4th o' July

The 4th was a good one this year.  It was the first in years that I wasn't working, and that's because I asked for it off, and magically got it.  It's actually one of my favorite holidays, so I was really excited about it.

A co-worker of Wolfgang's asked if we wanted to BBQ and watch the fireworks with him and his wife, and we gave a big YES.

It went surprisingly well; the company we knew we already liked and would enjoy, but it was questionable in the fact that both them and us (bad grammar?) didn't really have any idea what we were doing, since it was both of our first 4th in DC.

Somehow we found a parking spot at a park in DC, picked out a good spot to camp out for the next several hours, and had a good time eating a lot and having fun.

A couple of firsts also happened:

1) Apparently in DC they patrol such holidays with low flying police and military helicopters, equipped with people leaning outside of the doors with guns.

2) I saw my first ever fireflies! They're cute.

 Our view

The Washington Monument poking out- currently under construction

Next two photos taken from our friends

I don't know either.

What's been up

Last weekend we had planned to go into DC to see the famous Cherry Blossoms, but knew that they were a little behind their expected schedule due to cold weather, so instead we went to the kite festival ad the DC Monument.

There were literally hundreds of kites, and thousands of people!  It was a gorgeous day in the 60s, and there was even "kite sport" competitions.  I loved watching the older men dancing around to make their kites soar, it warmed my heart.

And watched this kid go to TOWN on the snacks while the rest of the family nowhere nearby. Yes, I did take a picture of him. I'm a creeper like that.

After some time at the festival, we then walked over to the magnificent Jefferson Memorial.

And for Easter we didn't do really anything big to celebrate.  Just when I was getting over my cold, it hit hard again on the holiday, AND it was the first time I had a Sunday off from work in weeks. Boo!

However, we were visited by the Easter Bunny(ies)

And last but not least, Wolfgang had a true American experience: microwaving Peeps.  Because let's be honest, Peeps are nasty, so they were being thrown away anyway.

Your tax dollars at work {play}

Since you and I {don't even get me started on Maryland's taxes. ugh!} are paying for the free fun things to do in DC, Wolfgang and I decided it was time to hop on the metro again yesterday, and head to Smithsonian's National Zoo.

It was nice to be outside, together, and away from work. Working on Valentine's Day week/weekend is hell, when you work in a spa.

Since it is the winter, quite a few of the animals were not outside to look at because it's too cold for them, or their habitats were being renovated.  However, we were still able to see lions, and tigers, and panda bears....and some other creatures.  We decided it'd be better to come back when it's warmer.

Here are some pictures of some of the animals we saw.

Bad A's.

 The little guy on the bottom was clapping! cute.

Cutie Patutie.

This weekend: DC and the temple

This past Saturday we finally made our way back to DC for round two!  We hopped on the metro and off we went, this time our destination was The Capitol, The Library of Congress, and Botanical Gardens.

Started off at the botanical gardens, which was kinda cool. Made us feel like we were in a mini concrete Hawaii, haha. They had some sort of toy train exhibit that had a big line to see; If my dad were there with us I knew he would have loved it, but since he wasn't, we didn't bother doing that part.

Next (and next door)  was The Capitol.  It was beautiful and massive!  Much better than the White House, although I'm sure I would think differently maybe if you could get closer to it (white house). I think we went at the perfect time of day, because the lighting was nice as the sun was going down, and we got to enjoy the big Christmas tree in the front too.  We also enjoyed walking around in the Library of Congress!  That was absolutely beautiful.  I only wish that we could have gone in the actual library part! You could only observe it through a high floor through glass, like a creeper.  I don't believe that it is open to the public, plus it was close to closing time, so we didn't have much time to find out anyway.  Oh well, we can always go back another time.

While in the Library of Congress, we went in the "Ancient America" (or something close to it) exhibit, which was pretty cool.  Sorry no pictures, because it wasn't allowed.  But I have to say that I was in heaven, because there were so many historic MAPS!  In case you don't know, I'm currently obsessed with maps and globes. I told Wolfgang if we were ridiculously rich, I would potentially collect maps and globes as a weird hobby.

I just love how the lighting turned out on this one 

Library of Congress

Then yesterday, we took some missionaries to the "Festival of Lights" at the DC temple, where we enjoyed the newly done hip and tech savvy visitor's center, some Christmas music, nativities from all over the world, etc. It was a pretty night with some fog hanging around the spires of the temple.

So, are you convinced to come visit me yet?

Washington D.C.

Last Saturday, we hopped on the metro and headed to D.C.!  It was very exciting because it was the first time for both of us.

We had a bit of a late start so we only saw a small portion of what it all has to offer, but we enjoyed it all.  It's incredible the time, effort and talent it took to create all the monuments.  This is what we saw:

The White House

 It's actually not as big as I thought it was.  Don't get me wrong it's big, but it's not humungous like I thought. Although I'm sure it's massive up close!


Washington Memorial (Hard to miss)
 

 

WW2 Memorial

Korean War Memorial

Vietnam War Memorial

Abraham Lincoln Memorial

All of these memorials were truly incredible.  It kinda makes me want to re-learn about my country's history.  I look forward to returning to DC and to see all the other things it has to offer!