Virginia is for Visitors

The past few weeks have been CRAZY! We are all moved into our townhouse, with only a few boxes to unload and pictures to hang. A week after moving in my sister Mikelle and her boyfriend Kyle, flew from Idaho to visit us for their Spring Break. We were true tourists, who wanted to experience everything. We made it everywhere except the capital, and the top of the Washington Monument. We decided that will be the first thing we do next time.

The first thing we did when they arrived was walk around the National Harbor. We took some great picture of "The Awakening", walked through the Gaylord Hotel, and even did a PEEP scavenger hunt.





Mikelle and Kyle tried the famous "Cake Love" cupcakes, and wasn't impressed. They described it as dry with no taste.



Arista didn't mind the cupcake...



The next day we headed downtown to look at the Washington Monument, World War 2 memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Veterans Memorial, and of course...the cherry blossoms.











We also walked to the White House.





President Obama came out and invited us all into the Oval Office, he even agreed that we'd make a better president. ;)









After a lot of walking and pictures we headed towards home on the Metro. I told Kyle all about how Chris and I met on there. The story never gets old.



We ended the night playing some serious rockband and watching a movie. A perfect ending to a great touristy day.





The following day we woke up and went to the National Archives, unfortunatly they no longer allow photography inside. Afterwards we headed to the Air and Space Museum. We spent a lot of time there, and I saw things I had never seen before. We even did a simulation ride.









After the Air and Space Museum we went to the American History Museum. This was my first time visiting since it had been closed for renovation for a few years. The museum was MASSIVE! Our favorite part was seeing the first ever American flag. There is no photography aloud, but the image is engraved into our minds. We also saw Dorthy's ruby slippers, Kermit the frog, and Julia Child's kitchen!







After a lot of walking we decided to take a day off from touring and we drove to the Potomac Mills Mall. It is a huge outlet mall about a mile long, with a ba-zillion stores. After the mall we met Chris and his Dad for dinner at this pizza place. Chris had a coupon for it, so we tried it out. We weren't that impressed...











The next day we relaxed at home and hung out. Our legs thanked us! That night we celebrated Chris' birthday, since he was going to Texas for the Final Four tournament. I ordered Chris Chris' Outrageous Chocolate Cake from the Cheesecake Factory. We couldn't even finish our slice because it was so yummy and rich.









The next day Chris flew to Texas, and we drove to Arlington Cemetery. There were 4 funerals while we were there, and we heard the band play some songs. We saw the changing of the guard, and General Lee's house.







After visiting Arlington Cemetery we played more Wii, watched movies, took naps, read stories, and played with dollies.











The following day we hopped onto the metro and visited the Natural History Museum, where they have the Hope Diamond. Arista loved looking at all the stuffed animals, while Mikelle and I LOVED looking at all the jewlery.











My favorite part of the museum was the live butterfly exhibit. They have over thousands of live butterflies flying in this little habitat that you can go into.







Kyle put a butterfly on Mikelle's nose. She was terrified! It made for a neat picture though. I didn't stop talking about the butterflies for days. Arista and I are going to go back and visit there really soon.





After the museum we took the metro back to the car and Arista crashed. We went to Outback for dinner, and Arista slept the entire time. After dinner I drove Kyle and Mikelle to the Jefferson Memorial, FDR Memorial, Air Force Memorial, Iwo Jima Memorial, and Pentagon Memorial. They were exhausted afterwards!

















The next day was rainy and wet but that didn't stop us from visiting my new favorite place Mt. Vernon. Kyle took a National Treasure tour, where they show you secret tunnels from the movie. Mikelle, Arista and I toured the museum, and then we all went through Washington's house.











It was neat to see Washington's old and new tomb, as well as the slave memorial. Arista's favorite part was all the animals.





After Mt. Vernon we ordered pizza and watched movies. Arista was EXHAUSTED. She just loved laying next to Kyle.



The next day we drove downtown to Ford's Theater. It was the first time I have been in, and it was really neat. It was cool to see the booth Lincoln was shot in. Mikelle and Kyle saw the gun that shot him too!





After Ford's theater we walked to the Holocaust museam. There were no tickets available but Kyle worked his charm and got us some! After 5 minutes of being in there Arista had enough, so we walked around while Mikelle and Kyle went through.



From the Holocaust we walked down to the tidal basin to take more pictures with the Cherry Blossoms.









After a long walk back to the metro we stopped at a frozen yogurt place called Fro-Zen-Yo. It was awesome!





On their last day of visiting Kyle got really sick, so Mikelle and I went to breakfast at Panera then took Arista to the National Zoo. It was a beautiful day!





After a drive through Georgetown we picked up lunch and went to pick up Kyle. After a tear-filled goodbye and many tears shed after we said our fairwells. Arista and I spend the rest of the night cleaning the house, reading stories, and getting ready for Daddy to return home the next day. Chris had a great time in Texas celebrating his birthday, going to the basketball games, eating good food, and being a part of our nephew Andrew's baby blessing. He even won a signed basketball!





It has been a fun filled couple of weeks, and we miss our visitors already! We can't wait to see Mikelle and Kyle again in May! We love and miss you guys!! Okay, who wants to come visit us next?