The great adventure

Josh and I took our first mother/son trip (not counting the 11-hour drive home from Florida last weekend) to DC for the 4th of July this weekend. We made our first stop at Corinne's parents' house just south of Richmond, where we spent the night and where her dad gave Josh this pair of binoculars. Josh loves them, and he wore them around his neck for most of the trip.

We then traveled to northern Virginia and spent two days with our friend Thao and her kids, who live in Paris and are here for their summer vacation. The picture above is from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport. The binoculars came in handy there at the observation deck where you could watch planes land at Dulles.

We saw the Enola Gay, the Concord and the space shuttle Enterprise at the museum

Josh and Gaspar outside the museum

We spent the morning of the 4th at Great Fall Park in Virginia, and then made the epic journey to the Capitol via car and Metro.

Josh is pictured here with Corinne, a.k.a. the most important person in Washington, DC. When Corinne's dad asked Josh who the important person was who lived in DC (correct answer: Barack Obama), Josh excitedly yelled, "Corinne!"

Corinne was kind enough to arrive at the Capitol early and save a spot near the free pre-fireworks concert. We saw Aretha Franklin and Barry Manilow, but the kids were more impressed by the live appearances from Big Bird and Elmo, who performed with the symphony orchestra.

The kids loved the fireworks, and Josh even pulled out some of his "ABC" dance moves for the more lively patriotic songs. He was pleasantly surprised that the fireworks were not as "scary" as he anticipated.

We didn't get back to Thao's sister's house until midnight and it took us nine hours to drive home today, but it was a trip well worth it. I think all future 4th of July celebrations will pale in comparison to celebrating on the lawn of the Capitol building!