Washington DC trip Day 3

Last night was an interesting night. Our hotel neighbors across the way were so loud! We called and complained. Then at like 3 AM are phone rang. We are pretty sure that they were the ones to call in a wake up call. What jerks...but it gave me something else to blog about.

This morning I woke up to this....

Aidan smiling in his semi-awake, semi-asleep...I don't know if I want to be awake or alseep stage cuddled next to Brian. I love these pictures!

We got ready and then headed out to Mount Vernon to meet up with Stephanie and Amy. The drive took us a while to get there but we finally found one of the supposed 20 Wal-Marts in the area and 3 Targets and lots of food places for later. When we got to Mount Vernon...the parking lots were packed! We had to drive around for a little bit to find one. Then we unloaded everything and headed to meet with Amy and Stephanie.

We had to wait in a pretty long line but it went by quickly. Good company and conversation helps. This is the front side of Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon, for those who don't know, was George Washington's Plantation. What a grand looking estate...even for today's standards.

A beautiful view of the Potomac River...from the back of the house. We were unable to take pictures inside the house, due to copyright issues. Sorry. But to see what we saw you can search the web. About 50 % of the artifacts in the house were truly from the time that Washington lived there. The other 50 % are replicas.
A view of the back of the Plantation house. What a beautiful grand view. Sitting in these chairs you can look out onto the Potomac River.
Can you spot Aidan, Stephanie, Amy and Ann? Look at the first pillar on the left...that is our little cluster of people. Behind the pillar on the right is Brian.
The last time I came to Mount Vernon it was 2005 and rainy. So we didn't see much. This time it was pretty warm (according to my melting standards). And I am pretty sure Aidan agreed. We were able to go inside the visitors center and use the restroom and get some cold drinks (water!). Aidan wanted to get some wiggles out. So we let him wiggle around. He found the nice cool floor and all he did was lay on it. The other people that passed us laughed. I was both cute and embarassing.
Once we toured the grounds and saw the exhibit, we all walked out to the van for lunch. We brought some lunch meat and stuff to make for a cheap meal. During the sandwich making/ picnic/ tailgating experience Ann fell into the the cubby of the van. Poor Ann....she got stuck. And then to add to the being stuck she couldn't quit laughing...and then I had to go get the camera before anyone could help her out. Sorry Ann...but it was a funny sight. Aidan got mad and scared at this time and wanted out, away from what was happening.
Preparing our lunches in the back of the van...mmmmm...lunch!
Some very unafraid squirrels decided they wanted to come and eat our food. Aidan decided to feed them...he had fun.
Driving back from Mount Vernon....Pat driving and Brian navigating.
The rest of us enjoying the ride...Lorraine is hiding behind my head.
On our way back to the hotel we found a Wal-Mart and bought some more supplies.

When we arrived at the hotel Ann, Katie, Aidan and Brian decided to go swimming. The pool was pretty full but we had fun until Aidan wanted to go and play with the other kids. Not a good thing in a pool.
Then we decided to walk the streets of Rosslyn to find something for dinner. We found a place called Chipotle. A generic, Cafe Rio-type restruarant. Not too bad...but NOT the RIO! It was full of cilantro...almost so that you couldn't taste anything but cilantro. Aidan fell fast asleep on the walk there.
A steak burrito. Not too bad...all the cilantro tried to kill Ann.
Lorraine enjoying her tacos. YUM!

On the walk home we found a McDonald's and got some McFlurries and nuggets for the now awake child. Then we walked back to the hotel. On the way back I tried to take a picture of a very interesting church. Next time we pass it during the day...I will post the picture...we find it very entertaining.

Now we are back at the hotel and blogging. I believe it is now time to play some card games....