In December of last year Bret and McKenna won four nights at the new Marriott Marquis hotel in downtown DC on Massachusetts Avenue. So for the third part of our spring break we used those four nights as two rooms for two nights and did a lot of our "lasts" in the city.
In creating our list of "last time must do's" DC cupcakes had to be at the top of that list! What a great way to start our two day DC adventure.
Bret was even willing to stand in a line to get cupcakes!!!!
It did help a little that we knew the secret cupcake of the day and by ordering it by name we each got a FREE cupcake! It was easier for Bret to stand in line for free cupcakes then for him to stand in line to pay $4 for a cupcake. Thankfully that day the secret cupcake was chocolate with strawberry frosting. Delicious!
We left Georgetown and headed over to the National Zoo.
The lion was pretty cool because we walked into the Zoo and could hear the lion roaring. We made it over there and he continued to put on a show for about another five minutes.
True to our family culture we tried to come up with lessons learned from some of the animal we saw. They were so good I started writing them down on my phone so we could remember them.
From the lion we learned: Let your voice be heard!
The zebra taught us: It's okay to be different.
The elephant taught us: It's important to have tough skin
The Buffalo taught us: Chew your food slowly
From the cheetah we learned: It's okay to have a lazy day once in a while
We watched the turtles and learned: Make room for everyone
The seals taught us: A family that plays together stays together
And from the ducks we learned: Spread your wings and fly!
We left the zoo and drove to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the the Immaculate Conception. (how's that for a name!) We had heard beautiful things about this church and had not seen it yet. It did not disappoint. It was beautiful!
From there we headed back to our hotel to check in and have a little down time in the hotel.
The lobby had the most beautiful natural light flooding in from a glass ceiling the size of a football field. Looking over and seeing a moment like this with these two boys melted my heart.
The kids LOVE Bret's status with Marriott. We were able to go up to the lounge and eat any time we wanted for no cost. Not only did it serve a wonderful breakfast, but they also put out snacks in the afternoon, appetizers at dinner time that we made a meal of every night, and desserts at night time for a treat before bed. They also had an incredible hot chocolate machine that made the most amazing hot chocolate. I think the kids had about three every day.
The next morning we loaded Grayson and snacks in the stroller and hit the streets. We walked by Fords Theater, saw the long line, and decided walking by it was good enough for us that day.
The kids really wanted to go to the American History Museum one last time, so that was our museum for the day. Seeing the Star Spangled Banner is always a highlight for me.
We then walked over to the Washington Monument and checked off one of my bucket lists by flying a kite.
It was so much fun. The kite would unexpectedly make major dives straight at us and the kids would have to run to get out of the way.
Our little Kmart kite lasted a good 30 minutes. Once it broke we found another spot and had a little family game of baseball.
I know I took a lot of pictures of flying a kite and playing baseball. But I also know that I'm going to look back on these pictures and pinch myself that we were lucky enough to live in such a fun part of the country and have such incredible experiences. I mean come on...we were flying a kite and playing baseball at the base of the Washington Monument for crying out loud!
We finished up our game and walked up to the White House
From there we went to the Shake Shake for a late lunch and one last burger.
Everyone was pretty tired after all of this and so we went back to the hotel again to chill and relax.
After we ate dinner we set the kids up with a movie and Bret and I went on a little date in the city.
We rented bikes and rhode around the city and sunset. It was amazing. As we rhode by the Washington Monument at dusk on our way up to the Lincoln Memorial it was one of those pinch me moments. The fields were full of people having picnic dinners, or games of flag football, people out for a stroll or joggers running getting in their nightly exercise. The sun was setting casting a beautiful glow on all the buildings. We had to stop just to take it all in. While there are some things I do not like about this city and I'm glad to be leaving behind, there sure is a lot that I love and will miss dearly.
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