Washington DC Day 2

Today our crew spent the day at the National Zoo - and it was wild!

The main highlight of our trip was seeing the pandas!  We spent a lot of time in the Panda Pavilion and visited with the one year old baby panda and his parents.

We saw the elephants, gorillas, lions, tigers and monkeys.

We rode our favorite animals on the carousel

Our Monkeys Monkeying Around!

 After almost 6 hours at the zoo, we got home and the kids partied like animals in the hot tub!

 Here is our educational video for the day

Washington DC Day 1

Today our adventure in DC with the Rodgers began.

The kids were thrilled that the house we are staying at was covered in snow.  So, before anything, they played in the snow for hours!  They had snowball fights and made a snow family.

Finny and the Girls

After snow play (and dry clothes) we went to the metro and headed into the city

We had a delicious lunch at The Old Ebbitt Grill

and headed to the White House.  

After the White House, we took a walk to the Washington Monument.  We had tried to get tickets to go inside the monument, but they were sold out all week.  Instead, we settled on going to the base of the monument and talking to the rangers about the structure and it's history.  

 

When the boys had asked the Ranger a bunch of questions, she told us to quickly gather our group.  She gave us such a wonderful gift, by letting us in and to the top of the monument with no tickets!!

We saw the amazing view from the top, got to see the beautiful reliefs on the inside of the elevator shafts, and learned about the history from the rangers inside.  It was such a one of a kind experience, and we were so thrilled to have had it.

 Although the fountains were off, we enjoyed the WWII Memorial 

and then saw the Lincoln Memorial!

The view from the Lincoln Memorial  

 Our final stop of the day was the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial. We explained the boys the significance of the memorial, and they were sure to show it the respect it deserved.

It was such a special first day in DC. 

The boys are making educational videos for their class each day to share with them what we've learned:

Masterpiece Monday

Sully's Cat in the Hat Creation!

Valentine's Day

This Valentine's Day kept us busy busy!

I got up early this morning to get the boys their favorite Valentine's Donuts and we all had a special breakfast together.

By 9 am, we were at Patrick and Finn's last basketball game of the season.  The boys had an awesome game and then after received their awards and celebrated with their team.

After basketball, Gill took over with the boys and took them all (along with a friend) to Monkey Joe's for a birthday party while i headed uptown with Rebecca.  We participated in a fun, unusual, Valentine's Run.  It was the Cupid's Run, to raise funds for The Children's Tumor Foundation. 

 Everyone there ran… IN THEIR UNDERWEAR!  

Yes, it was crazy.  Yes, it was fun.  But most importantly, it was for such a great cause.  

One Day, Two playdates!

This morning was a boys morning.  Patrick and Finnegan each had a buddy from school over to play.  Sully went to play with his neighborhood friend, Gabriel.  The big boys played video games, built legos and even made clay models.  When Sully came home, he joined in the fun for a while before we had pizza delivered for all the dudes.

Almost immediately after the boys left, Bridget and Emily arrived!

The kiddos all played Super Heros and made lots of Valentines.

Sully's Valentine's Party

Today, Sully celebrated Valentine's Day at school.  

He insisted that we bring Ms. Gloria and Ms. Carol red roses!

 I helped with his class party and brought all the classmates heart balloons

 The kiddos did a craft and enjoyed Valentine's cupcakes

 In a class with 13 girls, these 3 sweet dudes have to stick together!

 It feels very strange to think that this is the last preschool Valentine's Day I will celebrate with my boys.  I love watching my boys grow up, but I really wish I could freeze these sweet, special moments in time.