Gus Goes to Washington

This past week, Blake, Gus and I were in Washington DC for an ortho conference, but really we were there to see Blythe, Vaughn and Baby B. In fact, the only part of the conference that we went to was the opening ceremony to hear Frankie Valli play. Remember, I love Frankie. Too bad I thought it was going to be the real deal and it was just a fakester group. Oh well--I still sang along and even yelled to choose me when they came in the audience looking for someone to serenade. But instead of me, they chose the AAO President's wife. I'm sure I was a close second.
But really, it worked out perfectly that AAO was in DC this year--I am so happy Gus finally got to meet the remaining three members of the family. I think he is going to be good friends with Baby B. It's just too bad most of their time spent together was either being packed around in the bjorns or riding in their car seats. And remember how much Gus loves (cough--HATES) his car seat. Gus would mad scream and Braddock would happy scream right along with him. See--good friends, I tell you.

I was so excited to be in DC with just a little baby so we could go to all the museums and monuments without worrying about losing someone or a little hand breaking some valuable piece of history. And boy did we go all over! During the the 3.5 hot and incredibly humid days we were there, we went to the Holocaust, Native American, Natural History, American History, and 2 Air and Space Museums along with Arlington Cemetery, Iwo Jima Memorial, and up and down the National Mall.
One of the highlights of the trip was a professional tour of the Capitol from none other than Vaughn himself. He even scored us tickets to the Senate Floor (very, very hard to come by) and the House Floor. Blake invited some of his classmates along and we were all super impressed with Vaughn's knowledge of history. To quote a line from National Treasure, "What's one step below crazy?...Obsessed?...No, passionate!" And Vaughn is definitely passionate! It made me wish I remembered more from my American History class.

And wow did we eat some yummy food. Rays Hell Burgers, Good Stuff, Hard Times, Navajo Tacos at the National Museum of the American Indian, and Georgetown Cupcakes (my personal favorite). And even some Sushi place complete with octopus tentacles and salmon eggs. Here is Blake sampling some octopus. Can you see the suction cups? Nasty. But even I tried the salmon eggs that Vaughn accurately described as Fishy-Seawater Gushers. Blythe was the only wimpy/smart one that wouldn't give into the fun experience! :)

We had so much fun in DC. Vaughn, Blythe, Braddock, and Bonni were the best tour guides. Not only did Vaughn give us one incredible tour of the Capitol, but Blythe picked us up from the airport at a very, very late hour, they drove us all over their city, and even let us bunk with them when our hotel was over-booked one night. Plus, how many people do you know who would go this far to get a good picture?
Thank you, thank you! We can't wait to visit again!