More D.C. - Area Outings

Here are many pictures from the past 2 weeks. After the Cardinals rain-out, we went back to the Nationals game the next night. This time they played the Astros. It is so different from being at a Cardinal game. The stadium was so empty. Jack was thrilled that he could run up and down the many empty aisles near us, though. They had this tribute to Stan Musial at the Nationals stadium.

Jack didn't pay much attention to the baseball game.

Later that week we went back to the surgeon and he took the stitches out of Jim's chin, above his lip, and his forehead. He also took the cast off his nose. It was a big improvement. That weekend we headed to the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. We rented a cabin in the mountains and did some hiking. It was nice to relax; just the three of us.

Jack wanted to hike up to the edge of the cliff with his Daddy.

Family picture on tree stumps:

As we were driving to our cabin, three deer walked along the road beside us. We were able to drive closer and closer and they didn't even run away!

Later that night, after we put Jack to bed, Jim and I sat on the cabin's porch and played cards. Three deer came within 20 feet of us (probably the same three) and weren't scared at all. Jim and I were amazed.

Here's our cabin (we had the left half):

Sunday morning we went on a hike along the Appalachian Trail.

Snack break

On Monday, we went down to the Mall. We got to see the Lincoln Memorial.

We also saw the Washington Monument and the Vietnam Memorial

Jack wanted to get up close to Abe.

He settled for a more distant view.

We met up with Tim and Aimee for a bit. They are in town for National Police Week. That's the White House in the background.

Now we are a little closer to the White House.

Monday night we moved to a hotel in Arlington. Jim had a conference there, so it was closer than staying in Maryland and commuting each day. Jack really enjoyed looking at himself in the hotel mirror.

On Tuesday, Jack and I went to the Zoo. Here Jack is watching some gazelles. A teacher who was there with her class' field trip kept telling the students the gazelles were goats. I wanted to correct her because I didn't think the kids should be misled, but I didn't think it was my place. Clearly, they are not goats!

We got to see a baby gorilla with her momma.

The zoo had a system of cables called the O Line in which the orangutans can climb along. It was so cool to see. I didn't get any pictures of the orangutans on the wires, but here are some of the O Line, with a couple orangutans in the tower.

Wednesday night we went to historic Alexandria. Jack and I met a couple from Kirkwood on the trolley. It's such a small world! We met up with Jim by the waterfront and then walked to dinner. Jack enjoyed looking at the boats.

Thursday, Jack and I went to the National Air and Space Museum. He really enjoyed all the planes.

This is the Wright Brothers' plane. Last night Jim's friend Ben came to our hotel and watched Jack so Jim and I could go to a dinner with his colleagues. It was really nice to get out without Jack for a while. We enjoyed dinner without chasing after a two-year-old. Today is our last day and we plan to get on the road in a few hours for our long journey home.