Washington, D.C.

What did you do during spring break this year? Oh, you didn't get one? You were too busy working? I guess this is one of the few perks of being a student (again). This time, at a school that believes (like most of the rest of the country) in a spring break. It was so nice to have my husband around all week to play and relax (and do some chores). We wanted to take advantage of the few days we had to visit one of the many exciting places that is only a few hours away from us. Washington, D.C. is less than four hours from us and we had such a fun weekend exploring, playing, and eating. Having friends and family from the area definitely paid off because we got some killer recommendations on what how to best use our time there, which was still far too short to do everything we would have liked to.

Our first day we spent eating lunch at Cava Mezze Grill, visiting the Holocaust Museum, checking out the White House (and a few other cool buildings nearby), and eating dinner at a cute little old-fashioned hamburger joint called Ollie's Trolley. By the time we got back to the hotel we were exhausted so we knew it had been a successful day. Here's a little bit of what our day looked like:

The Holocaust Museum is a must-see. It is informative and eye-opening. Though it's not exactly kid-friendly (there's a lot of reading and some fairly graphic pictures/videos), I highly recommend spending a few hours here if you visit. You will not be disappointed.

You can't really see it, but I made him wear his USA
shirt to show our patriotism while at the capital!

He loves to point at things and people as we walk by.

Cutest boy ever!

Washington Monument

We wore this poor boy out after visiting the museum.
Those of you that know him, know that he NEVER falls
asleep anywhere other than his bed or the car (if he's
REALLY tired), so he must have been exhausted!

While trying to walk to the White House, we accidentally went to the back
first. Oops. But then we saw a couple of guys dressed in black walking all
over the roof and looking through a telescope. I'm pretty sure they were spies.

Can you see the spies on the roof?

Then we finally made our way to the front of the White House.

Just to prove that he was there. Ha!

Jacob kept telling me I didn't look excited enough...

The Treasury Department

I'm actually not sure what this is, but I thought
it was a really pretty building/clock.

"Fishing for fries"

He's becoming a real pro at drinking with straws.
I'm not sure why, but I think it's so cute!
When did he get to be such a big boy?

Our second day was spent spying the Capitol Building, touring the Smithsonian Museum of American History, visiting the temple, and enjoying dinner at Cafe Deluxe with dessert at Georgetown Cupcakes. The museum was fun and there was just too much to see to do it at once. My favorite parts were Julia Child's kitchen (her actual kitchen, just as she used it) and the exhibit showing the inaugural gowns of the first ladies. It was a gorgeous day and we really enjoyed the warmer weather and blue skies as we walked around the city. Our day kind of looked like this:

Capitol Building

Seriously, do kids come any cuter than this?

It was such a beautiful day! 

Ready for dinner!

Trying out coloring for the first time

Shaved Prime Rib

Croque Monsieur with Tomato Soup

Time for dessert as the sun sets

So many to choose from and they all looked SO GOOD!

Key Lime, Chocolate², and Cookies and Cream: Unfortunately Leo had to
go to bed before cupcake time. But don't worry, we ate his for him.

Our last morning we slept in, went swimming in the hotel pool (and hot tub), and were super excited to go to church at the local French-speaking ward. We were sorely disappointed when we showed up and were the only car there. We think they had stake conference this weekend. Bummer! At least we got to try some delicious kebabs from Moby Dick's for lunch! As you've probably noticed, our vacations tend to center around good food and boy, did we have some yummy meals in DC!

Leo loved the pool. We will definitely
have to visit often this summer!

Modeling his cute French-style swimsuit

Something about the hotel room made Leo want
to start cruising around. He was really excited to
be walking for the first time!

We had a blast visiting DC! There is really so much to see and do that a couple of days just doesn't do it justice. I'm looking forward to our next visit!