Mr. Elliot Goes to Washington

This weekend Elliot made his first trip to Washington, D.C. - my hometown. It was a busy weekend for all of us!!! On Sunday we drove straight to Silver Spring, MD to meet Elliot's great grandmother, Mom-mom. She was very happy to see us and loved spending time with Elliot. She proudly introduced him to other residents in her community and enjoyed watching him crawl around and explore her apartment. We took Mom-mom to lunch at McDonald's, her pick, and much to Mom-mom's delight, Elliot was all smiles and silliness during our meal.

After our visit with Mom-mom we checked into the Hotel Palomar in Rosslyn (a Virginia locality directly across the river from Georgetown). The hotel was very nice and brand new, so I didn't mind letting Elliot crawl around on the floor. Once again, he enjoyed having a new place to explore. He especially like standing up against and looking out the floor to ceiling windows. After a short rest we headed to Clarendon, two short Metro stops away, for dinner with Frank Curcio. Frank is a dear family friend, and was one of my father's closest friends. We had an excellent meal with Frank and the Boulevard Woodgrill, and once again Elliot was on his best behavior!

After a long day of fun and excitement, Elliot was a bit wound up and didn't want to go to bed. He finally fell asleep at 10 PM! At least he slept in until 8:00 AM on Sunday, which was actually quite nice for me and Brian. After breakfast at the hotel, we packed up our stuff and checked out. We opted to leave the car at the hotel and hopped on the metro to explore D.C. We got off at the Smithsonian stop and walked around the Smithsonian Institute grounds and gardens. We thought it would be fun to take Elliot to the Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibit, but he fell asleep the moment we walked into the gallery. I really enjoyed the exhibit! Many of Jim Henson's early drawings and concepts for muppets etc. were on display. Elliot did wake up during our stroll through the Freer Gallery, which has a very nice collection.

By the time we finished our exploration of the Smithsonian, it was time to head over to the new Washington National's baseball stadium to meet up with our friends Nick, Caitlin and Gus (baby) Haugen to watch the Nats play the Astros. Thankfully our seats were in the shade, because it was HOT, HOT, HOT! The Nats didn't win, but we still had a blast. Elliot loved people watching and he was very interested in Gus. He wanted to hold Gus's hand and touch/pull his hair. Gus didn't seem to mind and was quite smiley!

After the game the babies napped in their strollers while the grownups enjoyed a nice dinner at Monmartre restaurant in the Eastern Market neighborhood. The babies woke up half way through the meal and kept the diners at nearby tables entertained with their silly faces and sweet smiles. The meal was excellent and so was the company! We parted ways with the Haugens on the Metro and made it back to the hotel to pick up the car just as a thunderstorm moved in. Although the traffic on the way home wasn't too bad, we didn't get to Richmond until 10 PM. Thankfully we all got a good night sleep, which made it easier to get up and go to work today.