Wednesday, July 30, 2008

VIRGINA: DAY FIVE

We didn't have a chance to do much on our last day in Virgina. We got up early and packed up to leave. August helped with his diapers.


And said goodbye to Uncle John.


We flew out of Dulles Airport, and the lobby there is pretty neat.


To get to the gate at Dulles, you have to ride on a people mover that we though was a little like an imperial walker.


Gus seemed to enjoy it, even though he doesn't know what an imperial walker is yet.


The flight was packed, and momma and poppa were very tired. August wasn't, though. He was an angel the whole time, playing with his rattle, singing songs, and generally just being good. Here's our last family portrait from the flight:


Monday, July 28, 2008

VIRGINIA : DAY FOUR

Our fourth day in Virgina began with a tour of the Botanical Gardens. It was another hot day, and we had a great time walking around looking at all of the neat plants.


You can see the Capitol building just over the top of the Conservatory.




Cousin Jenna took this photo of August with the sunflower and the bee. It is one of our favorites from the trip!







The inside of the Conservatory is enormous, and contains separate exhibits for plants from all kinds of environments. Here I am looking down from a catwalk to see Laura, August and Jenna.


August was very comfortable inside the Conservatory. He likes to sit back and kick up his feet.

From the gardens we walked over to the Capitol building, but we decided not to do the guided tour. Instead, I took August into our Congressman's office to see if we could get gallery passes.


Unfortunately, Congressman Ellison was in Minnesota while we were in Washington, but a member of his staff showed us around, introduced us to the staff and even let us look around his office!




Sorry, no photographs are allowed in the House and Senate galleries. Laura and August and I did dare to defy the security guards to get a snapshot at (well, really just nearby) the Capitol steps. I guess if ordinary people want to walk up or down the hallowed steps of "our" Capitol, we'd better learn to travel back in time.



Uncle John was about to take the dogs for a walk and Laura suggested he take August instead - here are a few "surveillance " photos of his walk!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

VIRGINIA : DAY THREE

Day three in Virgina was a big day. There was lots of walking, and August saw many new things. We started off with a little walk through the woods,


And a stop at 7-Eleven to get Slurpees, a treat you can't find here in Minnesota.


We saw George Washington's gristmill,


And stopped for a brief tour of Woodlawn, the estate of George Washington's nephew, Major Lawrence Lewis.




On our way to dinner, we had to make a pit stop for a diaper change. We pulled over to realize we were right in front of the Pentagon!


There was a lot of driving around, but August didn't mind too much. He had his trusty singing dog to keep him company.



We had dinner at Thaiphoon, and we had excellent service and delicious food. From there, we stopped by the White House.






And Gus took a stroll around the Washington Monument.






As it began to get dark, we arrived at the new World War II Monument. It was beautiful, and the fountains made it very noisy.





It was wonderful to see the monuments at night. They looked beautiful all lit up, and there were fewer people around.


The darkness made it a little difficult to get the photos we wanted, though.


I like this one, even though you can only see Dave and August in profile.




It was an exhausting day, but we had a wonderful time walking around downtown and seeing all of the sights.

Up next: August visits Congressman Keith Ellison!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

VIRGINIA : DAY TWO [bonus! videos!]

VIRGINA: DAY TWO

We started our second day with a big breakfast at Bob & Edith's Diner.


The food was great, and cousin Jenna and Kris held August while we ate. He can't wait to have a plate of pancakes to himself!




After breakfast we went to Arlington National Cemetery to visit August's Great Grandfather's grave.


Arlington was an amazing place to visit. We also got to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.


Gus slept a little bit in his carseat, I think the heat was a little much for him that day.


From the cemetery we went over to Uncle John and Aunt Grace's house again, and guess who was waiting for us?



Cousins Cindy and Shane! Cousin Cindy got to meet August in March when she was in Minnesota, but this was the first time that Gus got to meet Shane and their three kids, Erica, Kate and Jack.



Jack really took to August, and liked to hold him, sit next to him, and play with him.


Everyone wanted to hold August that day, it was very exhausting. When we got back to Jenna's house in the evening, he had a nice relaxing bath. It was his first time in the sink, and I think he really liked it!



Coming up tomorrow: August visits Washington DC to see all of the monuments!