Adventures in DC

Casey's recent trip to DC was a lot of fun. We were planning on going to the National Zoo, but unfortunately got rained out... We had plenty of other adventures though!

Friday (Day 1): We got up early to head to DC, Casey did not want to wake up. I woke him up and told him we were going to go see the animals today, his response was "No way, mommy! No animals! Back to sleepy!" Eventually I coaxed him out of bed and into the car where he slept most of the drive to DC. Once we were in DC, we decided there was way too much rain to go to the zoo, so we walked around downtown and checked out the sites. Casey had a disposable camera, and took plenty of pictures of the sidewalk and the sky. He would approach strangers, point the camera in their general direction, and say "CHEESE". He also told statues, pictures, birds, and buildings to say "CHEESE". Casey got to see the White House and Washington Monument the first day there.

Saturday (Day 2): Museum day. We started off the day going to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. Casey wasn't sure what to think of the wax figures. We took pictures with Hilary Clinton, Julia Roberts, Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. We went from the wax museum to the American History Museum.
The first display we viewed was "America in Motion"- the ultimate display for a little boy. Casey was in awe of all the locomotives they had inside. He probably could have spent the day staring at the trains. We continued through the museum and I introduced Casey to words like "Independence," "Constitution," "George Washington," and "Thomas Jefferson." Casey was a little overwhelmed with all of the people in the museum, so he spent a lot of time being carried.
After the American History Museum we walked over the Natural History Museum. On the walk over, Casey befriended a squirrel. People stopped to gawk over how cute Casey and the squirrel were. This little critter literally sat at Casey's feet looking up at him, while Casey talked to the squirrel. It was adorable. The squirrel eventually ran away because an older kid ran up and scared it off. The Natural History Museum was beyond crowded, but we worked our way through the crowd. Casey really enjoyed the bug display. There were buttons to push, termite holes to crawl through, and live bugs to view. Casey got a little overstimulated while at the museum and was ready for a nap- so we viewed the Hope Diamond and did a quick pass through the mammal exhibit. I walked the ten blocks or so back to the hotel in the pouring rain with a sleeping Casey in tow. His short nap was enough to revitalize him, and back at the hotel we watched a couple movies- Kung Fu Panda, which Casey LOVED, and Monsters vs. Aliens.

Sunday (Day 3): Yet another rainy day. We decided to keep it simple and just drive around the city to check out the sites. We stopped to check out the Jefferson Memorial... and Casey had a blast. We had to walk a few blocks from the parking area to the memorial, and Casey felt it was necessary to jump in every puddle we encountered. Casey climbed all the stairs to the memorial on his own and once inside he kept saying "Thomas Jefferson" and pointing at the statue. He also noticed that inside the marble chamber, everything echoed- so he proceeded to yelp his infamous squeal. We went to the Capital Building after the Jefferson Memorial and then started our drive home. Casey fell asleep almost immediately after his big, educational weekend.