Busy Day

Yesterday we had a very busy but enjoyable day.  We woke up and started out in search of the local Twinbrook library.  The library was hosting a special "Music Together" day.  Audrey loves music, so I knew we had to venture out to find this class.  We had a bit of trouble at first because we had to ride the bus and the driver did not know where the library was.  Luckily a fellow passenger helped us out (of course by that time we had missed our stop and had about a 10 minute walk).  Thankfully I gave us plenty of extra time so we made it to the library in the nick of time.  

Audrey playing a drum

We left the library and made our way back to the Metro station.  There we boarded the subway and headed into the city for lunch with Jimmy.  The three of us tried out the Billy Goat Tavern near Jimmy's office.  We had some super yummy cheeseburgers.  

After lunch it was raining very hard so I decided it would be a good day to check out a museum.  So off we went to the National Building Museum.  We entered into an amazing great hall with 75-foot-tall columns and a beautiful fountain.  Mind you this is all inside the building.  It was amazing.

While touring around we found the "Building Zone".  This exhibit area was all about hands on exploration, similar to the Children's Museum in Portland.  There was an area where you could dress up as a construction worker (Audrey was not at all interested in that part) and then you could set off to use different blocks and toys all associated with construction.  Audrey got so excited when a little boy dumped out a bin of blocks and then walked away.  This meant that she got to put them all away herself.  One of her new favorite activities is putting things away.  She seems more excited to put away then to "play with" these days.  I need to remember to remind teenage Audrey of this when I am begging her to clean her room! ;-)

Audrey putting the blocks away...Check out the little "construction worker"

Audrey also discovered magnets while playing in the Building Zone.  She was surprised and delighted pulling the pieces apart and watching them come back together.  I had a tough time getting her to move on from this area.  

Cool Magnets

I think my favorite part was the miniature "green" house.  Inside and out they showed how you can build a house using renewable resources (i.e. decking made out of recycled plastic bags and bottles).  Little signs explained what materials were used.  I thought it was pretty cool.  Audrey loved that there was a house her size including tot-sized furniture. 

Audrey-sized chair

Audrey trying out some steps on her own

We left the museum and headed back to Metro.  This time we were on our way to Clarendon, VA.  Clarendon is a suburban village near Arlington.  It is a very cool area with a variety of stores, restaurants and new designer condo/apartments.  We spent the afternoon looking thru the stores.  Our favorite was Kinder Haus Toys it was an amazing little store with an imagination station featuring train and block tables.  Audrey has really developed a liking for train tables she seems to gravitate towards them if they are around (I think this all started at the West Slope library book babies).  Anyway we spent over an hour playing with the toys and thoroughly checking out the store.  

We ended our busy day at Harry's Taproom for a delicious dinner and a wonderful visit with my friend Betsy, a sorority sister of mine who lives in nearby Falls Church, VA.  It had been close to ten years since last we saw each other and it was so wonderful to catch up.  She recently got married so I got to hear all about her fabulous Canadian wedding .  It sounded like so much fun.  I am bummed that I forgot to get a picture (we were just having way too much fun chatting) but I must say Betsy looks fabulous!  It sounds like she found herself a great hubby.  I am excited to meet him and get us all together soon.  

Well that was our day.  We came home and fell into bed exhausted.  We were up early and back to Boot Camp this morning (yippy it is now four days a week at the mall).  We also got a chance to see Mr. Knick Knack before heading home.

I am excited, we are heading to Charlotte on Sunday.  I will be sure to post about meeting Andrew.  I can't wait!!