Hail to the ... Best Pizza and Parks!

William, being William has a monuments "check list" and we finally got to see his No. 1, the Washington Monument. Over spring break he shocked me by asking if he could see all the monuments, especially the Washington monument. As any good parent I said, "of course!" Then I found out that apparently a lot of more proficient parents planned to take their kids over spring break. I was finally able to book our tickets several months out and this week was our time! 




We had a bit of trouble getting out of the house on time (shocker) so we were a few minutes late for our timed tour, plus a ticket hiccup meant that we were running about thirty minutes behind. The fantastic Park Rangers couldn't have been more friendly, helpful and frankly entertaining. Our guide, Ranger Steve Miller got the kids laughing with a few jokes about a required bungee jump off the top. Colin understood and got a good laugh out of it. I think William was more than terrified and kept his guard up for rogue "jumpers" the whole visit. 

I was surprised by how much we all enjoyed the tour. The view is absolutely amazing! How have I lived here for seventeen years and never taken this tour!? I pointed out the White House, OEOB, Capitol and House buildings where mom and dad worked-- spoiler alert the kids couldn't have cared less. But they LOVED seeing the Masonic Temple and "seeing" our house. 

I most enjoyed the elevator ride down (again with Ranger Miller and his jokes) with frequent stops to highlight the donated and carved stones. There were even a few stones from the library in Alexandria. The original Alexandria, Egypt. Simply amazing!  Again, the kids more enjoyed the stop and go nature of the ride. 







Afterwards we hit 2 Amy's pizza shop- the best in town! And then made our way to the National Cathedral's Beauvoir Outdoor classroom. This is with out a doubt the best playground in the city. A two story castle slide, multilevel treehouse with climbing elements where William told me he "conquered my biggest fears!" and a zipline!?!?! Not to mention all the other things you might find in a playground. We spent at least two hours and the kids asked to come back tomorrow! I can tell this is going to be somewhere we go frequently. 

It was a long day but a great one! Here is to more sun, more fun and more cocktails at the end of the day! 

Cheers, 
Mamma Toad