For lack of better words: Dec in DC

We had a blast in DC last weekend. I had never been so we had to see all of the monuments. I knew there would be a lot of walking but I don't think I prepared myself for as much walking as we did. And I failed to take into consideration that I am now 22 weeks pregnant and I get tired so much faster than I used to. On the bright side of things, I probably burned enough calories to make up for all the sweets I've been eating at work this week :)

But I digress, DC was incredible. Our hotel was a couple blocks from the White House so that was our first stop on Friday. At first I wasn't too impressed. It didn't look quite like I remembered. This was the White House lawn? But there were the inaugural grand stands being built...getting ready for Jan 20. I think the actual inauguration is held at the Capitol building so I'm not sure exactly what will be here.

I am kicking myself for not taking picture of all the Obama paraphernalia. In every store there were buttons and magnets and cups and bobble heads and you-name-it of Obama. There were even t-shirts and hats with the whole Obama family on them. It was a little out of control.

Since my mission for the weekend was to get our picture in front of the National Christmas Tree for our Christmas cards, we walked around to the other side of the White House. This is where the tree was. Now this was more like what I imagined the White House lawn to look like!!

And here is the National Christmas Tree. What I didn't know...it's actually a live tree that was planted there in 1978.

This picture of Zach may give you an idea of exactly how cold and windy it was on Friday. Unbelievable! We both did a good job packing for the cold but when that wind was blowing all the layers in the world couldn't keep us warm.

This is the pond in front of the Lincoln Memorial looking out at the WWII memorial and then the Washington Monument behind it. Although they all were all very impressive, I won't bore you with all the monument pictures-- just a few of my favorites.

Inside the Lincoln Memorial... I need to learn Photoshop so that I can take those two guys out of the picture :)

By that point I was beat. But we took a cab over to the Arlington National Cemetery- our last stop before showers and food! And I'm so glad we did it. The Cemetery was amazing and so BIG!

JFK and Jackie O

That night we headed back to the Christmas Tree to get the shot for our Christmas cards. Here's the White House lit up at night.

And here's one of us in front of the tree with the Washington Monument in the back. You'll have to wait to see the pic for our cards. I just got the first batch out in the mail today. I'm running way behind :)

After lots of rest, we headed out on Saturday to check out a few museums and "the mall." Our first stop was the Jefferson Memorial. You can see the outline of his statue here in the middle of the building.

After a museum trip, lunch, and lots more walking, we made it down to the US Capitol. They were constructing stands for the inauguration here, too.

Here we are on the other side.

We did do the Capitol tour and thought it was well worth the time. This is the painting on the inside of the dome. George Washington is in the middle ascending into Heaven with goddesses standing for Liberty and Victory on either side of him. The other 13 maidens in the circle represent the original 13 colonies.