Washington, D.C., Part 1

Last week I was fortunate enough to spend a few days in Washington D.C. for the second time this year. Earlier this year I went to D.C. for the first time ever (here) for a training and last week I want for the advanced version of the same training on grant financial management with the Department of Justice. On the first night I got in I took a train to Baltimore to see my cousins. It was really fun to see them and catch up with them and I am so glad I was able to go. The hotel I stayed at was really cool and was a former post office dating back to 1839. It was really cool to see how they remodeled it and the location was great. After training my first day I headed to the Smithsonian American Art Museum which was really awesome. It was literally right outside my hotel, free, and open until 7p.m. I really liked the Civil War section as well as the special Babe Ruth exhibit. After walking around for a while I headed over to my favorite pizza place, &pizza. It's so good! The next morning I got up early for a 7 mile run around the Capitol, Supreme Court and National Mall. As much as there are lots of hills and stoplights in the city, D.C. is a really cool city to run in. It was also not nearly as cold as I thought it was going to be. All of the monuments are little up at night so running is a really great way for me to see more of D.C. on such a short trip.

 

Sweetgreen is so good!

The Kimpton Monaco is so cute!

stroll drooling over this pizza

yay for free museums!

 

There was a lot of construction around the white house so I couldn't get as good of a shot but still cool to run by there.

End of the Season Soccer Party

Last week Everly had her end of the season soccer party for the fall season. She is going to play another session in the spring because she really loved it but we never pass up on an invite to Peter Piper Pizza. Both of the girls had a blast and pounded their pizza. Everly got a cute little trophy and a picture of her team. The league paid for everything and they even had ice cream and tokens for the kids. Everly loves playing games at Peter Piper. It was busy there because they had several different team parties going on but she earned enough tickets for a princess ring and was a happy little camper. It was a fun little night and we had a really great experience with CCV Soccer. I can't speak for their competitive programs but it has been a great first experience with soccer for Everly. She had also gotten pictures done a few weeks earlier and we just got those back last week as well. She is so stinking cute. I can't wait to sign her up for the spring season!

she is too much!

Everly's Zookeeper Project

Everly had her first Kindergarten field trip last week to the Wildlife World Zoo. This week she turns in her first diorama project so last week we spent time working on it with her. They had to pick an animal and design a diorama to display their habitat. Everly picked a zebra immediately so we went with it. We picked up a few things at Michael's and Hobby Lobby and got to work. On Friday night we did the painting so it would have time to dry before adding all of the elements. My sister let us use her hot glue gun to add all of the heavier pieces. Aspen actually had a blast playing with the figurines. Hopefully she doesn't try to pull them off before Everly has to turn it in. Everly was very excited about the project and did a really great job. When we went to the Zoo on Friday she was recognizing animals from Africa because of what she has been learning. It is really cute to see her learn and I think her project turned out pretty good.

Everly did that with the figurines...not Justin!

Her Zebra drawing on the report just might be my favorite part but I also love the sun she drew in between the clouds.

Weekend in Review

We had a great 3-day weekend. It started off with the zoo on Friday and it was really nice to spend all day with the girls. Especially because I leave today for D.C. until Friday so I will miss them! Saturday morning I got up early to run with my sister because we have a 15k coming up in early December. We planned a 9-mile run that basically went nothing like we planned. Somewhere between 2.5 and 3 miles we were running by a car dealership and I saw a piece of metal on the ground but my sister didn't and somehow she got her feet stuck in it and completely tripped. It was a HARD fall and she completely scraped up her elbow and hand. She also hit her hip and ankle and is probably feeling sore today. I have fallen on the trails once but this is her 3rd time falling on the street while running. She is just straight clumsy and totally passed that trait on to her daughter! Poor Mae Mae! My mom was a saint and came to pick up my sister and I had to finish the next 6+ miles by myself, but I know I can't complain because at least I didn't get hurt! After I finished we took Mae to get bagels and eat them at my sisters house. The kids had fun playing together and then we had to head home so we could get ready to go to the NovemBeer festival. We planned to go to celebrate Justin's birthday which is this Friday. It was pretty warm when we first got there but once we got in we quickly got shade from the buildings downtown and it cooled off pretty quickly. By cooled off, I mean we weren't burning up out there but it was by no means fall weather! It was busy at the festival but we had a good group and had a good time. Thankfully my mom and sister helped with the girls so we could spend half the day gone. The girls don't mind at all. They love spending time with Grandma and their cousins. Sunday morning I had a soccer game and got some shopping done before watching the Cardinals game at home and enjoying chili for dinner. Today I head out to Washington, D.C. for work for the rest of the week and I sure am going to miss my family but am glad I got to have a long weekend before leaving.

Too bad she missed out on a good run!

Mae is the best face to see after a 9-mile run.

Perfect fall mornings

NovemBeer festival


We always have fun with this group!

Zoo Day

Thanks to all of the Veterans who have served or are currently serving our country. Each year Everly is understanding more and more about Veterans and even made a cute little book in Kindergarten last week. Luckily, I usually have this day off to spend with the girls and once again we went to the zoo. My sister and brother-in-law met us there and the weather was great. We also got there early because of the member hour and thankfully we did because it was really busy when we were leaving. I have no interest in going to the zoo if I have to park in the far lot! Nope! We will be back at the zoo next week for member preview nights of Zoolights and I can't wait!