Thursday morning, we had a great breakfast at Embassy Suites Hotel in Richmond. They had a large eating area (unlike many hotels we’ve stayed at) so we had plenty of room to move around and plenty of food.
The hotel overall was great. All 3 of our rooms were on the top floor – the 8th – and we had a lot of fun riding the glass elevators up and down. In this picture, the kids were all looking down over the atrium. The glass elevator is on the right.
Great pool – plenty of room for the girls’ elaborate swimming shows. :-)
We got to the Ramseys’ around 11:30 and it was great to be greeted by Minda and the kids.
She decided to pull them out of school early so they could spend time with their cousins. We had a leisurely couple of hours at their house, eating lunch and relaxing, then we made the trek into D.C. for some sight-seeing. We hit as many as we could: Smithsonian, Washington and Lincoln Memorials, the Reflecting Pools, Vietnam Wall, Korean Memorial. It was a cool, crisp, sunny day and getting there around 3:00 meant there were fewer crowds. We were able to clearly see the White House from the Washington Monument, which is being renovated due to some damage from an earthquake a couple of years ago. When we were at the World War II Memorial, the sun was at just the right spot for some really nice pictures, and it was so beautiful watching the sun setting as we walked toward the Lincoln Memorial.
Our last hike was to the Jefferson Memorial, which reminded me a lot of Monticello. We headed out at 9:00 with sore legs but a lot of excitement about what we’d seen.
When I think back over the day, it really is remarkable how smoothly things went. First of all, the parking. We were divided into 3 different vans (two of them very large!) and we ended up finding 3 parking spaces right next to each other! How does that happen? Even at the Smithsonian, which got a little harried at times as we tried to keep track of everybody, things went well. In spite of trying to move all of us around and stay together, and all the walking we did to the monuments, everybody did so well. The big kids helped the little kids, oftentimes carrying them on their backs, and the little kids weren’t complaining (hardly at all, anyway), even though we had a very long stretch of time with nothing to eat.
We invaded practically every square inch of the Ramsey’s house, sleeping on air mattresses, couches, and the floor, And now, we’re en route to our 10:30 tour of the U.S. Capitol! Can’t wait! I’m a little worried about how long it might take to get there. I’ve learned that all the rumors I heard about traffic on I-95 is true!!
I love all the pictures! We are so excited for you guys! It kind of feels like we are there vicariously through you. :). Keep up the pictures! (especially loved the beautiful one of Alix and Grant.). Thanks soooo much for taking the girls with you! We know they are making life long memories with all their cousins! ( and their aunts and uncles and grandparents, too!)
ReplyDeleteLove you guys!
xoxoxo