Our 1st Family Vacation

Jennifer and I decided that since we were both moving into new jobs that this was quite possibly the best time to take our 1st family vacation. The timing and location of course were picked because of my love for the greatest sport, football. Since taking the position in which I work every weekend it has really cut into my football time. Thankfully the NFL has games on Monday and Thursday nights. So I talked Jennifer into letting me go to a Thursday night in Baltimore. The only way that I was able to talk her into this was by saying that we would leave early in the week and travel to Washington DC and spend a few days there before heading to the game in Baltimore.

We booked our hotels and Jennifer made a proposed schedule for our trip, with all of the daily activities depending on weather and the amount of time that we had. I had to work night shift on Sunday, so after getting off from work I came home and we packed up the car and fed Brinley a bottle and then set out on our first family vacation. Brinley and I slept in the back seat while Jennifer drove, because I was in no shape to make the drive. We stopped every few hours to give Brinley some time out of her car seat and to feed her. We made pretty good time considering all the stops we made. We got to bed early so that we would be well rested for the next day's adventure in to Washington DC. (I fell asleep watching MNF, which was the controversial Packers-Seahawks game, that ended the days of the replacement referees)

Brinley really enjoyed her new stroller.

Brinley woke up around 6 in the morning for her breakfast and we all decided to sleep in a little more before heading into the city. We decided to drive ourselves into the city because we were bringing so much stuff for Brinley that it would have been a complete disaster to try and take the subway system. We found a parking garage and then headed off on our journey. Our first stop was the White House. Brinley got a bunch of smiles from locals and other tourists with her cute patriotic outfit. We got a few pictures at the back and then headed around front for a few more. Brinley was hungry again, so she ate her lunch at the White House. 

Our first family vacation.

Brinley eating lunch at the White House.

When Brinley finished up we headed to the Museum of Natural History. Jennifer had found out about a butterfly exhibit that was free only on Tuesdays so we headed that way. We are not sure how many of the butterflies that Brinley actually could see because they were moving around pretty fast and then when they landed they sometimes blended into the surroundings. I am sure that a few caught her eye at some point. We got her pretty close to a few just to make sure.



Jennifer even had a few that landed on her while we were in the exhibit.











Brinley was tired after the exhibit so she laid down in her stroller for a little nap. We headed for the monuments. To save a little time and money we had packed our lunches, so we ate our lunches as we walked over to the Washington Monument. I was pretty upset when doing some of our research because the monument has been closed for about a year due to some cracking from an earthquake that had happened in 2011. This was one of the things that I was looking forward to because I didn't get to go up the last time I was in Washington DC with my family. I guess it will be added to the list of things to do next time.

Brinley was still taking a nap, so we let her sleep and I just took a picture of the two of us.

Our next stop was at a newer monument that I had never seen before. It was the World War II monument that had just been finished in 2004. Of course we had to stop by the pillar of Kentucky. We just so happened to be there at the same time as hundreds of veterans from the state of Oklahoma. I can't even begin to imagine how many friends and relatives that some of the men and women had  probably lost in this war. It would have been neat to sit down and listen to their war stories, but I refrained because I didn't want to bother them.

After a long walk down the reflecting pool, we ended up at the base of the Lincoln Memorial. This was just moments before Brinley decided that she had a little surprise for me. I was just looking around at something and when I looked back I had spit up all over my shoulder, but how can you really get upset with such a cute face.

We headed down to see the Vietnam Memorial. 

I was a little sweaty after walking up all the stairs with our stroller, but we had to go up to see Honest Abe because he was born in Kentucky! 

Korean War Monument

Another new monument for me was the Martin Luther King Jr. Monument. There were also multiple quotes of his that were carved into stones around the statue.

We made the walk around the tidal basin and stopped to see the FDR memorial along the way. Brinley decided to take another nap on the walk or else we just might have let her sit on FDR's lap, but I highly doubt Jennifer or the other tourist would have approved. The only thing that we didn't get to see on the walk were the Cherry Blossoms in bloom, maybe we will have to come back in the spring sometime.











We finally made it around to the Jefferson Memorial and I somehow missed the sign for the handicapped entrance so that we could take Brinley up to see the statue. We were pretty tired from all the walking and didn't feel like walking around it again, so we just opted for the family picture at the base of the monument. Brinley was asleep and Jennifer and I had both been to it before so it made the decision that much easier.

Add caption

Next we headed towards the Botanical Gardens and United States Capital Building. The Botanical Garden was really neat. It had all different natural environments that can be found in the USA and all the plants that are from the area. Apparently Brinley thought something was pretty funny while we were there.

Our last stop of the day was at the US Capital Building. We got our picture and then headed back towards the parking garage, which was about one and a half miles away. Overall we had a great first day in the city, but we were all exhausted  As soon as we got back to the hotel we all quickly fell asleep.

DAY 2 in Washington DC

We once again headed into the city to explore some of the museums. We started by heading to the Library of Congress to see the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. This was the first time that I was able to see these documents because when I went with my 8th grade class I chose to hang out with them instead of seeing them and I have been told many times by my mother that I really missed out by not going to see it. However, you cannot take pictures inside so I have no evidence, but I did see it and the majority of the time I was just wanting to see the map on the back of it. Our next stop was the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Brinley even decided to take a picture behind a podium just to try it on for size. I do believe that she would go down as the only president to wear a headband and bow. (Can't say for sure if she was the first in diapers.)



The next stop was at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. This has always been one of my favorite museums because you get to see a lot of animals that most zoos don't have and you see just how magnificent nature really is. It is also neat to see all the different things that came to life in Night at the Museum 2 as well.

Of course we had to get our picture with DUM DUM

Family picture at the front entrance.

After seeing all the museums we headed towards the National Zoo. I had been to this zoo before, but I was really excited about getting to see the pandas because I don't remember seeing them the first time I was there with my family. However, there had been some recent problems with the pandas and their exhibit was closed. The female panda had just given birth, but the baby panda had some medical problems and didn't survive. The female panda had been mourning ever since and the zoo was giving her some time to grieve. The gift shop did have some video cameras that filmed the pandas while they were in their cages, so we at least we got to see them.

Picture of the video screen of the male panda.

Brinley with the Gorillas.

 After seeing all the different exhibits in the zoo we headed back to the hotel for the night. We were completely exhausted from the past two days in the city. We woke up in the morning earlier than expected and got all of our stuff packed up and decided to make an extra stop before heading to Baltimore. We headed to Arlington, VA to visit the cemetery. Thinking that every thing would be fairly close, we opted out of taking the stroller because it was packed nicely into the car and just carried Brinley. (Big mistake) After walking about a half mile I stopped and asked someone how much further to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and she said about  a mile, so we just decided then that we would just be seeing JFK's eternal flame. We then headed out  for the Iwo Jima Memorial Monument, another one that I didn't see on my previous trip with my family. We quickly snapped a few pictures and then got out on the road.

The statue was much bigger than we had realized from just seeing it on TV or in pictures.

Overall our trip to Washington DC proved to be a great first family vacation. One of the best parts about Washington is that all the monuments and museums are free. I know that we will have to take Brinley back someday when she can actually appreciate it. We also found out just how difficult it is to travel with an infant, but we really did have a great time together in the city. Thanks for reading and God Bless!