Washington Nationals baseball game at Nationals Park and drive-by the White House - Sunday, July 5, 2009

Sunday, July 5, 2009

This visit with our friends and the city have gotten me thinking a lot.  Dad made breakfast in the morning and the adults ate in the screened patio while the children played in the yard. It was beautiful as the yard is full of huge oak trees. This whole trip seems out of a novel. The scenes are perfect. First, we have the little towns with their epicenters of quaint stores and restaurants. Then, we have farms and fields of beautifully growing crops and animals. Now in the city, you have the best of both worlds. You have the hustle and bustle of the big city yet, also the tranquil setting of suburbia. The picture perfect house, with the beautiful yard, the happy, healthy, well-rounded children....it's a dream come true.

One of the B-N kids woke up sick and she had a fever.  The rest of the B-N girls stayed home selling lemonade from a Lemonade Stand and the rest of us went to Nationals Park to see the Washington Nationals play the Atlanta Braves. The game was very exciting. They kids had many enjoyable moments and their favorite was the mascots (which are all past presidents) running a race on the field.  However, the most memorable moment, was when the kids ran the bases on the field after the game! They really enjoyed that.
We went on a short sight seeing trip because A wanted to see the White House. We drove down Pennysylvania Avenue and saw the mall, the Smithsonian, several museums and the White House with the snipers on the roof, which really got her attention.   After, we went back to the house and M  made a delicious dinner of pasta, sauteed varieties of squash with garlic in olive oil. She added a bit of milk, salt, pepper, fresh basil, and freshly grated parmesan cheese. It was spectacular. We had wine and fruit as we laughed and talked about the the last few days.  We have had the best time!

We took the children out to light the sparklers M bought them for 4th of July, but we never got to use them. They had great fun with that and then they ran around catching fireflies.  It was a perfect evening and a wonderful ending to a perfect visit to Arlington, VA.