National Harbor

Some day I would like to see the cherry blossoms in Washington DC. Last fall we took a chance and booked some days with Jeremy's parents at a time share in National Harbor hoping that we would catch the cherry blossoms. We didn't. They were over. But we had some beautiful weather and some lovely green leaves!

National Harbor is a new tourist destination across the Potomac River from Alexandria, Virginia. It looks like it will be family friendly. There are lots of restaurants and some shops open. There are many more store fronts available and it appears that there is still development in progress. It will be interesting to see how the area evolves if we go there again.

After we arrived we found a nice sculpted sand area where the children could run, play and climb.

There was lots of hand holding.

Aliza is not a fan of posed pictures these days!

I wanted to go in to DC and apparently every one else was up to that too! Karen and I figured out the bus and metro, we packed a picnic lunch and hurried off to the bus station. The bus comes every half hour and we were within 5 minutes of the departure time. I did not want to wait 1/2 hour! So when we saw the bus sitting at the station I made my poor children run and sent Van to keep the bus for us! We made it, had to count our exact change and off we went to the metro station. At the metro station we had to figure out how to buy tickets (I would be awful on the Amazing Race), but we were able to walk right on the metro without waiting. Very awesome. Our goal was to get to the mall to have a picnic lunch. The station we got off at was a long way from the mall, but thanks to walking directions on Jeremy's iphone we got there. It was a very warm day and Aliza and Josiah were good little walkers!

This was a great spot for a picnic. Aliza could run around. Karen and I packed an awesome lunch. Josiah totally pigged out on Doritos.

After lunch we walked a relatively short distance to the WWII memorial. Aliza and Josiah put their feet in the water. All went very smoothly until I told them it was time to get their socks and shoes back on. Josiah stood up and promptly slipped and fell in the water. His shorts were soaked. He traveled back to the hotel in his shirt and shoes and diaper. (Unprepared mother! Of course my mother-in-law must have way more experience then me. She randomly threw a towel in her bag. How did she know we were going to be wet?!)

Aliza and Josiah hitched rides back to the metro station. They deserved it! We figured we walked about 3 miles. Josiah was exhausted! He fell asleep in my arms as we pulled in to our station. It was nap time when we got back to the hotel!

Aliza wanted to go swimming. We compromised with swimming in Grandma and Grandpa's whirlpool tub.

On Monday, Jeremy and his Dad went golfing. Karen and I took the children back to the sand area and had another picnic. Then Karen and I got to walk through a store in the evening and Jeremy took Aliza and Josiah to the sand!

All Josiah could talk about were lawnmowers, grass and tractors. After about 2 hours in the room he would go to the door and want to go for a walk. I'm afraid my little country boy felt a little confined in the city! Since we've been home he has played with his trucks and tractors very contentedly. =)

I had many moments where I could just enjoy watching and interacting with my family. Those memories and moments are what make a vacation a "vacation" these days.