Girls' Day Out

Last week, Anastasia's school had parent teacher conferences, which meant a day off for little girl. After Orlando and I had a visit with her teachers (all good news) it was time for a girls' day out in DC. Myney and I had planned a morning of visiting DC's traditional Christmas installations: the Museum of American History, the Botanical Gardens, the Capitol Christmas tree and Union Station. We bundled up for our walk on the cold morning. Annie was eager to get moving.



Our first stop was the Smithsonian Museum of American History. We had read about the exhibit they do every year titled "Holidays On Display" and were very excited to see what they had in store. I'll admit we were a little disappointed. We had the impression that the displays would include window displays from some famous department stores. It did not. But, not ones to let a little disappointment ruin our day, we set out across the mall.



On the way to the Botanical Gardens, we of course had to pass the carousel. Anastasia was the only one on the ride, so she got to pick what ever horse she wanted. Myney and I were both surprised when she picked the horse that had been primed to be repainted. She was very excited to ride on her "white horse". It was definitely white.



We got to the Botanical Gardens and were not disappointed with their holiday display. They do wonderful scale models (made entirely of plant materials) and train displays throughout the front portion of the gardens, with the highlight being a very fanciful display with lots of trains and fairy tale houses. Anastasia was disappointed that she couldn't play with the trains, but she loved the displays.





After a long walk through the gardens, we were off toward Union Station. We walked across the Capitol grounds and got to see the Capitol tree. Anastasia was most interested in running, and the Capitol grounds were a great place for that. Lots of room, lots of security, not a lot of people on a cold day.



Our final stop was Union Station, which every year has a wonderful train display put up by the Embassy of Norway. Again, Annie really wanted to play with the trains, so we didn't linger there long. Instead, we decided we all needed lunch (late, though it was.) At Thunder Grill in Union Station, Anastasia carefully examined her menu before deciding she was famished, and must have some chicken.



She dozed on the way home, but didn't really sleep. It was a long day, but we had a lot of fun exploring just some of the fun things to see at the Holidays in our wonderful city. There's something to be said for being a tourist in your own home town.