Our weekend in Washington

We left for DC on Thursday evening to drive to St. Louis and fly from there to Baltimore where Ray and LeeAnn picked us up to drive to DC.  It made for a long time of traveling, but with all the break-ups between car/airport/plane/car -- it really seemed to go fast.  Rudy didn't know what to think.  From Thursday on, he had nothing resembling a schedule (but that's what vacations are for, right?!)  

Thursday morning packing with Dad.  He was SO happy to be home with him.  In fact, Rudy developed quite the attachment to his Da-Da over the weekend!

It's like "they" were filming our week...

 Snoozing before we even hit I-55.  (Some kids snuggle with animals or blankets, ours likes sticks)

 Sound asleep on the plane

 Snuggling in to the hotel bed (right before he woke up and decided it was party time at 2:00 am)

 Breakfast on Friday at the hotel 

Friday we went on a tour of the White House and had brunch at Andre's (Maria's now husband) parent's house.

Here we are waiting outside the White House for our tour

 And outside the White House

Friday evening John and I took Rudy by stroller to the rehearsal dinner.  It was a beautiful night and about a 20-25 minute walk.  It was so nice to get fresh air and Rudy loves his stroller rides!  On the walk home we saw a pretty intense fire, too.  John was so intrigued.  It was interesting for him to see and think about how different it would be to always have "building" fires since hardly anyone has just a regular house like we are used to.  There were several fire trucks, lots of hoses out, ladders to the top floor, the works.. it was pretty crazy.  And we weren't the only ones to think so.  There was a crowd of people at every corner trying to check it out. 

Saturday morning Rudy woke up with a fever and running nose -- helped explain his demeanor, that's for sure!  Poor guy had been through a lot the last couple days.  But all things considered, he was a champ and we were still able to get to everything, if not all, at least a part of it!

Here we are at the outdoor wedding ceremony.  It couldn't have been a prettier day and it was outside at a gorgeous garden.  I don't have pictures of the actual ceremony because someone was trying obsessively to get to Maddie (their dog who stood with them at the ceremony) or his Dad while he did his reading.  

 Rudy finding and pulling on Michael's ears and nose -- that'll teach him to call Rudy cankels!

 For 13 months, he has quite the grip

 What a good lookin' group!

 Playing with Da-Da

Back at the hotel being onry...sneaking away into the bathroom..."Where's Rudy?"

 And then he pops back out, "Here I am!"

 We opted out of the full trolley tour so Rudy could get a nap, but we were able to jump on for the tail end.  Rudy loved seeing the sights with the wind in his hair.  

 And our visit with the Keough's wouldn't be complete without a quick game of football!

 "Touchdown!"

 Rudy, John, and Mark huddled up strategizing

 Rudy blocking for Dad

 Saturday evening we went to Maria and Andre's reception.  It was just a short cab ride away.  But on a side note, how do people with young kids live in big cities??  I mean, seriously, it was ridiculous carrying his huge car seat around and buckling it in the cab only to have to take it out 5 minutes later.  And what if there weren't two of us?? -- one with the car seat, diaper bag, my purse, and another to carry Rudy.  There is no way I could have managed all of that by myself.  And I see people with young kids all the time... how do they do it??  It is a law to have children under 40 pounds in a car seat, right?? (or I don't know when it "technically" ends) -- and cabs can't possibly be exempt from that, right??  Then we had to find a place to put the car seat during the reception (not that that was hard, but it could easily be if you were going somewhere else in a cab in just regular day-to-day life).  I asked Jamie before we left and she had to pause... she hadn't really thought about it and then said "maybe that's why everyone walks everywhere?"  I'm perplexed.   Anyway, moving on... 

Sunday morning John, Rudy, and I woke up early (not that that was unusual) and took a long stroller ride around to do some site seeing.  We walked for a good hour or so and saw the National Monument, the World War II memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the reflecting pond, and several others along the way.  It was a beautiful, sunny morning and we had a great time together.

Rudy at the World War II Memorial

 This might be my favorite picture of the weekend

As I mentioned earlier, Rudy couldn't have been happier to have his Dad with him all weekend.  It makes me sad to think how much he is missing him these days since John is always busy working at the house, but also even more excited to have him around more in (hopefully) a few short weeks!  Rudy is attached to John whenever he is home, and I mean attached!  He won't let John do anything but focus on him.  Mom is old news now!