Washington DC--Monday

 Isaiah is 7!! I planned the day to be enjoyable for him. He was excited that Joel and Amanda could be with us. He also very much enjoyed telling people that we were going to the "DC Zoo" on his birthday.

This is going to be one of my favorite pictures of Isaiah and I for a while. There sure is something that feels different about the youngest child growing up.

The morning started off with an outdoor pool swim. It took a bit of convincing because I thought sitting on the balcony with my Bible and a cup of tea sounded lovely. The birthday boy and Anna won out this time!

We packed our lunch and headed to the National Zoo. Judging from how long Isaiah wanted to stay and watch, I would say that the seals were Isaiah's favorite. The seals were very active swimming all around. There were several places to watch them above the water and under water. We even ate our lunch in an amphitheater that overlooked the seal exhibit.

Elephants may have been my favorite. A couple were drinking and I enjoyed watching that.

A few cute meerkats made an appearance.

The pandas were inside munching on bamboo. Aliza and Anna were very excited about the pandas.

There was quite a distance between the exhibits and Isaiah decided on more than a few occasions that he couldn't walk any farther. He hitched a few rides. (I was seriously questioning all of my plans for the next few days after listening to him complain about walking in the zoo.)

At the end we had to rush a bit to see everything before the zoo closed. Josiah really wanted to go in the reptile house. I'm so glad we did. Josiah enjoyed it and this is the biggest tortoise I've ever seen.

On the ride home (during rush hour), Isaiah was sharing a seat with Amanda. Amanda had been distracting Isaiah while he was walking with a game that involved "booping noses" which I know makes no sense to anyone. lol. What I want to remember is the little moment in the car when Isaiah completely surprised Amanda and booped her nose and his face with the most victorious, proud expression. He said, "I waited for an opportune time." which is what Amanda had been telling Isaiah that SHE was doing.
 

We had Isaiah's favorite for supper--Domino's pizza. I don't think the children will ever let us order for delivery again. It took over 2 hours for our pizzas to get to us. I made an ice cream after we got to National Harbor. It's a family favorite.

I remembered to take candles, but did not think of taking a lighter. I had to go to two stores to find one. Thankfully I was successful!

It was a different birthday than we usually have, but I think it will be one that Isaiah remembers!