Tourists In Our Own Town!

Being a tourist in your own town is a lot of fun! And even more so if "your own town" just happens to be our nation's capital! (Okay, technically, for us--it is not. But, since we can drive from our house to D.C. in less than a half hour, we think it still counts!)

So, today, we took off on an adventure to see the cherry blossoms in full bloom!
We began our journey at 9:30 am. Here we are just outside of Dunn-Loring station, about to board the METRO! (As you can see from this pic, Elizabeth is very excited about this, while Ashley is just trying to hunker down for her morning nap in peace!)
First stop: The gardens at the Smithsonian Castle...


Then we walked down the Mall right by the Washington Monument...

And stumbled onto a rugby match in progress (no, seriously! It was a total coincidence!)...
Enjoyed the picturesque beauty of the cherry blossoms...
Stopped to smell the flowers in the Tulip Library...
Took pictures of the Jefferson Memorial... Ate lunch under the cherry blossoms surrounding Washington's Tidal Basin...



Walked back up the Mall toward the Capitol (while both girls took a nap in the stroller!)...


Stopped to enjoy the fountains outside the American Indian Museum...



Rode the carousel in front of Smithsonian Castle (Warning: DO NOT watch this video if you are prone to motion sickness! For some reason, viewing of the video is much worse than being on the actual ride!)




And, finally, we stopped to appreciate one last fountain at the Smithsonian Castle gardens!

All in all...it was an exhausting and very fun-filled day of sightseeing, crowds, and beautiful weather! WOOHOO!!!