Smithsonian Castle

During our last week/ten days of living in DC, we tried to get out and go somewhere everyday. We wrapped up our school semester a little bit early so that we weren't tied to getting school work done when we could be exploring instead. One of our exploring days was spent checking out the Smithsonian Castle (which is also the welcome center; we definitely did things out of order while living there). It's not terribly exciting, but the girls had been glimpsing the castle for months and wanted to see what was there.

Two little bears

Taxidermied  animals were a big hit.

Always excited to find Christmas trees.

Probably the most interesting part of the visit was chatting with the ladies working the desk. They were really taken with the girls and showed them all kinds of things. 

We had planned to walk over to the Archives to see the Constitution, but it was incredibly windy and everyone was ready for lunch, so I threw in the towel, took everyone home, fed them, and let them watch something while they warmed up from walking in the cold. I stand by that decision, y'all. They enjoyed what we did... But they also enjoyed being done and chilling at the house. It's all about balance.

Christmas at Dumbarton + Zoo Lights

In early December, families were invited to join the fellows for the Dumbarton Christmas party. This was a bit of a mixed bag for me; Dumbarton has EXCELLENT food and throws a good party... But it was also a fancy party. And I have three littles who are all extroverts and cannot contain their excitement when around groups of people.

Sigh.

Additionally, the timing of it meant that Brad wouldn't really have time to come home and help me get everyone ready and to the party. Which is not uncommon in Durham but definitely posed more complications in DC. But you only live (in DC) once (probably), so I got it done. We put on sparkles and furry vests, started our trek WAY before we needed to be there (and still got in at the same time as everyone else), navigating the going-home traffic and the millions of stop signs in Georgetown... and made it unscathed.

I even snagged a few shots of the girls beforehand.

Success of the photos is debatable.

The party was held in the Dumbarton museum music room, which is just beautiful. You better believe I watched the girls like a hawk to make sure they didn't set drinks down on the grand piano (they didn't... But other people did. I wash my hands of those guys.). 

Waiting patiently for food 

The Crawfords joined us at our chairs in the corner after a while, which thrilled the girls to no end and helped keep them occupied and out of mischief. I love the Crawfords and miss them greatly... They have magical ways with my children. We stayed for about an hour before managing Brynnie in a confined space became pretty difficult. We made sure we'd gotten to try a bit of all of the food offered before packing up and calling it a night.

Before walking out, though, the Dumbarton photographer stopped us for a picture. Brynn was over it, and Claire and Lily were upset that we were making them leave the fun. This is what he got:

He emailed it to Brad a few days later with the caption "lovely family!" HA! I still laugh about it.

Very shortly after that (maybe the next night?), we bundled up and took the girls back to see the Zoo Lights again. I didn't get a ton of pictures, but I did snag a few fun ones:

It's really hard to get good pictures of the lights, but you should trust me that they are beautiful in person. There are a lot of light exhibits like this:

But the really interesting and impressive ones are the ones like this:

We walked the whole length of the zoo looking at all of the light exhibits (the real animal exhibits are closed at night), and I thoroughly enjoyed looking at it all. The children largely enjoyed it...but they were cold/tired of walking/hungry/etc. It got a little better when I went to pick up our member swag bags that included light-up necklaces. I probably should have done that at the very beginning of the walk. I'll remember next time! Anyway. If you find yourself in DC during December, I highly recommend a walk through the zoo at night! You can buy hot beverages there, but they are rather pricey, so really, I'd recommend taking a hot chocolate with you and then walking through the zoo. If you ever go, let me know what you think!

Capitol Tour

After our White House tour in September, Brad and I set a goal to visit all three branches of government (or rather, the buildings that house them) before finishing our time. We got to the Supreme Court in October, and we squeezed in a Capitol tour in December. The day of our tour was gloomy and cold (but at least it wasn't raining...ahem...Supreme Court). We visited the day before the impeachment hearings, so there was a definite vibe (and camera crews and reporters), but we had a great visit anyway. The big girls did SO WELL on a rather long tour in a group of adults. I like to think that all the times we dragged them to museums and other tours had prepared them for this moment.

Thank goodness for coat check; we were wearing so many layers.

The official tour is about an hour. No strollers, no food...something we were a bit better prepared for, given all of our other tours. I basically feed them a steady stream of food for an hour leading up to whatever the food-free tour is. I was literally making them swallow and throw away food packaging right before we walked in. I was so nervous that they were going to get bored and tired and start whining, but they all hung in there so well! We wore Brynna in the Ergo carrier (one of the MVP's of our time in the District), and they other two walked the whole time, listening carefully to their headphones (how the tour is conducted. There's an in-person tour guide, but to cut down on cacophony and to make sure everyone can hear, you listen through a headset). Our tour guide grew up in Durham, NC!

I mean...

...how cute are these little tourists? Not sure what her hair was doing here. Hat hair, probably.

The Capitol rotunda really is magical and breathtaking. There is so much to look at, and it's all beautiful.

Suffragettes who did the work...

...so these gals can vote one day.

Hamilton and our Hamilton fan. 

For one of his half-marathons, he basically trained exclusively to the Hamilton soundtrack. He's no good at rapping, but he does know all the words.

The Baptism of Pocahontas. It's so beautiful. I had to wait for a long time for people to move out of my picture.

Statues of famous Americans by state

Rosa Parks for Alabama

This tour ended up being a favorite for me, which is largely to do with how well the girls did. They were marvelous! We even had other folks from our tour group stop us to tell us how well the girls did. Yes, I did, in fact, reward them with chocolate when we got home.

Is this not SUCH a "dad shot?"

On our way back to Union Station, we got some good shots of the Supreme Court. Still gray and gloomy, but again- not raining this time.

And a distant view of the Library of Congress

We did it! All three branches. I'm so glad that we made them all happen, even though it was a lot of work. I know the girls won't remember much about it, but I will. I love these memories! And, we'll take them back when they're a little older. No worries.