Washington D.C.

We arrived in D.C. around 6 and decided to go walking.  The weather was wonderful, just a light jacket needed.  The metro was directly across the street from our hotel and so we hopped on and did a walking tour with the kids of all of the monuments.  We walked around while looking for a place to eat.  There was no where to eat.  Nothing.  Everything was closed.  But we kept on searching. The kids were serious troopers.  They never complained.  We had a ton of snacks - back at the hotel.  So, we were just cruising around, looking for food and enjoying all of the monuments.  We hadn't intended to be out all night, so we didn't even take the good camera.  We just had our phones - and they were acting funny - so the picture taking became a frustrating futile exercise but we plugged on and came away with a few keepers.

But after a bit, you realize - I'm STARVING!  So, we decided we needed to just hurry up and find a restaurant.  Here's where it got a little tricky.  We got lost trying to find a metro station and ended up on some seedy backstreets.  The kids and I were playing games, which seemed to occupy them.  Cooper was asleep in his stroller, Addison practiced skipping, while she and the boys and I alternated between, Name That Tune, I SPY, I'm Going on a Trip and I'm sure there were more. Marc was just on the trail for food.  We have a saying in our family when someone gets really hungry and turns ornery... "FEED THE BEAST!"  Well, we needed to FEED THE BEAST!  But by the time we made it to a metro station, that was actually up and running, it was so late.  We got back to our hotel and it was midnight.  We had been walking for nearly 6 hours on empty stomachs!!!! And everything was closed.  There wasn't even anything at the hotel to buy and eat.  So, we made it back to our room, where we had breakfast bars and tap water for our dinner.  It was rather pathetic and we vowed never to let it happen again.  But I must say, I am still mighty proud of my kids, who even though they were starving too, kept it positive and made it a fun night.  It was definitely a memorable one!

The following are the pictures that made it and I've even tacked on a little video - just to entice you to make it to the end.