Almost Time to Play Some Ball

Annee and Hayden will open up their softball and baseball seasons this week. Annee's first game is Saturday morning, while Hayden opens up on Thursday. Both have been looking pretty good in practice so far. Friday is Briarwood Derby Day. All second graders make stick horses and have their own Derby. We spent a good part of Saturday making Diamond Hawk and Chocolate Fudge. Most of the brick is now in place on the house and the drywall is up also. Need to pick paint colors this week.

Chocolate Fudge and Diamond Hawk

Picture from the dining room - living room is on left and the kitchen is to the right.

Hayden's room facing the hall.

The hall to the 4th bedroom which will be used as a TV room.

Annee's bedroom.

Master Bedroom

Master Bath

Progress

We have seen significant progress on the house recently including brick work, insulation, wiring, plumbing, and HVAC. Dry wall begins soon. Also below is a picture from Annee and Hayden singing at church yesterday. The picture is of poor quality but I get a big kick out of the blue robes.

The Last Hurrah

We wrapped up the vacation with a trip to the Verizon Center to catch the Wizards-Hawks game. The Hawks prevailed after being tied at the end of the 3rd quarter. It was a pretty good way to cap the trip. Everyone appreciated the chance to sit down for a bit also.

Pentagon Memorial

We did not explicitly plan to make a stop at the Pentagon Memorial but decided to swing by on our way back downtown after Mount Vernon. It was worth the stop. The stop brought back a couple of the most poignant images from our time in Washington. One was driving by the Pentagon and seeing the hole in the building where the plane hit. The other image was looking out my office and seeing the smoke from the building. While perhaps not as striking as some of the other memorials, it is quite impressive. The Memorial features 184 benches (one for each victim) that have been arranged according to the victim's ages, from 3 to 71. Each bench is engraved with the name of a victim. The benches representing the victims that were inside the Pentagon are arranged so those reading the names will face the Pentagon's south facade, where the plane hit; benches dedicated to victims aboard the plane face the other way.

Mount Vernon

We spent a good part of our Saturday at Mount Vernon, which is probably my favorite spot in the DC area. It has undergone huge changes since our last visit. They have added a new orientation center when you enter the grounds and a new museum and education center as you depart. We could have easily spent another hour or so there.

Heather, Annee, and Hayden with George, Martha, and their grandchildren

The building connected by the breezeway on the left was where the servants of guests to Mount Vernon stayed. The building on the right was the kitchen.

The greenhouse - the backside of the greenhouse included some of the slave quarters.

The view from the back porch.

Washington's first resting spot. A newer tomb was finished later.

The 16 sided barn.

Where it All Began

On the way to and from Mt. Vernon on Saturday we were able to take Annee and Hayden to where it all started for them. They saw the hospital where they were born and our apartment for the year. We spent quite a bit of time at that hospital since Heather had to make regular visits to Dr. Alessandro Ghidini after being diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Dr. Ghidini did good work and had a great accent.

In front of the entrance to the hospital. Annee and Hayden's hands are where they were snuggled up the last time we made a trip to this hospital. (They were much smaller then.)

Air & Space and Generous George's

We wrapped up our Friday with a trip to the Air and Space Smithsonian and dinner at Generous George's Positive Pizza and Pasta Place. Hayden liked the Air and Space Museum quite a bit. We'll probably need to spend a bit more time there on our next adventure to DC. On the way back to the hotel we ate at Generous George's. The original Generous George's (in Alexandria) was the first place that we took Annee and Hayden out to eat after they were born. We didn't make it to the original location, but they recently opened a location that was within about 5 miles of our hotel. It was a worthy substitute. They turned the Capitals hockey game on the big screen for Hayden and the pizza was very good! We even got back to the hotel for a quick swim.

Annee & Amelia

A toast at Generous George's

Ford's Theatre

After the American History Museum we made our way to Ford's Theatre for our tour there. They have significantly updated the museum since our last visit. This is also one of our favorite places in DC. The improved exhibits make it even better. Our tour fell on the 155th anniversary of Lee's surrender to Grant.

The Pertersen House where Lincoln died located across from Ford's Theatre.

John Wilkes Booth's gun.

Taking pictures can be more fun than being in them.