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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Highlights from Peter's 8th Birthday Party

Around the beginning of October, Peter told me what he wanted to do for his 8th birthday party.  He wanted to take his best friend to Washington, D.C. to visit the Smithsonian.

My sister-in-law Cathy, lives in Alexandria, VA which is a suburb of D.C. so I knew we would have a place to stay.  I got the o.k. from my husband, from Cathy, and from Colton's mom and we had a party scheduled!

We left as soon as my husband got home from work on Thursday night.  We arrived at Cathy's around midnight.  We were up at at 'em early on Friday morning.

We visited the Museum of American History and the Museum of Natural History.  The kids rode the Metro with Cathy. We went to Peter's favorite Mexican restaurant, La Lomita, for dinner.  We took a Ghost Tour through Alexandria and then we called it a day!

On Saturday, we went to the Farmer's Market in Alexandria, Arlington National Cemetary where we saw the changing of the guard ceremony and the changing to the wreath ceremony.  We visited the Iwo Jima Memorial and we went to the Air and Space Museum. Then we headed back to Aunt Cathy's for dinner and cake and presents. 

And finally on Sunday we went to church and headed back home. Whew!  We packed a lot in but it was a great weekend.  The weather was wonderful.  We got to visit three Smithsonian Museums (4 if you count our visit into the original building where John Smithson's remains are kept in a crypt) and we got to see a lot of other great sites.

Colton said it was the best birthday party he had ever been to.  I would have to agree!











10 comments:

beth said...

That is so cool! That Peter sure does know how to party!! :)
You guys are so lucky to live in the part of the country that you do. I have never been out of the Northwest, and I would love to visit someplace with history some day. I'm afraid, though, that if I ever did visit the East coast, I would never want to leave!!
Hope you have a great day!
Beth.

kim said...

we were there recently too and no matter how hard you try you can never see it all in DC. We spent the whole day in one musuem and only saw a small part of it.

Mari said...

That's a great party! I would have loved it too. :)

Kimberly said...

What an awesome idea Mr. Peter had! Not only was it fun, but it was educational. In the future when he sees images of DC, he can think back and say "I saw that on my birthday".

I've seen the changing of the guard...how cool that you were there Veteran's weekend! Makes it even more special.

Looks like you all had a fun weekend.

Pam said...

Wow, what a great birthday trip! I think that getting to go someplace special is one of the best birthday presents, and the memories will last much longer than physical gifts. Colton and Peter are fortunate to have such a great friendship!

jennwa said...

The pics are great, I need to get copies.
Colton had the best time ever. He was so lucky to be included. Thanks for taking such good care of my baby.He has the best Auntie Beth ever.
Thank you too Aunt Cathy.

jennwa said...

Why is my kid picking the statue's nose? That is so Colton !

Michele Gibble said...

How cool! Jared has been saying he wants to go to DC. He is really into historical stuff. I think its great that our kids are interested in educational and cultural things at such a young age.

Heather said...

Love this idea! and i love that your BFF's son is your son's BFF;o)

Wendy said...

You're such a great mom! When I saw you guys were doing this I thought that it was such a great idea. I wish you had been my BFF's mom when I was 8 :)