Trip to DC

We are back in Sarasota after five days in Washington DC seeing friends, going to (three) Red Sox games, and having a bunch of fun.

We flew out of Tampa on Tuesday direct into Washington National.... which is about 2 miles from the condo where we used to live in Alexandria.

(waterfront in Old Town Alexandria)

We stayed at Katie's house and finally met Jackson Hurley Vaca, who is now 3 months old and absolutely beautiful. He is a great baby and both Bill and I really enjoyed spending time with the newest edition to the Vaca family. He is one happy little boy. And of course we loved seeing Alex, who is almost 4 and is just the best.

So we got to DC on Tuesday afternoon and, after dropping our stuff off at Katies, met Mark at Nationals Park for the Red Sox vs. Nationals game. It was a lot of fun and there was a new attendance record set (thanks Boston!) The new stadium is truly awesome and we had a ton of fun all three nights. Our seats were on the first base line on Tuesday and the third base line Wednesday and Thursday nights. We went to all three games early to walk around and explore the new stadium and watch batting practice. We went with Mark and Fred on Tuesday, Mark and Sara on Wednesday. Katie, Rico, Alex, and Jackson went to the Thursday night game and Alex joined us for a bit. Thank you Sara and Mark for getting us tickets!!!!!!

(Loving the new ball park)

We really enjoyed ourselves in DC. In addition to the Red Sox games I enjoyed long walks with Katie around Old Town and Bill and I caught up with friends at Bugsys. We also did a tour of the new Capital Visitors Center, which was awesome. We went to the Library of Congress and explored a few DC neighborhoods around the new stadium. I met Sara for coffee at Foggy Bottom and went in to the State Department to see everyone one day. It was really nice to be there.

(Capital)

(Library of Congress)

And on Friday we spent the day in Annapolis and went to Amy and Juan's new house. After catching up with the Watsons we met Joe and Nancy at their new boat before dinner at Tsunami. We had such a nice night with our dear friends. The new boat is amazing, and at 11:00 pm when we looked at the clock and realized it was time to drive back to Alexandria, Bill and I just didn't want to leave! We both realized how much we love Back Creek and we are so happy for Joe and Nancy and their new boat. Hopefully we will be able to spend more time in Annapolis in the (near!) future.

(Flowers at the farmers market in Alexandria)

Saturday Katie, Alex, Jackson and I went to the Farmers Market in Alexandria early before we met the Sullivans. There were 11 of us for brunch and we had a blast. It was so great to see Fuzzy and Mary and their three amazingly beautiful children who have grown since the last time we saw them when they visited Mary Elizabeth in Annapolis 3+ years ago! Afterwards we went back to Katie and Rico's house so the kids could swim in the pool.

(Enjoying the pool)

Bill and I really had a great time in DC. The weather was beautiful. We are so thankful to be able to see our great friends; we loved seeing everyone and catching up. DC (ie Alexandria and Annapolis) simply feels like home to us.

Enough said.