Our Sick baby and the DC Double Decker Tour!

You can tell that poor Annie is not feeling good - her eyes are glassy and she's a bit pale but what a trooper this kid is! We went to Union Station to do the DC Duck Tour but it was REALLY expensive and so we all decided to do the Double Decker Tour bus instead - that way we could get off when we wanted and take our time if Annie was not feeling well! Wow did we run all day - several monuments and lots of walking and when we got home at 6 the kids begged to go to bed. Instead we fed them, let Ann sleep for a bit and then headed down for a night time swim. I highly recommend the bus tour to anyone - there are 18 stops and you get on and off when you want so you get to spend as much or as little time at each stop without dealing with traffic or directions. The buses come every 20 minutes. The one issue we had was loading and unloading kids and strollers because the stops were so quick - there would be no issue if I wasn't being a bit wimpy today with a back ache and baby Nola hanging out on my pelvic bone! Either way we had a great time and stil have all day tomorrow if we want to see anything else. We may make our way to the White House since Molly is dying to see it and we always make an excuse not to go there. Things are different since 9/11 but for some reason the kid thinks she is going to ask to see the president and he is going to walk out and give her a big hug. She may be the only one left willing to talk to him so who knows!

Loaded onto the Double Decker Bus and ready to see some sights.
Visiting the Capitol - the kids loved it!
The kids hugging on the lawn of the Capitol.
Had to get a close up of the big kids hugging. Annie was taking a little snooze at this point.
The fountain at the Capitol. Molly is really intrigued by all of the architecture and is mesmerized by all of the sites! I love doing this kind of stuff with her - at one point she said to me "Imagine how happy your eyes would be if you lived in Washington DC - there is so much to look at even when you are just driving in the car." She especially loved Lady Liberty - the bronze statue on top of the Capitol.
The kids thought it was funny that you can see the Washington monument from every site in DC.
My girl hanging out with mom at the Capitol.

Everyone knows how much i love to be in pictures but Molly asks incessantly for pictures with me - this is us at the Capitol waiting for the bus - she and I both love these kind of tours while Peter just wants to find a place to do handstands.
Peter and Molly on the top of the Double Decker Bus with Daddy!
Popsicle break for Annie at the Jefferson Memorial.
The kids had an italian Ice at the Jefferson memorial - we were trying to keep everyone hydrated!
My girl getting her hair wet in the sprinklers designed to water the floweres.

The kids getting drinks from the hoses watering the flowers - it was a hot hot day!
The Jefferson Memorial - the sign asks for respectful silence - I'm not sure Peter understood the meaning of that phrase. Molly was in the gift shop just prior to this and ran over to me to show me a snowglobe with the Capitol in it - she accidentally dropped it and the store owner was extremely mean about it - despite the fact that we kept saying that we would pay for it. He made her feel so bad and she was so embarrassed that she started to cry. When I bent down to hug her and tell her not to worry she wailed "I want Grammy. I miss Grammy!" I'm not sure what Grammy would have done but she insisted that it would have been better if Grammy came with us! The kids are starting to miss home alot and especially my parents - they need some loving this weekend when we get home! By the way - I did buy her a new globe and payed for the broken one on principle because they were so rude and nsty to my baby girl.
Kisses from Peter!
The kids resting on the columns at the Jefferson Memorial - incidentally the kids both kept saying that Auntie Karla would LOVE this one since the Declaration of Independence is all over the place and Auntie Loves it so much that she has it in her living room. Does Karla really have the Declaration in her living room? I never noticed!
The girls on the steps at the memoorial. I think this is classic Annie - 20 minutes earlier her temperature skyrocketted and we were forcing Tylenol down her throat. Molly was so goo with her today - hugging her, helping her to take medicine and just being really patient with her and us as we tried to take things slow and easy.

Annie taking a walk.
One of my favorite monuments is the World War II Monument - this is the kids in front of the waterfall with the Jefferson Memorial behind them.
Each state is represented at the WWII memorial and the kids quickly set out to find CT. Peter was touched by the meaning of the memorial and the fact that people from CT died in the war so long ago.
I thought it was cute when Peter was doing handstands on the lawn of the Washington monument.
We also stopped at a few other places - but the kids were exhausted and their parents were even more so. The plan for tomorrow is to possibly do the Holocaust Museum and the Bureau of Engraving (where they make the money). I aslo would love to go to the African American Art Museum but we need to see how Banana is doing. I love this city but we can't wait to get home and in our own beds. I can't beleive that in a little over a week it will be one year since Annie came into the world - is it possible that we all had lives before her? I asked Molly what we should do for Annie on her birthday and she said that we should all tell her 5 things we love about her. Molly had her five things all set to go; 1. I love how Annie gives big wet kisses. 2. I love that Annie is beautiful with honey colored hair (my mother in law coined that one and molly thinks it is great). 3. I love how Annie smiles when she sees her sister - especially when she gets up from her nap. 4. I love how Annie holds my hand when she walks and walks to me when Daddy lets go of her. 5. I love how Annie says I Wuv you but only I know when she says it because it still sounds funny! I thought it was cute that she was all set to go - Pete needs to think a bit more but I wrote all those things down for Annie's baby book.

Off to finish watching the DNC - we are in Washington after all. I just realized that we will have a new president by the time Nola is born - wow! The never ending election will finally be over!

GNM - ILY!