Grandpa was in town

Last week Curtis' Dad came to visit.  First he spent a week up in Hershey, Pa, then came down to see the sights in D.C.

First we went to Mt. Vernon.  I was the only to have been there before, and that was in elementary school.  So it was something different for everyone.  We picked one of the hottest days to go (lucky us).  It was close to 100 degrees. Fortunately, there were lots of mature trees on the property and not a lot of hardscape, so were able to keep cool.   The kids kept themselves cool by pouring water over their heads on a regular basis.  We let Peter have his own water bottle (there were piercing screams if we didn't), so he and his stroller were soaked by the end of the day.  Not like he minded.

Peter with his water bottle

Peter with no shorts on since he got them totally wet.  They were wet enough that he could have mopped the floor.

Isaac got tired of walking.

Kids in visitor center.

In front of Mt. Vernon with Grandpa Nielson

The next day we visited the zoo.  Also a burning hot day.  There was lots of asphalt to reflect heat, but fortunately there were misters set up that you could walk under.  The kids like the misters best of all.  We also tried to go into all of the houses (ape, invertebrate, reptile) to take advantage of the AC.

A Komodo dragon was nice enough to walk right up next to the glass.

It looks like Peter is touching it, but he's not.

Michael being Michael.

Jesse near the cheetah pen.  Happy that he's not in school.

The last day we visited the butterfly exhibit that's nearby.  I let the kids take pictures of the butterflies again.  This year I let Isaac have a go.

Isaac's picture.  Can you tell?

Smile everyone!  Michael, what are you doing?

Michael's best picture

Jesse's best picture