Christmas Day in Washington D.C.

'If you don't put on Yo Gabba Gabba I'm going to break everything in your house'

Christmas morning we woke up to a nice big breakfast, mimosas, coffee and presents! As I said we did not buy presents this year, just a few things for our baby, so it was extra nice to have things to open as it was very unexpected. My Aunt got my daughter an outfit and some wooden toys-my favorite! Bob was so thoughtful to get for her too, a gift just from him, a ring stack toy that she loved. It was so so thoughtful that they did have things for us to open...and they were so personal. My Aunt gave me a crab key chain and a crystal kitty that had belonged to my grandma. She gave my husband some pewter tiny soldiers which had also belonged to my grandma-since Joel was in the military she thought they ought to go to him. 

If it's a crustacean, it's something I love 

My grandma's crystal kitty

feeding her reindeer breakfast

 It was a little hectic since Bob and my Aunt were going to be spending the day with Bob's family and we were heading into D.C. and they had to prepare the food they were taking to the dinner that morning so I offered to make the flower arrangements. My intention was to teach my Aunt how to make them, she takes arrangements each year that she makes but she finds them lacking and I wanted to give her a few pointers. However my daughter did not like that my attention was not on her so it was more stressful than fun but it is so nice to work with flowers-it miss it so much!
       Our first stop was Arlington Cemetery. When we walked up to the Tomb of The Unknown Soldiers they had just begun the changing of the guard-it was dead silent and I was so worried our 1 year old was going to start yelling or screaming, but God bless her heart she was perfectly quiet the entire time. Going to Arlington on Christmas Day was on of the main reasons for this trip so I'm going to write a whole blog about it, but here are some of the pics.

Our next stop was the White House, I couldn't believe how crowded it was for being Christmas day! It was decorated beautifully and it was so cool to know that the President was there-it's not like the first family is going to spend the Holidays at the in-laws house. Directly across the 'street' there was a nice display of Christmas trees decorated with ornaments made from each state, there was also a very large train display and Santa's wood shop, he was not there-he left Christmas Eve. I really wanted to go over to the Washington monument so my daughter could run all around but she was getting hungry and we needed to find a bathroom. The drawback to visiting on Christmas Day was that all the museums were closed, so that also means no bathrooms or places to eat. We got in the car and I had to nurse the little one, it was so cool to nurse directly in front of the White House with the secret service police only a few yards away.

Had to check out the Michigan tree!

Our next stop was to the capitol because I really wanted to see the National Christmas Tree. It was hard to be impressed with the 65 foot tall tree because when it was next to the enormous Capitol Building it seemed so small-but I am glad we stopped, it was right next to the US Botanic Gardens anyhow, which was not only our next stop but the ONLY museum on the mall that was open.

I was SO happy we went to the US Botanic Gardens, it was stunningly beautiful, exuded Christmas, I got some great pictures, and I LOVE flowers so it was a perfect place to be on Christmas Day, I could have spent an entire day there and if I lived in the area I would LOVE to work there!

This is the prettiest tree I have ever seen, I want a yard full of them.

She was so excited to pet this golden retriever puppy

There were are few other things I wanted to do, but it was so hard to get my baby in and out of the car seat, the stroller in and out of the trunk, there was no where to eat or go to the bathroom and it had been a very big day for already for our one year old. I thought the city looked so beautiful with all the Holiday Decorations so I took some random pics.

I peer pressured Bob into wearing a Christmas Sweater