mister man goes to washington.

[and me. and baby z. obviously. we all went to washington, d.c.!]

in all truth, we took this trip about a month ago now. we had been thinking about taking a trip for a long time, since it's been about a year since we've gotten away from st. paul. and that's just too long. we tried for a fall trip, but it got away from us, and so i tasked the husband with planning a march trip for us as a surprise. so he planned us a lovely ski trip to northern minnesota. and then i got pregnant. and as it turns out, skiing (or more, specifically, falling down while skiing) is not on the recommended list of activities for us preggos. back to the drawing board.we happen to have a lot of close friends who have relocated to the east coast over the past few years (still waiting for you guys to come back), and we haven't had many chances or the budget to visit them yet. so it came to us that we should start our journeys out east with a trip to washington, d.c., where we could see a few people who live in the area, and spend some extra quality time with these kids. i hopped online, scored us some cheap tickets, confirmed that we had a place on their floor to crash, and we were off.

 [baby z. and uncle sam's first photo! <3]

[it was a little chilly, hence the hoodie in all the photos.]

Mister Man had never been to washington, d.c. before, and i haven't been since i was about 15, so we were all about being the quintessential tourists. show us ALL THE MONUMENTS! let's just say we did our fair share of walking and sightseeing, baby z. was quite the trooper with the long days we had. plus, it was so much fun to watch MM see all these famous sites for the first time, and it was so fun to see them as an adult for myself.

[get out of the way sam! we're trying to take a photo of a fake castle!]

[leave me alone, i had to.]

my favorite part of the trip by far was the day we walked around the national mall. i'm not kidding you guys, we saw EVERYTHING. the supreme court, the capitol, the natural history museum, the air&space museum, the washington monument, the jefferson memorial, the fdr memorial, the mlk jr. memorial, the lincoln memorial, and the vietnam memorial. i couldn't feel my feet after that day, but it was so worth it. there is so much history and reverence in all those places, and for a history nerd like myself, a full day is even too short to soak everything in.[gallery type="rectangular" ids="2951,2950"]

[their album cover.]

we also saw a lot of the neighborhoods in the city, and i don't know how you'd ever decide which one to live in! there are great restaurants and markets in a lot of them, and each one has a very distinct "personality" (because neighborhoods are like people, they can be temperamental, and you need to make sure you like their personality along with their looks). so fun.

[we were very sad that the reflecting pool was drained. but you must take the photo anyway.]

i have to mention that we had some fabulous tour guides in sam and kari, they are the MOST gracious hosts and such wonderful friends. they walked around with us to places they have already seen many times, showed us their favorite parts of the city, and they even gave us their own bed to sleep in for goodness sake!! everyone needs friends like them.

[two pregnant erins!]

so with the exception of a quick cabin trip or two this summer, that was our last trip before the two of us become three. and it was everything we wanted it to be. seeing a new place, enjoying old friends, relaxing just enough. it actually made me excited to take a first trip with our little one, i love exploring with Mister Man, and i know showing our child new places is going to be so dear to my heart.

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