Washington DC Trip! Day One

Oh, where to begin?  Maybe with this, our selfie as we headed out- we had finally made it. DC bound!

We stayed in Wilson, NC the first night. Got up that morning and rocked the free breakfast like only a family of 8 can, and we were on our way. Violet fell asleep almost immediately, and so begins the life of a toddler on the road. Translation: she was tired. But she did great and really rolled with the schedule pretty amazingly.

I took a lot of photos of her sleeping. It was too cute.

Here she is while Jackson and Libby pass the time while playing cats cradle. 

We made it to our apartment in DC after getting groceries and then ate a quick dinner, loaded up and walked to the subway, ready to meet up with Christopher and Ranen Bennage, who were waiting at the Smithsonian stop on the National Mall. 

Excited to be on the subway! Getting a family of 8 paid for and legit was no easy task. This photo was our very first ride...shortly after we got off at our stop...all but Jackson that is. He didn't make it before the doors closed. They don't keep the doors open long enough for an 8 person family pushing a stroller!! But at least it was the 14 year old. He kept his cool and Ranen is actually the one who found him. 

All our people accounted for, we headed to the Washington Monument. 

We were all pretty excited to see it! And it's impressive even close up!!

After that we walked to the World War 2 Memorial. Which is beautiful. It began at this point, though, hard to really experience it with the many tourists and the task of making sure we didn't lose anyone. 

Now we headed to the Lincoln Memorial. 

We got a view of the Washington Monument from the other side. 

I told Juliet what to do with her hands and then just took one single photo. She had no idea. I love her. 

We made it up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It was full of people and school groups but I managed to gaze up at him and tried to take a moment to appreciate his service to our country. 

And then, we took a selfie. Managed to get everyone in. Good times. I'd like to think Lincoln would love it. 

After this we headed toward the Vietnam Memorial. This one is hard for little kids. I walked the youngest through quickly. You want to be quiet. It's overwhelming when you understand it.

We headed home after this, but had to stop by the Washington Monument once more because now it was dusk and it looked beautiful with the flags blowing and the lights. 

What a terrible photo, but hopefully it will help us remember how cool it looked. 

We were all tired of walking already but we made it home and geared up for another day!