And so it begins...

About a year ago (or maybe it was two since time just seems to fly by lately) my aunt was showing me pictures from their European tour and she told me she tried to keep a daily journal/log of their activities so she remembered her trip.  This reminded me of my own childhood when we went our first and only trip to Disney and my mom made my sister and I keep a daily journal.  At the time I was irritated by the cumbersome task but as an adult I finally get the point. 

So in an attempt to remember this vacation for the next few decades - hopefully a journal will keep these memories fresh for years to come.

Today we began our vacation to Williamsburg.  We left at the bright and early hour of 5:00 A.M.  Xavier woke up for his 4:00 feeding and we were so excited to get vacation started we got right on the road and saw a beautiful sunrise on the way.  Trey did a great job in the car reading his maps, coloring, and playing with his transformers.

Around noon we arrived at our destination for today: Washington, D.C.  Chas (and of course Trey & Xavier) have never been to DC before and I felt it was about time they saw some highlights of the city.

We started our tour of the Mall with my personal favorite memorial: FDR.  We had read quite a few children's books with Trey about DC before we went to get him excited about what we would see.  FDR was one we talked about in the books and he was so excited to see this statue, the statue of the bread line, and the statue of the fireside chats.

After FDR we walked around the Tidal Basin, saw Jefferson from a distance, walked past MLK which was under construction, and arrived at the Washington Monument.  Trey was also excited to see this one and would happily point it out every time he saw it from the car as we were driving.  We thought it was funny how he kept calling it the "Capitol".  This is one of the first times I've stood next to the Washington Monument and I couldn't believe how huge it was up close.  Chas & the boys posed for a picture overlooking the Lincoln Memorial from the Washington Monument.  I was disappointed the Reflecting Pool was under construction...Chas didn't get nearly as nice of a view as there normally is from these memorials.

After the Washington Monument we walked through WWII and around the construction of the Reflecting Pool to Vietnam and then to the Lincoln Memorial.  Chas & Trey went up to the top and snapped a picture with the Washington Monument in the background.  After that we headed to Korea and then back to the car for some much needed A/C.

We tried to see the Air & Space after our tour of the Mall but after a few loops around and no open parking spots we gave up and headed to Pizza Mart for a jumbo slice of pizza.  Trey & I had watched an episode of Food Wars on the Travel Channel that featured Pizza Mart vs. Jumbo Slice and ever since Trey knew they were in Washington, D.C. he has wanted to get a jumbo slice of pizza.  When we opened the box we couldn't believe the huge slices of pizza that awaited us!  Xavier could use this slice as a blanket!

And I couldn't help getting this picture of Chas eating a slice of pizza that was bigger than his face!

So far it has been a great beginning to vacation and we can't wait to get some rest before we get to Williamsburg tomorrow!