Weekend in DC

We rarely have holidays that align. Snow days are only for Jon and Cooper. Cooper has student holidays, Jon has teacher workdays and they're always different. My holidays typically match one, but not both of my boys.

But MLK Day is one that finds all of us with some free time.
So we took advantage of a great deal on a hotel, packed up the dog and drove north.



Evidently, there was a reason for the great deal....the Metro station closest to the hotel was closed for repairs. It threw a little kink in getting where we wanted to be, but not so much that we would have changed a thing about our location.

We walked here-


It was Cooper's 1st visit...and Gypsy's too!


The city was oddly empty, which was great for us. It was also freezing, which I could have done without!

We took a drive to see the sights at night-



They're simply awesome.


At the Capitol, we were able to walk right up to the steps.
Steps that were covered with flowers for Representative Gabrielle Giffords.


We had some tough conversations with Cooper- about the shooting, about 9.11, about assassinations. It's hard to balance the facts- taking into consideration that that he's old enough to ask questions and to understand....but little enough to be confused and a bit frightened.

Along with the tough conversations came those that were filled with amazement and wonder. We had a great visit to the Air & Space Museum- snapping this family shot in the reflection of a space shuttle.



Next stop, the Natural History Museum- they had some great hands on activities and the opportunity to see some old friends.





Night at the Museum made Coop a fan of this guy-


We closed out our trip with a visit to Georgetown for a fantastic lunch. The recommendation came from a friend at work and it was delicious. I'd absolutely go back- Cooper declared it the best shrimp he'd ever had.



It was on my top 10 list as well- seriously yummy!


Our lunch was interrupted by a Lamborghini sighting. Not only was one parked outside the restaurant, but another one drove by. Stop the madness!


Two last stops- Georgetown Cupcakes & Gravelly Point Park.

The line for cupcakes was out the door and down the street on our first pass, but when we walked by after lunch it was manageable. I'm SO glad we stopped!



So were Jon and Coop-




We snacked in the parking lot of Gravelly Point Park and watched the planes take off.


We were so close, and watching was fascinating.




We had a wonderful family weekend and headed home feeling more educated, quite relaxed and ready for a 4 day week.

Hope you enjoyed your long weekend too!