Monday

Anyone that has read Kristi's blog has seen the amazing ribbons she gets at the outlet. I had to check it out. I could not believe how cheep the prices were. They have tons of different types of ribbons and they are all different prices, but I got a few rolls of 100 yards of ribbon for 50 cents each. Oh ya baby!



After the outlet we drove to Antietam, the Civil War battlefield. I have to admit that I was not excited about going to see a place where so many people lost their lives, but I learned a lot and it really was beautiful




Then we drove to Harpers Ferry. This is where the Shenandoah River and the Potomac meet.


We walked along the Appalachian Trail, and on the stairs where George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis and so many more great men in History walked.


This was such an amazing opportunity. I can't tell you how blessed I feel to have been able to go on this trip and see all these wonderful towns and historic places. We could not have done any of this without Eric's Mom and Stepdad. Grandma Hawley and Grandpa Brown watched our girls for us while we were gone. I'm sure they could have given us a thousand reasons why they couldn't do this, but they didn't, and I really appreciate it. Hawley (a retired school teacher) worked with my girls on their handwriting and taught Ruby her address. Talk about double duty. I hope they recover quickly from their long week.

Sunday

Sunday morning we went to the National Cathedral. Photos do not do this building justice, it really is breathtaking.


The church is gynormous and has intricate details over almost every inch. The stained glass windows were my favorite, but I did not want to take any photos inside as they were about to start mass.



Check out these azaleas. I remember seeing azaleas this large in Louisiana, but I have never seen any this large in California.


The dogwood trees were blooming there little hearts out everywhere you looked.


After the Cathedral we went to the downtown DC ward building for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. What an incredible ward this is. The spirit was so strong and in Relief Society you could feel the love all the sisters have for each other and for the gospel of Jesus Christ. They had a testimony meeting that gave me chills (the good kind). My friend Kristi attends this ward so it was fun to sit next to her and her daughter Annie Kate.

Jeff and Kristi invited us to their house for dinner. We had such a great time. Their girls are beautiful and Jeff and Kristi are so much fun to be around that we did not want to leave (sorry we stayed so late Kristi).

I took my camera, but did not even think to take a picture of us together. Such a bummer.

FYI- Jeff bought a new car a while ago, but knew that Eric was coming to DC so he held off on selling his old car so that Eric could use it while in town. All of the trips we took to charming little towns would not have been possible without Jeff's car. Not to mention that they dropped off a ton of groceries to Eric when he first arrived in DC. Both Jeff and Kristi have always been so generous to us in so many ways, we owe them big time!

Saturday

Today we went to the National Mall and met up with Dori, Adam and their kids(friends from NOLA). Eric and I drove around forever looking for a parking space. He kept driving 12-13 city blocks away to find a free/ cheap parking spot. My legs were sore from walking so I wanted to park close. After driving around for 40 min we found a free spot 2 blocks away from the museum and we decided that we could stay married.

The Natural History museum was very cool. I had just watched Night at the Museum with the girls before I left, so it was hard not to keep thinking about the movie.
From there we drove to the Lincoln Monument and parked without stress...whew. I could not believe how large the monument is. I was also surprised by the beautiful stained glass windows in the celing.
Afterwards Dori and I sat on the grass while the kids played and the boys walked the Vietnam memorial. Dori is such a great person. She is an amazing parent and always improves my perspective on parenting. I can't wait for her 4th child to arrive in June.




Then we went to the Rosevelt Memorial. It was really really cold and starting to rain.


We said good by to our good friends and drove across the Potomac river to Old Town Alexandria.


Such a quaint little town with charming stores. I was able to shop in The Paper Source for the 1st time- what a great store.

We came home and had dinner at Eric's little studio and called it a night. I am not used to walking several miles every day so my legs/feet are so sore and tired. I am glad that tomorrow is Sunday and we will get to rest.

Friday

Eric surprised me by driving out to a really cool quilt store he found good reviews for online. They had 6,000 bolt of fabric- I was in heaven. This store happened to be in the cutest town called Annapolis.


There was an amazing church in the middle of the town, every prayer stool was hand needlepointed and so beautiful.



After we left Annapolis, we drove to St. Michaels where there is a Wooden boat museum. Eric built an 10 1/2 foot wooden sail boat 8 years ago and can't wait until he has time to make another wooden boat.

He seriously stood watching these two guys work forever. I had my fill of watching them after about 5 min so I walked around looking at all the beautiful boats that had been restored.






I just can't believe how beautiful it is here. All these little charming towns, no smog, dogwood trees in bloom, azalea bushes that are like 6 ft tall and 10 ft wide in full bloom and everything is so green. I'm loving it.

Kid free in DC

Today we took the metro to downtown DC and then walked all over the National Mall. We went to the National Art Gallery and then had a personal tour of the capital by someone from our Congressman's office.


Then we walked to China town. This was a disapointment. China town has a huge chinese arch at the end of the street and 4-5 chinese food restaurants (I use the word resturants loosly as you would never eat anything that came from there). Then we walked over to the Portrait museum which was amazing.

We walked over to George's house, the gate was closed so he must have forgotten that we were coming.


After our long day Eric took me back to his little place and cooked me his specialty pasta with spagetti sauce for dinner.

After our wonderful dinner we drove to Georgetown (so fun), got some icecream and walked the main street that was lined with tons of groovy shops. I was teased by walking into Paper Source for the first time only to be told that they were closing- I was so close.

Wednesday

I did not sleep last night- at all. I was so excited about seeing Eric today that I just could not sleep. So I was wide awake when the clock said 5:30am and it was time to get ready to head to the airport.

Flying without kids was a whole new experience. I took a little nap and read most of the book I brought; The Quilters Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini. I made it to DC and Eric was waiting for me at the airport when I arrived. I could not stop smiling, I was so excited to be with him. When we got back to his little studio, he cooked dinner for me- Linguini with spaghetti sauce. I asked if he ate that every night- he said "no, sometimes I cook broccoli with it or heat up a can of soup".

This is his pasta palace: