Exploring the Nation's Capital

I'm finally getting around to blogging about our most recent adventure!  This past July, Aaron and I ventured to Washington, D.C. to explore and spend time with family.  In February, my uncle passed away unexpectedly and since he served his country for over 20 years in the Air Force, he was going to have the honor of being buried in Arlington Cemetery.  As soon as we knew when the funeral would be, we decided to make a trip out of it knowing my uncle wouldn't have it any other way!

We flew in on a Saturday and spent that first evening in Old Town Alexandria enjoying seafood and watching the fireworks with my parents, cousins, and their kids.

The next day, we had made plans to take the train from Union Station to Penn Station in Baltimore to see the Orioles play.  As some of you may know, our goal is to make it to every baseball stadium and Camden Yards did not disappoint.  In fact, it may be my favorite stadium so far and the food was delicious!

If you're ever at Camden Yards, you MUST try Boog's BBQ!

Walking behind the outfield, they have medallions in the ground for all of the homers that have been hit and we Gordon's!

On Monday, we took the metro to Mount Vernon.  Little did we know that different sections of the metro were shut down for maintenance making the commute significantly longer.  Add that to the wonderful D.C. heat and me being 20 some weeks pregnant and it made the day much less enjoyable than it could have been.

Unfortunately, they were doing some repairs but here is a view of the front of the house.

President George Washington and Martha Washington's graves.

The Potomac River

The farm at Mount Vernon

After walking around the grounds, we made our way back into D.C. and decided to visit the American History Museum.

Abe Lincoln's top hat.

Later that evening, we ate at an awesome barbecue restaurant called Hill Country Barbecue and then walked over to see the White House.

The Washington Monument at sunset.

My sister and her family arrived late Monday night and we had decided Tuesday would be the perfect day to go to the zoo.  After seeing all kinds of animals, we went to Union Station to grab some lunch at Shake Shack and then made our way over to the Russell Senate Office for our scheduled Capitol tour.  I highly recommend scheduling a tour with your state senator or representative if possible!  We were the only five people in our tour compared to large groups of 20 or 30 people.

  

The funeral was scheduled for Wednesday, so we spent the day with family.  While the circumstances surrounding why we were at Arlington Cemetery were less than ideal, I can honestly say the experience was one I will always remember.  The service itself was held in the Fort Myer Old Post Chapel.  Following the service, a horse-drawn caisson was used to transport the casket to the grave site.  It was a beautiful and honorable ceremony.

Later that evening we dined at Old Ebbitt Grill and it was super tasty.  The wait was long, but well worth it.

On Thursday, Aaron and I got up bright and early to see the monuments and then made our way to the Air and Space Museum.  After learning all about planes and spaceships, we went to the Holocaust Museum for our scheduled time.  I had been the Holocaust museum on past trips to D.C. and found it to be very informative.  However, after having been over to Germany and seeing two concentration camps in person, I didn't feel as if I got much out of it.  It probably didn't help that they pack you in like sardines making it difficult to read the information posted and see certain exhibits.

Lincoln Monument

Vietnam Memorial

Korean War Memorial 

World War II Memorial

A little chocolate ice cream never hurt anyone right?!

Loved spending time with this sweet girl and her mom and dad.

Friday was our last full day in the capital city.  We went back to Arlington Cemetery and bought the tickets to hop on and hop off the tram at various sites (highly recommend this!).  After our tram ride, we made our way back to the National Mall to visit the Natural History Museum before heading back to our hotel room to rest up for our next baseball game at Nationals Park.

JFK's gravesite 

The nurses in war memorial.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

It was a wonderful week, despite the heat, spent with family and full of lots of history and education!

#6

So, I've been keeping a bit of a secret for quite some and it's going to be VERY hard to stay quiet about it here in a few weeks!

Baby boy 

will be arriving in a few short weeks and we cannot wait!

We found out we were expecting in February but decided not to make the news public for quite some time due to our history.  Every day was a milestone for us and as each week passed we both began to feel more and more comfortable that everything would be alright this time around.

Fast forward eight months and here we are counting down the days until this little guy decides to make his debut into the world!

We love you so much already GJL!

Viva Las Vegas

I've abandoned this here blog for far too long.  Between school, work, vacations, and family, my mind has been a bit preoccupied and my dedication to writing was put completely on the back burner.  That being said, I'm back and ready to share all kinds of exciting stuff with you wonderful people.

First up is a recap of our trip to Las Vegas this past May!  I had never been to Vegas before so we decided to take a weekend trip and, it just so happened, it worked out pretty well since my birthday present was to see Celine Dion in concert!

We arrived on Thursday morning and quickly checked into our hotel, The Palazzo, before setting out to explore.  Lunch was a must and we stumbled upon Yardbird which just so happened to me my favorite meal we had in Vegas.  You must try their biscuits!  After walking around for a while, we came back to our room to rest up before dinner and a show.  We had made reservations at Prime Steakhouse in The Bellagio before our Cirque du Soleil show "O."  The show was amazing!  The acrobatics and diving skills were just mind-blowing!

The view from our hotel room overlooking the Wynn golf course.

The canal inside The Venetian.

On Friday, we rented a car and drove out to the Hoover Dam and then back to Red Rock Canyon.

Friday evening was the night one of my lifelong dreams came true.  We ate dinner at Rao's and then settled in to see one of my all-time favorite singers perform.  For those of you who are Celine fans, her concert was phenomenal!  I was so happy that I was able to check this off of my bucket list.

You'll have to excuse the blurry iPhone photography skills, but here we are all ready to see Celine!

On Saturday, we didn't have any specific plans so we headed out to breakfast at Hash House A Go Go and then made our way down the strip exploring all of the hotels.  Later that evening, we had dinner at Buddy V's and then took a cab down to Fremont Street.  Little did we know there was a free Joan Jett concert that night so it was packed!  We stuck around long enough to watch the light show before heading back to the hotel and getting all packed up for our flight home the next morning.

New York, New York

Excalibur

Luxor

First, and probably last, time gambling.  I lost $4.75.

It was the perfect amount of time to spend in Vegas! 

2016 Reading List

Rather than doing a reading list this year (seeing as I didn't do so well in 2015), I thought I would update you each month about the books I've read and those next on my list.  You can continue to follow along on the tab up top.

Disclaimer: I just started grad school so I may not get as much reading done as I hope.

So, here's what I have read this month!

Left Neglected by Lisa Genova

Last year, I read Still Alice and watched the movie and was so amazed by how Lisa Genova seemed to be able to tap into the brain of a woman with Alzheimer's despite never battling the disease herself.  Well, she did the same in Left Neglected with the main character and her battle with left neglect following a car accident.  I loved both these books so much, I bought Love Anthony and Inside the O'Briens.

 Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty

It had been a while since I read my last Liane Moriarty novel, The Husband's Secret,  and I was excited to delve into this one.  Three Wishes did not disappoint.  It tells the story of a set of triplets in their early thirties dealing with all kinds of curve balls life has thrown them.  It made me laugh and it made me sad right along with the characters.

These is My Words by Nancy E. Turner

This was hands down the best book I have read in quite some time.  It is written in as a diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, as she transitions from a young girl to a woman in the late 1800s in the Arizona territories.  I could not put this book down!  It reminded me of Jeannette Walls' Half Broke Horses in a way and reads like a love story.  You'll be cheering on Sarah's character the entire way.

Next up on my list is a Mary Higgins Clark book that I ordered, All Dressed in White, one of my Lisa Genova books, and whatever else I can get my hands on.  Stay tuned!