D.C. doesn't get a lot of snow each winter, at least not while I have lived here.  So, when we got a couple of inches yesterday, I was very excited to take Anna outside.  She was not as excited.  She kept complaining she was cold and wanted to go inside, even though I told her playing in the snow was fun.  And, for the record, it was not even cold outside.  I kept taking pictures, hoping she would have some fun.

 

Then, she fell and was totally over it.

 

Later in the afternoon, with much of the snow already melted, she ventured out again.  

 

She crushed that snowball and then wanted to go back inside again. 

We kept busy this past weekend.  First up, Friday was spent getting my haircut and doing some shopping.  Boring.  Well, except I may have actually found a hairdresser that I want to go back to.  It only took 3.5 years.  I shouldn't jinx it just yet though.

 

Next up, Saturday morning was spend visiting Washington Monument State Park, out in Maryland, NOT DC.  The park was beautiful and it was attached to the Appalachian Trail, so we did a little hiking as well.  Anna can only handle about an hour in her backpack, and that is all about all we can handle too.  She is getting heavy.  Riley could have gone all day.  

We let Anna run around on the playground afterwards.  She was really good at climbing the stairs and going down the slide herself, up until some other kids joined us.  Then, there were tears because they were playing on Anna's slide.  We learned about taking turns, went down the slide a few times more, and hit the road.   

On Sunday we had our usual met-up with Erin and family for our run and breakfast, except, this time we managed to run 3.51 miles, which might be our longest yet.  We also managed to score the BIG table at Open City.  It was amazing and everything I thought it would be.  Sean said it best, "I think I should order more food because I have the table space."  After Anna took a marathon 3-hour nap, we headed to Del Ray to catch the Halloween Parade.  It was really cute and Anna loved waving hello to everyone.  

 

And now it is Monday, boo.

Day Date

Every now and then Kyle and I take Anna to day care on our Friday's off and enjoy the day just the two of us.  Sometimes that means work around the house but this past Friday it meant a day out on the town.  

After a quick side trip to the doctor for some antibiotics, we went to the movies.  (Note to doctors:  If I say I do not want Penicillin because it makes me nauseous, do not judge me for claiming an allergy, just prescribe something else.)  We saw Mud (a bit slow but still very good) in the most comfortable theater seats ever!  We probably should have paid another $7 just to take a nap.

   

After, we had lunch at Circa.  I have always wanted to try this place and it was good.  Although, I only got garden salad, so my recommendation might not mean anything.  (The scale at the Dr. was really off, but I ate salad just in case.)
 

After our late lunch it was already time to head back to Census to pick Anna up.  I do feel a little bit guilty about our days off but not guilty enough to keep from enjoying them.

 

Cherry Blossoms

Visiting these will never get old.

Anna Goes to the Museum

Over the weekend we visited the National Children's Museum.  Unlike a lot of the museums in D.C., this one is not free.  However, it was worth the $30 (plus parking) it cost the three of us to go.  We went after lunch on Friday and it was not crowded at all.  Anna had a blast.  She was walking everywhere and shouting as she went.  I am sure she was telling us where she was going and what she was going to do next, but I do not speak baby.

The museum had different areas for different aged kids and everything seemed very nice and clean.  I hope it stays that way, as the museum is only a couple of months old.  It is located in National Harbor and I always forget how much is actually there.  There are a ton of restaurants, and more and more stores are opening up.  We will definitely be back.

And now... pictures.

National Parks Quest

 

I bought Anna a National Park Passport so she (I) could track her stamps each time we visit a National Park.  So, naturally, I am thinking, WE MUST VISIT ALL OF THE PARKS. 

 

It is a good thing there is a high frequency of National Parks in DC.  One visit to the mall gets you a bunch of stamps!

  

However, there are a couple of parks not located on the mall and Theodore Roosevelt Island is one of them.

  

The weather was nice on Sunday, so we packed up Anna and Riley and headed out.  The Island is located in the Potomac and it is almost impossible to find.  Our GPS took us around and around until we finally found the parking lot. 

  

From the parking lot, you walk across a short bridge and you are there.

  

 

The park has a monument dedicated to the President and lots of trails.  Most of the trails are gravel, but there is one boardwalk over a marshy area.  

 

There were lots of runners and walkers and dogs.

   

Unfortunately, there is not a visitors center so I could not stamp Anna's passport, but I can pick one up when we visit the mall again.  Now we only have 397 parks to go.  (Actually, that is not true.  We got some stamps in Philadelphia.  Either way, Anna (I) still has a ways to go.)

Frederick, Maryland

 

Last weekend, Erin, Kyle, Anna, and I ventured out to Frederick, Maryland.  The purpose of the trip was to visit Chartreuse and Co. for their annual barn sale.  The property is located close to downtown Frederick and has a couple of houses and a couple of barns full of stuff.  They basically take old furniture and household items and turn them into new, cute finds.  Their lawn was full of garage sale items, one barn was filled with old furniture that has not been touched yet, and another barn was turned into a store showcasing painted furniture, cute fabrics, and fun home decorations.  It was fun to look around, but no one ended up buying anything.  I thought the barn/store was a bit overpriced and the other barn was a bit overwhelming.  I liked a table that was on the garage sale lawn but could not figure out if someone had already bought it.  It was weird, but the place was beautiful.

So from the barn sale, we went to downtown Frederick.  It was really cute with artists on the street

and colorful buildings.

There were buildings with history,

 

churches,

 

and courtyard swimming pools that I coveted.

After walking around a bit we ate lunch at Magoo's and dessert at the Candy Kitchen,

while Anna worked on her top left tooth.

It was a fun day and nice to get out and about.  Downtown Frederick was much bigger than I was expecting.  We did not do a lot of shopping, and it seemed like a lot of stores were still closed at 11am on a Saturday, but I would go back and look around some more. 

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