Cherry Blossoms

Last weekend our friends Troy and Micha, and their daughter Kim, visited from Philadelphia, which gave us an excuse to go tour the city with Audrey and Brennan. Luckily we were able to avoid a government shutdown, which would have rendered all of our plans useless. We spent Saturday at the Air & Space and Natural History Museums, and even caught some of the cherry blossom parade that morning. Just by chance we happened to park near what seemed to be the staging area for the parade participants, so we got to see a slew of marching bands and dancers, and the tail end of a couple of floats heading up the street. Sunday we headed down to the tidal basin, but only managed to catch about 50% blossoms and 50% leaves, so the trip was pretty unspectacular. Add the crisp 50 degree weather (when it was supposed to be 70), and you end up with only a little more than an hour of walking around before heading back home. Audrey got to see the Jefferson Memorial for the first time (Brennan wasn't really paying attention), and spent about 20 minutes climbing the steps and then hopping back down them.

Despite never meeting, Audrey and Kim (who's 5) made fast friends and spent most of the time almost inseparable. Most of their time in the house was spent playing in the basement or up in Audrey's room, drawing/playing with stickers, and otherwise pal-ing around. Kim even helped with some firsts for Audrey - head stands, playing dog and cat, and a ride in a simulator at the A&S museum which (much to our surprise), Audrey didn't want to leave.