Baltimore/D.C. Vacation

Last Thursday Paul began a week of vacation and we were able to take a trip to Baltimore, MD to visit our good friends Kyle and Katie Van Arendonk.  At the time of purchasing our tickets, Kyle and Katie were expecting their first child and we were hoping that the new babe would be at least a week old by the time of our arrival.  However, Katie went through 41 weeks of pregnancy and so Anika Kate was a mere three days old when we met her!  Although our trip had many highlights, meeting Anika was definitely the best.  She is absolutely adorable!  

On Friday, we took the afternoon to see the sights of Baltimore, via the Water Taxi.  We had a great time on the boat and enjoyed getting out a couple of times to walk around the Inner Harbor. 

One of the stops took us to Fort McHenry which was a military fort used in the War of 1812 when the British Navy attacked the Baltimore Harbor.  

After this battle took place, the flag still waved in the same spot as the flag in the picture below.  This inspired Francis Scott Key to write the "Star Spangled Banner." 

On Saturday, we took a day trip to Washington D.C.  Neither of us had been there before so we definitely heeded advice from many before our trip.  We ended up walking the whole day instead of opting for a bus tour and although we were glad to stop at our hotel by late afternoon, we were glad we chose the walking option.  We visited three museums: The Museum of Natural History (our favorite), The Air and Space Museum, and The Museum of American History.  We definitely enjoyed walking around the National Mall and visiting all the monuments.  The Washington Monument was Paul's favorite.

This is the view from the Lincoln Memorial.

Although we did see the First Dog, this was the only picture we took around the White House.

We enjoyed walking around the monuments, so after eating supper at the Old Ebbit Grill, we walked down to the Mall for a second time and enjoyed the monuments all lit up.  The WWII monument was Katie's favorite.

  

On Sunday morning, we drove to Arlington Cemetery.  It was a quick trip because of the heat but we were able to see the Kennedy gravesite, the eternal flame, and the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

On Sunday night, after returning to Baltimore for one last night, Kyle and Katie took us to Rita's Italian Ice and Custard down around the Inner Harbor and then to Federal Hill Park.  We had a fabulous time on vacation and spending time with the Van Arendonks.

Jumping on the Blogwagon!

Hey Friends!  So I finally decided to start a blog... I seem to enjoy reading everyone else's blogs so I thought I would just start one too!  

Our summer has been going well and extremely fast!  Paul is quite happy about the fast part and I am just somewhat ok with it!  Paul had a busy month in the trauma unit in June, ending his first year of residency.  Then he started his second year in July on the NICU/PICU floor.  He is now back in the ER and is quite happy about that.  Even though his hours are quite irregular, he is not on call or at the hospital for more than 12 hours at a time!  I am gearing up for my fourth year teaching fourth grade and coaching cross country....and... starting my masters....yikes!  So when I've had those lazy, relaxing days this summer, I just remind myself that I will soon be so SO busy!  

Well, that's my first blog - short and sweet!  We hope this finds all of our blogging friends well and happy and we look forward to keeping in touch through the blog world!