White House with Baby & Weekend in DC!

During the last week of January, Cole was recruiting in DC so baby and I flew out to meet him for the weekend. It was my first solo flight with R! I packed tons of snacks, toys, and kept my fingers crossed for an empty seat next to us. Luckily, we hit the jackpot! It was an empty flight and we had the entire row to ourselves. I was able to carry on the car seat and he passed out just after take-off and slept the whole 2 hours to DC.

A view of Arlington as we flew into Reagan National Airport. You can see the apartment building where Cole and I used to live just below the wing in the photo below. I remember seeing and hearing airplanes all day and all night long when we lived there…it was so loud it would rattle our windows!

We had a fun morning in Georgetown. It was fun to be back on the hilltop this time with baby R. The last time I stood on the lawn in front of Healy Hall I was pregnant with him! We also had a great morning visiting the National Gallery of Art:

The Voyage of Life, painted by Thomas Cole in 1842, is a series of paintings that represent an allegory of the four stages of human life: childhood, youth, manhood, and old age.

Cole says he’s in this stage of life right now… should I be worried?

Cole says somehow the sculpture in the background makes more sense to him now.

The next day we enjoyed a morning tour of the White House followed by brunch at Old Ebbitt Grill. Some of our favorite rooms on the tour were the State Dining Room, East Room, and Blue Room. I also loved the view of the Washington Monument from across the Ellipse on the south side. There are 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, and 6 levels in the Residence. There are also 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases, and 3 elevators. While chatting with a secret service agent, we also found out the White House has a one-lane bowling alley, tennis and basketball courts, playground, swimming pool, and a movie theater. It was such a neat experience to be able to tour the White House together with Cole and baby R.