned onto the street.
Feeling rushed to get into the spot so as to not spur a "HONK! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"...
WAAAAAMMM!
Our tire busted on the curb.

Well, fudge.

Daniel decided to change the tire himself.
In his dress clothes.
In 90+ degree heat.
(Well, hello there...)

There was an Ethiopian restaurant right by our parking spot.
The patrons had no idea they were in for dinner AND a show.
One little girl even came outside to watch.
(I can't say I blame her...)

Within no time, the tire was changed.
Too bad our spare was super low on air and poor Daniel was drenched in sweat.

Then we realized the parking meter was broken.

Ha.

We decided "to hell with it" and went on to dinner after sinking five quarters in the meter for only three measly minutes of parking.

Dinner was fabulous.

Daniel ordered a glass of wine.

(I can count on one hand the number of times he's consumed an alcoholic beverage.)

We walked around downtown Georgetown (which has amazing shopping, by the way).

Grabbed some ice cream.

Laughed.

Held hands.

Flirted.

Talked about the past.

Talked about the future.

Talked about nothing.

Talked about everything.

After filling up the spare tire with some air at a gas station, we drove around to see a few of the DC monuments at night, then made our way back to the apartment.

It may not have been the perfect evening...

And this may be the only picture we have of the two of us together on our anniversary...

But when it's all said and done...I'm sure glad I have my soulmate with me on this journey called Life.

Even if we do hit a few curbs along the way...