A Capital 4th

Andrew and I had the opportunity to spend the Fourth of July in our nation's capital this year. More importantly, we got to meet the newest member of the family...my sister Abby's newest little one, Baby Cate!

Aunt Alison loves a little newborn. Just look at this sweet, sweet baby. We bonded. It was like being four years old and holding my new baby sister Abby all over again (except this time I wasn't ragingly jealous of the attention this new little critter was stealing from my parents, whom I had previously had all to myself). So...much better!

Here we are with new big sister Mary Caroline!

Anyhoo, my primary reason for the trip was to go meet my new niece and hang out with MC, but somewhere along the way we decided it might be fun for Andrew to come along as he is old enough to be helpful to a sleep-deprived new mom by entertaining her active two-year-old. And as my dad (whose secret ambition is to be a DC tour guide) would be in town as well, we figured Andrew could visit a few monuments and museums with him.

Andrew took his trip to DC very seriously. We got books and videos from the library in the weeks leading up to the trip so he could study up on his monuments, history, and what have you. He is a nerd child after my own heart.

Poppa Keith and Andrew toured the Air & Space Museum together one day and then headed in with the whole clan (except for me and Baby Cate) to see the "dice-o-saurs" (MC talk) at the Natural History Museum the next day. Unfortunately the only picture they came home with was one of Andrew eating ice cream next to some flowers. ??? It could have been taken anywhere in America...like in our front yard. Clearly I was going to have to take the boy into DC myself to get some pictures that would prove he'd actually been there.

Andrew at the Lincoln Memorial.

We also made sure to visit the World War II Memorial. Two of Andrew's great-grandfathers and a great-great uncle served in WWII. We were able to look up their names in the register there. Here is Andrew at the Ohio pillar in honor of his Great Grandfather Arthur.

Washington Monument. We were not about to climb up that thing in 90-degree heat.
The White House. Andrew kind of thought we might see President Obama. Not so much.

Uncle Adam made quite the impression on Andrew. Andrew "invented" a racecar in the backyard, which, according to him, took three people to run. Hmmm, I only see one person running this car...

Uncle Adam also dragged out MC's bouncy house for the kids. Good times!

Sadly, we have no photographic evidence of Uncle Adam's most fabulous accomplishment: the Fu-Manchu mustache he grew to impress Andrew. Take my word...it was awesome.

On the Fourth of July, Andrew had a special treat: the opportunity to see the fireworks in DC from a coveted spot on the roof of Aunt Cara's work building. What follows is a series of extremely tiny pictures from the night.

Andrew and Uncle Jordan in the Metro

Andrew with Aunt Cara

Andrew and I were so sad to leave MC and Cate, but we had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend that we will not soon forget.