Washington Weekend

Last weekend we packed our bags, two kites, and a pint-sized hat and cowbooy boots and headed off to our nation's capitol. We spent the weekend seeing Andy's sister, Betsy, taking in the sights, and celebrating some birthdays, Western-style.

We walked all over the city and while my feet were about to fall off by the end, I loved being able to walk everywhere. Andy and I went jogging (separately) around D.C. and on the Mall on Friday morning. I ran down Pennsylvania Avenue, right by the White House and he jogged along the Mall. We saw the new WWII memorial, which is very nice.

A pick-up soccer game at dusk in Dupont Circle, near Betsy's house. We ate breakfast at a great bookstore/cafe and also discovered a little place that serves only chocolate. We indulged in homemade brownies and pie, as well as specialty hot cocoas named after famous divas. Examples: Mine was the Charro, swirled with caramel and rich chocolate, the Lucy had chili powder in it and the Audrey was extra dark chocolate served Paris style in a tiny cup. If you're in D.C., stop by ACKC and get some amazing goodies.

The highlight of my trip - going to the Newseum, the interactive museum of news. I've been dying to go for years and knew I was in heaven when I got to the entrance and they had huge galleys blown up of the front page of newspapers from every state in the country. Six floors of exhibits about the history of news and journalism and an amazing exhibit featuring all the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs since the 1940s. Bonus, the pictures are on display in Columbus at the Ohio Historical Society. I loved it so much I'm going to drag Andy with me on a date night to see them again.

Flying kites on the Mall. The wind wasn't great, but it was still fun.
Ben didn't want to let go of the kites - he kept holding on to the tail and running along.

Party night - heading outside for the Blazin' Star Balloon Stompede. Everyone had balloons tied to their ankles and tried to stomp everyone else's. The person with the last balloon standing won.
Getting ready for the Dupont Draw. A face-off with five paces and waterguns to see who had the quickest hands.
Breaking a pinata in the shape of a boot. Betsy and Char even found toy snakes to put inside so we could recreate the famous line from Toy Story, "There's a snake in my boot!" Ben loved it.