A LITTLE TRIP TO DC

We are still trying to recover from the weekend over here. Ken caught a cold and Logan seems to have undergone a sleep personality change - she is waking up too many times in the middle of the night - but we are getting through these early days of the week knowing that Christmas is just ahead! I've been at work the past couple of days, marveling at my ability to function and suspecting a higher power. Just the resurgence of love that fills me up when I see my girls in the morning, no matter how tough the night before, is a testament to some sort of wonder and mystery. 

We pulled off a short trip to DC, and sure enough, as soon as our feet hit the pavement and started walking the city streets, I felt invigorated.  Walking through the city has that effect on me, and I consider it just as necessary for my soul as a hike through the forest.  Both prompt soul swells that exercise my perspective. We got to eat lunch at Buredo (sushi burritos!), visit the Wonder exhibit at Renwick gallery, stop by Milk bar (cereal milk ice cream!), walk through the holiday market, sip on hot toddy's at a nearby bar, eat dinner at Shack Shack and watch the Wizard's win at the Verizon Center.  All in a day's work my friends. The best part of it were the family and friends we got to see; it made the day feel fat with love.

We love having my cousin Lois visiting with us.

My sister made this headpiece for Logan!

Ken had never been to the White House before. Neither had Sloane, so it was both of their first times.

That time Eunice and I realized we bought the same coat ...And we found it extra funny that Sharon would never have that problem. I love my sisters.

This face! So good. 

Somehow Sloane managed to find a stick in the city streets of DC to play with.

We walked by this building and I did a double-take. It is so beautiful. It's a huge building in a style that stands out from all the other buildings in that area. I looked it up later when I got home and it is the Eisenhower Executive Office Buildings and it was built in the 1880s in the style of the French Second Empire. 

You guys, the Wonder exhibit at the Renwick gallery is amazing. They have these giant instillations that are visually and spatially stunning. That and the fact that it isn't too big and there are plenty of bathrooms - makes it a great place to visit with kids..I would love to go back. 

A rainbow made out of strands of embroidery thread.

There was a room where the installation was on the ceiling so you could lay on the floor to look up at it. I think it was Ken's favorite room.

There were these handmade ornaments made out of gourds at the holiday market and Sloane was obsessed with them - especially the ones that had a nativity scene inside. I have been telling her the Christmas story over and over again and so it is vivid in her mind. She wanted to look at every single one!

We stopped into a bar that advertised hot toddy's and Sloane got a maraschino cherry. 

This is us pre-burger. You guys, these girls are so cute I have to restrain myself from gobbling them up.

Sloane was really into the game and events this year - which is so fun. And she loved the jersey that our friend Eugene got her. She kept asking if she can also wear it in the summer.

And this is her in the bathroom afterwards, practicing her jumps, just like the basketball players. 

(our trip to DC two years ago....look at Ken's hair!)