We took advantage of the holidays/lack of worker traffic to venture into our nation's capital, which, even when I actually lived here in Northern VA, I rarely did! Iver enjoyed visiting some of the places illustrated in his book Good Night, Washington, DC.
On Christmas Eve morning, we headed to The Smithsonian's National Zoo (which I certainly haven't visited in decades, and didn't remember at all!). I actually really dislike zoos where animals seem so stressed/sad to be caged up, but Iver certainly enjoyed the animal-viewing (his favorite was the crocodiles).
Pandas
Elephant "Cheese!"
Indoor mammals-- Fennec Fox
Naked mole rats
The big cats at the end were a hit!
"I want it to Roar, Papa!"
Touching a lion poop pile
Gleeful carousel-riding
On cold, blustery Christmas morning, we joined the mostly Asian tourists on the mall and visited the major memorials.
Lincoln Memorial
View of the Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is quite new
FDR
Fitting words, now more than ever in light of the greedy GOP's tax bill: "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."
Jefferson Memorial
