A Walk in the Woods

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day-- much like the rest of the week is supposed to be. Jack and Stacy left us this morning, and we took a quick family photo before they left:

Later, when Niko was at school, I really just wanted to get out and look at the beautiful fall colors. And take pictures of my girl, since she was the only one with me. We walked on the rail trail and in our local state park. I got some pictures of Miss Maya that I absolutely adore... I need to take Niko out there to get some pictures of him, too. Maybe later this week! Until then... just look at these!

Halloween Costumes and Carrots

Just playing catch up! Life is busy-busy-busy, as always. I am a Mom Taxi. Always someplace to be!

This past week, I decided to finally get Maya's Halloween costume together. She is going to be Princess Leia, and has had the actual costume since Easter, but the headpiece that came with it was silly. I wanted to make one that would fit better and look at least slightly more... normal. haha! I got some supplies from the dollar store and went to work. I'd say the results were pretty cute!

Then, Niko didn't want to be left out! He wanted to try his costume on again, too!

In other news... The days and nights are getting a little cooler around these parts, and I've started looking at my garden and wondering when the first frost will strike, killing everything that's left. Probably soon. Which means I need to harvest everything. I figured we'd go out and pick one of the carrots, just to see if they're ready. I wasn't optimistic. Maya dumped the entire carrot seed packet into one square foot of garden space, and I knew that they would be massively overcrowded. Still, we picked one. And OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!

WOW!!! I was amazed! It looks good and smells nice and carrot-y, too! Maya said it was carrotastic! hehe! Anyway, this motivated us to pick the others...

Um. Yeah. That is a lot of carrots! And a lot of big ones! All from one (very crowded) square foot of garden. I am still amazed. I've never grown carrots before, let alone such gigantic ones!! I think I will be making a lot of carrot-based recipes over the next few weeks, haha!

My aunt Stacy and her husband Jack return today. Gus and I are getting a date night tonight! Woohoo!!

Last Day of Summer & Week In Review

Today is the last day of summer! It's hard to believe it, since it has honestly felt like fall for a few weeks now. But whatever! Today was mostly overcast (it even sprinkled at times) but still pretty warm outside. We decided to go for a bike ride (kids)/walk (us) on the Rail Trail. It was amazing to see how many leaves have started to turn, just a few miles from us! The trees at our house haven't given too much thought to this "fall" thing yet, though I am sure they will get the memo soon! Anyway, here are a few pics from our ride/walk.

In other news... I just want to say how happy I am with Maya's preschool experience so far. Last year, there was a major "regime change" at the school, and I went into this year feeling very unsure. I always loved the nurturing environment they provided, but there was talk of a complete reorganization. The old director and head teacher (who we adored!) was gone. And with Maya having two new (to the school) teachers, I really didn't know what to expect. I just trusted that it would be okay.

But you know what? It's been fantastic. Really! I was also worried about how our girl would do without her brother with her, but she's done great! After a little bit of hesitation the first day, she now zips into the school, happy as can be. Her teachers tell me that she is talking and participating-- a huge improvement from last year, where she barely said a word! And there are two little boys in her class that she was already very good buddies with, and a few other kiddos that she is becoming friends with (including a little girl who happens to be half Greek! What are the odds?). So, the girl is loving school. And I've been really impressed by what they've been doing, as well as their communication with me. I am just so happy it worked out this way.

Niko, for his part, continues to enjoy kindergarten. I just got a paper home yesterday-- I guess they assessed all the kiddos to see if they knew their basic information-- first and last name, address (street #, street, city, state), phone number with area code, and birthday. It's one of their goals for the year to have the kids know all of these things by heart. The form was to let parents know which areas their kids need to work on. But Niko already knows all of it! He got a big "AWESOME!" written across the top. So proud!

So, what I haven't blogged about is our boy's behavior at home. Well, I've alluded to it, but haven't gone into much detail. He's been an angel at school and a devil at home. I was at such a loss. The only common thread in all his (multiple-times-daily) outbursts was that he was tired. Yet he was going to bed by 7:30 every night, and we really couldn't get much earlier than that! He did say, though, that he wasn't really sleeping. I didn't know what to do about it.

Now, go back in time almost a year. Niko had a nightmare, and suddenly began refusing to sleep with the lights off. We tried to convince him otherwise (or turn them off after he fell asleep), but he would wake up and get VERY upset with us. So we stopped fighting that battle, and let him sleep with the lights on. I didn't think much of it, until his recent behavior kept driving something home: the kid was TIRED.

Long story short, I was determined to get the boy to sleep with the lights off again. We talked about how his body needed darkness to fully recharge. I let him pick out a "monster-killing" flashlight at the Dollar Store. And that was all it took! He slept with the lights off, and has continued to do so all week. And we saw improvement almost instantly. He sleeps a little later in the morning, and doesn't wake up in the middle of the night. And he even said, "How come the nights seem so short when I sleep with the lights out??" Ha!! He doesn't fight us at bedtime, either, since the night doesn't seem so long (I guess). I don't know. But his behavior has been so much better, and I can't help but see the relationship there. Poor kid was sleep-deprived. I'm just glad we figured it out!

Stacy and Jack's Visit!

So... My Aunt Stacy and her husband Jack left their home in Oregon about three months ago, with plans to live on the road in their fifth-wheel for an entire year. And on Monday, after exploring the northern part of the country (10,000 miles' worth), they arrived at our house!

The kids were very excited to have houseguests, as they always are (more people to play with them!). Once Jack and Stacy got their fifth-wheel ("Irv") situated in our driveway, they got the grand tour of the house and the yard. And, more importantly, the kids got to go inside of Irv (since they were also obsessed with my parents' trailer... I think there is something very exciting about a "portable house," especially when you're a kid!).

Yesterday, since it was a day where Maya didn't have preschool, we went apple picking! Going in the middle of the week is awesome, I have to say. We pretty much had the entire orchard to ourselves. It was a very crisp morning, too-- the thermometer said it was 37 in the back yard when we woke up! But the sky was bright blue and the sun was shining-- it was a great day to pick some delicious apples!

We got home just in time to shovel lunch into Niko and send him off on the school bus. Whew!

While he was at school, I decided to make grape jelly. I harvested FIVE POUNDS of Concord grapes from our wild vines out back, and there are probably another 20-30 pounds out there that I can't get to. So tempting! Wasn't there an Aesop's fable about that? Anyway, I had gotten the juice out of them on Monday (a labor-intensive process, since I don't own a juicer), and was ready to make jelly. Well... It went alright until it was time to pull the full jelly jars out of the hot water canning bath. As I was pulling out the last jar, the band on it jumped right off and boiling hot grape jelly erupted all over my kitchen. I am still finding it in places! Luckily (miraculously??), I was not hurt at all. And my clothing shows no signs of stains, most likely because I stripped on the spot and ran upstairs. Also luckily, Jack and Stacy had gone for a walk on the Rail Trail, so there were no witnesses to this spectacle. But, yeah. That was not fun!

The day improved, however! After I got everything cleaned up, it was time to go pick up Niko at school and take him to his swim lesson. Stacy came with us to watch. Remember, now, that last week was the first time that Niko had ever swam without a floatie. Yesterday, he was all over the pool! GO NIKO!!!! So proud! It's amazing-- that switch finally flipped on in his head. We have a SWIMMER, folks! His instructor even told me that his form is pretty impressive for someone who just learned. If he gets his breathing under control, he'll actually be swimming freestyle (no doggy-paddle here!). :) Sorry for the poor quality-- I took it with my phone! He did SO WELL! Seriously, I am so proud of him! He is so determined (his own word, not mine!).

After swim class, Jack and Stacy took us to dinner at Niko's favorite restaurant, where we all enjoyed a nice, cozy dinner. With corn fritters and pecan rolls. Because really, everything is better with corn fritters and pecan rolls!

This morning was another preschool day for our girl. She is really loving it so far, which was a huge relief (since Niko isn't there with her!). She's also talking and interacting with everyone-- she's coming out of her shell! I'm so happy for her, and excited for this year.

Shortly after that, Jack and Stacy took off for the airport. They are heading back to the west coast for a little while to take care of some things that can't be done from afar, and we are babysitting Irv for them while they are gone. Niko is especially excited, and is already asking if he can eat breakfast in there tomorrow. ha! We'll see (I'm thinking not...). :)

And then, when I went to get Maya from preschool, we had a little excitement! I was driving past a parked car in the driveway, when a passenger in the car opened his door and slammed it into my car. It made a decent dent and scratched the paint, which meant that we had to exchange information and whatnot. I felt bad for the driver. She's someone I see all the time, and she lives right by us. And it wasn't her fault-- it was her father-in-law who just threw open the door without looking. But it will all be okay. And it's just cosmetic damage to my car, since I was moving at a snail's pace. Still, it shook me up for a little bit. She was very nice and apologetic about it, though! We even talked on the phone later.

After that, it was time for a quick lunch, then dance class. Niko didn't have school today (it was a Professional Development day), so he came with us. And then we drove back to check out the awesome playground we'd spotted when we went to the fair a few weeks ago. And it was, in fact, AWESOME. It has the most amazing rope climbing structure I have ever seen-- the kids couldn't get enough. And this was just ONE of the play structures-- the others are interesting, too! We will definitely be going back!

Then we came home, and Maya fell asleep on the couch...

I don't blame her. I want to fall asleep, too! And I still have a PTO meeting to go to tonight. But that is the life of a mom, I suppose. :)

Maya's First Day of Preschool

Someone had a GREAT first day of preschool! She was fine at drop-off, and was quite a chatterbox about all the fun she had when we picked her up. Niko was the most curious-- he grilled his sister, wanting to know every detail! She was very happy to see some old friends in her class, and just had a great time. As much as she loves her brother, I think it will be great for her to be more independent this year-- and we're off to a great start! Just look at this face!!

In other news... my Aunt Stacy and her husband Jack arrived today in their fifth wheel! They've been driving across the country, just like my parents did (only Stacy and Jack plan to be gone for an entire year). What an adventure! We are enjoying having them here, and will probably drag them apple-picking tomorrow. :)

An update on SCHOOL!

I realize that I haven't posted much about kindergarten since Niko started. And that's for a few reasons. One is that we've been getting into the routine of going to school every day, and dance class, and swim class, and all sorts of other things. We get to add preschool to the mix starting on Monday. It's been an adjustment for me! The other reason is that Niko has been really exhausted from it all-- to the point where we've had some incredibly rough evenings for him. It's a big change for our little guy, and it seems to be getting better... but yeah. There have been times that were downright miserable for all of us.

The good news is that he LOVES school! He got to do gym class for the first time today (they have a rotating specials schedule), and he was so happy! He loves his teacher, and he has already made some good friends. He's not always super forthcoming about what happens at school, but it is always positive. And really, we can't ask for more than that!

Last night was "curriculum night" at his school. After it was over, I just wanted to say hi to his teacher and reintroduce myself. It's really so different from the school I taught at-- the school itself is very "locked down," and there just isn't parent/teacher interaction on a daily basis. I met his teacher at Meet the Teacher day, and again briefly on the first day of school... but that was it! I think she will remember me this time, especially now that she knows Niko better.

Anyway... I introduced myself as Niko's mom, and her face lit up! She told me that he is the sweetest, brightest, most polite little boy, and that she wished she could have an entire class of students just like him. EEK! I was so proud!!!! My baby! I told her I was glad to hear it, since he's been a little difficult at home. She reassured me that it's completely normal-- he spends all his energy being his very best at school, and just falls apart when he gets home. Yup. Luckily, it seems to be getting better. I make sure that he has a snack and some "down time" as soon as he gets home. And we've been pushing bedtime a little earlier, because that's when he really loses it. Tonight was fine. I hope this is the light at the end of the tunnel that I'm seeing!

He doesn't have much homework-- the school doesn't really believe in kindergarten homework, except for working on sight words, the occasional handwriting practice sheet, and (of course) reading together. The handwriting sheets are very interesting. Niko can write, but it's really messy. But what's worse is that he forms his letters all wrong-- often starting at the bottom, etc. The teacher in me has tried to correct him since Day One-- but he's always said that his way is "just fine," or "better," or "faster." We've also had difficulties since he's a lefty, which presents different challenges... However... his homework sheets have the arrows showing exactly how to form the letters, and he is suddenly paying attention! He really wants to do it right. It was so cute to watch him work on his "B" sheet this afternoon:

In other news... I just had to share this story about my girl! We parked next to this sign earlier, while Niko was at school:

Maya pointed at it and said, "Look, Mommy!! Did you know that this place sells FRENCH FRIES?!?" I just giggled and told her that was really cool. But, yeah... those aren't French fries. I love that girl!!

Hallelujah!! He can SWIM!

He's almost 6 years old, but today he swam without any sort of floatie! Miracles DO happen!

Seriously, Niko is almost too smart for his own good. And he was pretty much convinced that he would just sink like a stone if he swam without a floatie. No matter how many times I told him otherwise, he simply wouldn't believe me. But, as I've mentioned before, he is now very motivated to learn. And I guess hearing it from someone else makes it true. His swim instructor today looked at him and said, "You know, you can do this. Let's take that thing off, and I want you to put your face in the water and swim over to me. Okay?" And... he did! Multiple times! This was the second time: I could not believe my eyes. It was amazing! He had a few moments (like at the end of this video) where he'd forget to keep kicking and would sink, but he always got himself right back up above water-- no big deal. Today marks a MAJOR milestone. This was the hardest part for him-- just having that confidence that he could do it, and getting over his fear that he would sink. And this was only the second week of lessons! I can't wait to see his skills explode from here on out!

The Fair

We had an awesome time at the fair today! September is fair season all over New England, and there are multiple fairs to choose from each weekend. This one, however, is unique in that there are no fees to park or to enter! You simply pay for whatever concessions or rides you want. It's the best kind of fair, and we were excited to go back again this year!

First, we had to go and say hello to the livestock. Most of the animals competed yesterday, but there were still some sheep being judged today. Most of the animals were just hanging out and relaxing. This one cow seemed to love having the kiddos pet her.

Then it was down the midway to ride number one on the kids' list: the ferris wheel! It's definitely the best place to get a good bird's-eye view of the fair and the surrounding forest!

I even got a picture of me and my girlie at the top:

Next up, Niko wanted to go on an actual roller-coaster type ride. I was so excited, and was all set to go with him! Sadly, he was not quite tall enough this year. Next time!

Immediately after that, he saw the giant "Super Slide" and asked if he could go down it. Sure, why not? We asked Maya if she wanted to go, too, and she said, "No way!" But Niko was very enthusiastic on the way up. Not so much on the way down. I took a video: I stopped recording too soon. As soon as I got up, he said (and I quote), "I am NEVER doing THAT again!" haha! He survived, though. And now he knows he's not a fan.

Next up were the tried-and-true motorcycles, which were a big hit last year. Yup, they still liked them!

At that point, we had enough tickets for one more ride. We walked around, checked out all the ones that they could both go on, and they decided they wanted to ride the cars. So, they did. They were the only ones on the ride this time, haha!

And that was it for the rides. We lured them away with promises of cotton candy. Last year at the fair, they tried it for the first time. They haven't had it since. It's a special fair treat. Niko was super excited-- can you tell?

And that was that. The fair is only about 20 minutes from our house, and we'd had enough fun (and spent enough money!). But then we stopped at the vendor tent for a place Gus had been looking at online-- they sell wood pellets, which we heat our house with during the winter. And it turned out they were offering a "fair discount," so we walked out spending a LOT more than originally planned! But, we have five tons of our favorite (yes, we have a favorite) wood pellets heading our way! So it was a fun AND productive day! Success!!

Back to the grind tomorrow... I still have one more week before Maya starts preschool, and things get REALLY crazy!!

Apples!

It's so funny. Living in California for so long, the seasons never seemed to correlate very precisely with what the calendar said. September and October were typically very hot months-- and fire season! It wasn't until well into November when things started to feel "fall-ish." And it's funny that I even have some internalized definition of what fall should be like, since I never knew anything OTHER than a California fall, you know? Weird. But yeah. Halloween was typically pretty warm, especially in San Diego.

Not so much here. ha!! The funny part is that the weather here seems to pay attention to the calendar. It's like it took a look at it after Labor Day and said, "Oh! Summer is unofficially over! Time for some cool evenings as we transition towards fall..." And here we are! It's been around seventy degrees here all week, but down into the forties overnight. Really perfect weather, to be honest. Not too hot, but definitely comfortable. And the coolness is giving us a nice little preview of the beautiful fall ahead! A few trees have started changing already, though we won't see the real amazing colors for another month or so. I'm really excited, actually!

At any rate... the weather has got me thinking about fall. I weeded our front flower beds yesterday, hopefully for the last time this year (we'll see about that). Today, I changed out my door decorations, so now my fall stuff is out. And this afternoon, we went to pick apples! I am officially an apple-picking fan. Today was so, SO nice. It was just the four of us, wandering through the orchard and picking and choosing which apples we wanted to fill our 10-pound (1 peck/ quarter-bushel) bag with. Niko was so excited to climb the trees-- and he impressed us with his skills! Maya made it her mission to find absolutely perfect apples for us-- mostly red, no blemishes or bruises. There were a ton of other people at this same orchard, but it was so big that we still had plenty of space and never had to share a tree with anyone. And the kids loved going down the huge metal slides by the parking lot-- the kinds of slides that most schools have removed for liability reasons, but they are super fast and fun! Anyway, it was just great. And tomorrow, I need to deal with ten pounds of apples! Until then, though, I will enjoy these pictures of my babies on their first (and probably not last) apple-picking trip of 2013!

First Day of Dance!

It feels like dance class was just last week, but it's really been almost three months since Maya's last class! Crazy!! She's moved up to the next level this year, which is sort of nice... Her class last year was for 2- and 3-year-olds, which meant that there were some VERY little kiddos in there. Some of whom cried, had separation anxiety, etc. The girls in her class this year are all 4- and 5-year-olds, and most (if not all) danced last year, too. So these girls showed up ready to go! No tears, no clinging... they walked right into the studio and got to work. It was adorable, as always! And Maya really, truly LOVES it! I feel so happy to have found something she enjoys so much!

Swim Lessons

After our trip to Greece, Niko was practically begging for swim lessons. Such a huge attitude shift for our boy. Long story short, he is incredibly stubborn and strong-willed, and we weren't going to spend money on lessons unless he was 100% committed to the idea. But he was suddenly acting a lot less fearful in the water, and we knew it was time! And then, destiny! Our town's recreation department arranged a deal with the sports complex in the next town over, offering very inexpensive lessons just a few minutes away. Perfect! I signed him up right away, and his first lesson was yesterday afternoon!

The pool is indoors, heated, and there are only three people in his class. Such an ideal situation! And Niko did AWESOME! He was wearing a floatie on his back, but it provided very little support-- he had to work hard to keep his head above water. But he did a good job, doing big strokes with his arms and working on his flutter kick. His teacher thinks that he should be swimming without the floatie by the end of the 8 week class. I am so excited!!

Yesterday was also my first time ever waiting in the "pick-up line" at school, since I needed to take Niko straight to his lesson once school got out. That was interesting! I don't know why, but I was really nervous about it! But I got there early, and the whole system is pretty efficient. Niko hopped right in, and we left. And I have to add that our boy is TIRED when he finishes school every day-- it's exhausting! And to go and do swim lessons right afterward? I wasn't sure how it would go. But I loaded him up with a snack on the way, and he did great. Whew!

Washington, D.C.!

I've been thinking about this blog post all day, and have been postponing the actual writing because there is just too much! And too many pictures. We had a busy weekend!

Saturday morning, we got up at 3am and hit the road. Our path took us straight south through Massachusetts to Connecticut, then New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and, finally, Virginia (where we stayed). It took us about 7 hours, and we stopped for breakfast at a rest area on the Jersey Turnpike. Exciting! Actually, it WAS exciting-- the only state I'd ever been in, other than Massachusetts (duh!), was New York. And I'd never been to MANHATTAN! And really, Manhattan in the early morning on a Saturday doesn't look like much. I saw it much better on the drive back!

Anyway, we made it to northern Virginia (Falls Church) by lunchtime. We had really hoped we were going to meet up with Niko's godparents for lunch, but they were in town for a family wedding and ended up with other obligations. So we had lunch on our own, went for a quick swim in the hotel's pool, and then put on a TV show for the kids in the hotel room and attempted to nap for a little while. Gus actually slept, but I did not.

That evening, we drove the short distance over to my Aunt Kim and Uncle Jim's house. Kim is my mom's little sister, and she moved to the East Coast when I was too young to remember. For as long as I've been aware, she has lived at this one house in Virginia, and I finally got to see it! The kids had a good time meeting their great-aunt and great-uncle, and it was fun to catch up. We were all pretty exhausted from our early morning and long drive, though, so we didn't stay too terribly long.

The next morning, after a blissful night's sleep (everyone slept! woohoo!), we got up and headed out for a day of hardcore tourist activity! I had purchased us all tickets on the hop on/hop off trolley that runs between all the major attractions, so we drove into D.C. itself and made sure we were at the station when the first trolley pulled up. Our first stop was supposed to be the Capitol Building, but that road was closed due to a Labor Day concert that was being set up. Instead, we got off at the next stop: the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum! But... it was only 9am, and the museum opened at 10. So we hiked the few blocks back up to Capitol Hill. It was accessible by foot, just not by trolley!

Just before 10, we started our walk back. We stopped by the National Botanic Gardens for a few minutes and enjoyed their benches. Maya wanted to smell some flowers. Typical Maya. :)

Then we continued our trek back down to the Air and Space Museum. We got there shortly after 10 and immediately enjoyed the air conditioning. It was hot and humid outside! The museum felt FANTASTIC!

We actually spent quite a bit of time here, and saw most of the exhibits. We also paid $3 (!!!) for a bottle of water. I guess the profit goes to the Smithsonian, though, so it's for a good cause. Still... $3!! And it was small!

Anyway... We hopped on the trolley right outside the museum, and rode down alongside the mall. I got some cool pictures of the Jefferson Memorial along the way! We simply didn't have time to see everything the city had to offer, and had to be strategic about what we did see. Visiting this memorial wasn't going to happen. But I'm glad I got such a good view from the trolley! You can even see Jefferson himself, staring at the White House for all eternity (his wish).

Then we got off at our stop: the Lincoln Memorial! This is one place I was really looking forward to. I wanted to stand on the steps and look across the reflecting pool at the Washington Monument. And I did!

Next up... a short walk over to the Vietnam War Memorial. Very sad. I told the kids a little about it, but they didn't understand. That was a LOT of names on that wall...

Then we ate lunch. We were all hot and sticky. Maya was complaining constantly. Food was necessary! If only the horseflies hadn't been biting at my ankles repeatedly while we sat and scarfed down our food! ugh!

Then we hopped back on the trolley (best. purchase. ever.). The plan was to get off at the Washington Monument stop, but we were treated to the "long view" of the White House along the way!

We got off at the Washington Monument, where I had really just wanted to get a look at the mall itself. We were walking along, and Maya suddenly announced that she had to go potty. So... we went into the nearest museum, which happened to the the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. It had sounded interesting, of course, but it wasn't on "the list" of places we'd planned to see. Well... this ended up being one of the highlights of our day! Such a happy accident! Both kids were in love with the vast collection of dinosaur fossils!!! We had to take a look, after making our pit stop!

The big draw for the day (for the kids) had been the National Zoo, which we dangled like a carrot in front of the kiddos. In retrospect, we probably should've just stayed in the air conditioned pleasantness of the Natural History Museum! But, they wanted the zoo. We went to the trolley stop just behind the museum and waited. The next trolley arrived, and it was full! No room for us. We ended up walking two (very long!) blocks to another stop, passing the IRS and FBI buildings along the way. But we made it, and got on another trolley line that headed up to the zoo. It was a longer ride. What we didn't realize was that the trolley stop was nearly a mile from the zoo entrance, and the entire walk was uphill. In 95 degrees and disgusting humidity. Maya complained a LOT, but she still made it. I hate to say it, but we were kind of sick of the zoo before we ever even got there! We did take a picture, though. For posterity and all. You'd never know how miserable we all were by looking at this, huh??

And a picture of Maya drinking water out of the $3 Smithsonian water bottle... we refilled that thing COUNTLESS times!

We spent about 20 minutes at the zoo. We saw cheetahs, some gazelles, and a zebra. We went to the panda exhibit, but they weren't out. And then we suggested leaving and not a single person complained! I think that my favorite parts of the zoo were the water misters. Gus will surely agree. We were really tired and hot at this point!

We hiked back down to the trolley stop, after buying four ice-cold water bottles at a frozen yogurt place just outside the zoo. Best water I have ever tasted in my entire life! Then we sat and waited. That part was actually quite nice, though you can tell how hot the kiddos were! Look at Niko!

We had thought about getting off at the White House stop, but we were running out of time and, to be honest, we were WIPED OUT! So we sat on the trolley and enjoyed the narrated tour. We saw the gigantic National Cathedral:

We drove through Georgetown, and all down Embassy Row. We saw Ford's Theater, and the house where Lincoln died. And we drove this close to the front of the White House, which was good enough for me!

We passed the National Treasury Department building, and got an awesome head-on view of the Capitol Dome:

Then we made it back to Union Station, and our car, and drove home. I can't speak for the others, but I know that I slept like a log! And both my feet have blisters. We did some SERIOUS sightseeing!

The drive home yesterday was pretty long and boring, except for the huge thunderstorm we drove though in New Jersey. And I got to see a very foggy New York City skyline as we drove over the George Washington Bridge. It's good to be home. But wow-- what a weekend!!!