Baby It's Cold Outside

We headed down to Washington DC in the pouring rain and checked into the JW Marriott Hotel. Our plan to see the National Christmas Tree was put on hold and we stayed and swam in the hotel pool instead.

Then off to the Wizards game. With our family, I think the attendance reached a max of maybe 23? J/K but seriously, the Wizards are pathetic! We thought they might win, but they managed to lose in the last two minutes. Good thing we enjoyed the hot dogs, wings and chips.

After an interesting night of musical beds, we awoke to no rain, but lots of wind. Brrrrrrr! It was chilly! Luckily, the White House was only a block and 1/2 away, but even then our feet were frozen by the time we got there!

                                     Civil War Monument by the Dept. of the Treasury

                                                         The National Christmas Tree

                                              See the White House in the background?

                                  Mikelle found the tree from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Syd and E loved watching the different train sets all around the National Tree. Here's Thomas!

We had thought of walking to the Sculpture Garden at the Nat'l Gallery of Art for ice skating, but due to the cold temperatures and our frozen feet, we opted for plan B. The kids saw the Spy Museum on the way to the Verizon Center last night, so we decided to head there. For a nice, warm, indoor activity! We found the Federal Triangle Metro and rode to Gallery Place. Luckily, we only had to wait in the outside line for the Spy Museum for a few minutes. Once we got inside, Syd volunteered to take the quiz to see who was the biggest James Bond Fan--their special exhibit was 50 years of James Bond Villains. Her first question: What kind of martini does 007 drink? With dad's help she answered a Vodka Martini-shaken not stirred. Correct! Her second question: In which James Bond film did the Aston Martin first appear? She answered "Dr. No" with assistance from a some by-stander who obviously did NOT know and dagger--Incorrect! The correct answer was "Gold Finger." The employee still gave her a prize for being so cute!

     
We all found something to like at the various Spy Museum exhibits and Logan really got into it! He could have stayed all day long! After some delicious wood fired pizza at a local eatery, we headed back to the hotel via the metro ... and then back to Ashburn via our one-horse-open-sleigh (Dan's car.)

Here are some of the beautiful decorations in the lobby. When we arrived, Syd said, "This hotel is a little too fancy for me!"

                                           Happy to be inside, warm and headed home.