Washington Square Park
Mr. Mota playing chess...his passion
Visiting a Chess Shop
Only tree that survived
Date Night!
Where Preston was given his first Knight and King
Fun toy stop!
Preston LOVED this dog!
Tough like daddy!
Reading time with mommy
Central Park
A whole new way of getting bunny ears in a pic!
One last pic in Times Square
Cutie
The White House
Cherry Blossoms
Vietnam Memorial
Picnic in the park
Lincoln Memorial
Jefferson Memorial
Front porch of The White House
Such a stud
And we ARE NO LONGER WALKING
Unbelieveable
My boys
Cheese!
Preston Time
Loved it
NEMO!
Watch out America!
Our Future President!
The Capitol
Supreme Court
More Cherry Blossoms
Perfect photo opp
Georgetown
With Steph and Gene
WOOHOO!
Time to go home!
We were all exhausted!
We just returned from a fabulous family vacation with Stephen's family. We all went to NYC and Washington DC. We started our venture in NYC. It was a fast couple of days, but we managed to get a lot in. We went to Washington Square Park where Mr. Mota was able to play chess and visit a few of the chess shops he wanted to see. All of the guys played chess and all won a game at The Village Chess Shop. We were also able to fit in the 9/11 Memorial which was a beutiful tribute to all lost in that terrible tragedy. That evening Stephen and I had a little date night and went to see Rock of Ages. It was a fantastic show! We had such a good time!! The next day we went to Central Park, FAO Schwartz, the Statue of Liberty, Canal street and of course made another stop in Times Square. We had a great time in NYC, but had planned to spend the majority of our vacation in DC since none of us had ever been there.
The next morning we woke up bright early and took a train to Washington DC. Once we got to town we ate at Old Ebbitt's Grill across from the White House and then walked by the White House. That afternoon we spent time walking around town and getting aquainted with the city. We during the Cherry Blossom Festival. Unfortunately mosty of them were already gone, but we did manage to find a few still in beautiful bloom! We hit up the Spy Museum that afternoon and then went to a bar called POV that overlooked the White House at night. What a view!
The next day we woke up ready to hit up all of the National Monuments. We first made a stop at one of the Smithsonian museums where we saw beautiful china of past presidents. Then our monument tour began! We went to The Washington Monument, then walked to down to the WWII Memorial. After that we stopped for a nice picnic in the park, so much fun! Preston had a ball running around. After we filled our belly's we headed toward the Vietnam Memorial. This was a special stop where we were all able to stop and thank the Lord for bringing Mr. Mota home safely! After some good reflection time, we headed off to the Lincoln Memorial, then around to the Korean War Memorial, MLK Memorial, FDR Memorial and way over to the Jefferson Memorial. Needless to say our feet were hurting, and we were officially EXHAUSTED after that day of walking! That evening we ended our long day with a delicious meal at The Capital Grille. DELICIOUS!
The following day we went to the Pentagon and the Pentagon Memorial. After that we headed to Arlington National Cemetery where we saw JFK's grave along with some of his families burrial sites. We were also able to see the changing of the guards at the Tomb of the Unknowns. We were also able to tour Robert E. Lee's home which had an absolutely amazing view. Following our day of Memorials, we took a cab to see Iwo Jima. Then we headed to Georgetown for a fantastic meal at a great Italian restaraunt called Filomena. It was completely decked out for the Easter Holiday.
Thursday we decided it was time for Preston to have a little fun, so we took him to the National Aquarium. He loved seeing all the fish especially NEMO! After that we did some more site seeing around town. We saw the U.S Capitol and The Supreme Court. We ended our day at the Capitol Brewery which was lots of fun.
Friday we thought was going to be our departure day, but our flight was cancelled. This actually worked out to our benefit because we were scheduled to do a tour of the White House that day and were unsure if we were going to be able to make our flight. Some things just happen to work out! We went to tour the White House which was the highlight of our trip! Such a neat tour seeing a lot more of the White House than I ever thought they would show. We also got to see them setting up for the National Egg Roll they have for Easter. It was a really neat tour! Following that Stephen and I headed back to Georgetown for some shopping and met up with Steph and Gene for a good night out at Mr. Smith's Piano Bar. So much fun!
Saturday morning we caught a flight home. It was truly an amazing trip! Preston was great on the flight there and had his very own seat coming home, he was BIG STUFF! He was such a trooper through the whole trip, we couldn't be more proud. What a great time with wonderful family. More great memories to cherish forever!
