Pigtails and D.C.

Last weekend Joe had an opening at the Arlington Arts Center in Arlington, Virginia. We planned on going to the opening since we live about 3 hours away. We decided that it would be fun to make a weekend out of it, so we did. We left Friday early afternoon so we could make it to the opening by 6:00. The drive wasn't too bad until we hit D.C. traffic and of course both of the girls decided to cry/whine. I say cry/whine because Olivia was legitimately crying due to hunger and Elise was just whining b/c Olivia was crying. So up until the last 45 minutes (with traffic) the ride was perfect. We arrived to the opening a little late, but what artist doesn't make a late appearance? Anyway, Joe's work was displayed beautifully - right in the center of the gallery. During the opening Joe was interviewed by NPR and a D.C. critic, which is super cool! We're not sure when anything will be aired, or published, so we'll keep you posted. Anyway, after the show we headed back to our hotel which Elise referred to as the "Princess Castle". We got up on Saturday and took our time getting ready. We headed down to the National Mall and went into the Museum of Natural History. Elise was a little afraid of the dinosaurs, but Joe loved them! After we looked around that museum, we decided to walk over to the Museum of American History. This was the JACK-POT! Dorothy's ruby slippers were there from Wizard of Oz. Elise went nuts! She exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! Those are the ruby slippers that the witch wants. They're beautiful!" She told Olivia all about them - too bad Olivia was sleeping. It was awesome! We then had lunch outside and headed back to the hotel. We played around the grounds at our hotel for awhile. They were gorgeous - the perfect time for tulips! After running around a good bit, we went back upstairs to clean up. We decided we were all too pooped to head out for dinner, so we ordered pizza instead. Elise thought it was great to eat in our princess room. The next morning Elise woke up and wanted pigtails. This was our first time trying out pigtails. Elise's hair isn't that long and it is curly, but I was up for the challenge. As you can see from the pictures, it was a little slicked and the part was a bit off, but it worked. Anyway, we figured she wanted pigtails because we were heading to the zoo and "Bindi from the Jungle" (a show she watches) has pigtails. I've never been a huge fan of zoos, but I have to say this was a very nice zoo and we had so much fun watching Elise. After a very long and tiring weekend, we headed back to Morgantown. The drive back was much easier because everyone slept almost the entire way. Our trip ended with Elise telling us she had to use the potty. Joe calmly got off the ramp, but of course the exit we took didn't have anyplace to go potty right off the ramp, so Elise took her first pee in the trees (first of many I'm sure). Hope you enjoy the pictures, our babe Olivia is ready to eat!