Hello everyone!  For my eleventh birthday I got to go on a trip to Washington D.C.  We had to wake up at about 5:00am and leave at 5:30. We were in the car for about 6 hours and it got really boring at times. But it was so worth it!

When we got into D.C. we went to Union Station and had some lunch there. There were lots of choices but we decided to have some conveyer belt sushi at a place called Yo Sushi. It was really fun to try and get the sushi off the conveyer belt. The spicy tuna rolls were excellent. We also got to have real Japanese soda which is awesome!

For my birthday I asked for a tour of the White House. I didn't get my tour of the White House (sequester!), but I got one of the capitol building by our guide, Kevin Mooney, who works for Congressman Tom Reed.This is Kevin.

Kevin guided us through a tunnel that took us from the House of Representatives to the Capitol. He was very good at walking backwards. When I got to the Capitol I learned that there were two statues of American people from each state. There were many references to the original 13 colonies. It was an absolutely amazing tour! 

In Washington D.C. there is a lot of walking, and I'm pretty sure Pallas barely walked any of it. Dad, Mom, and I all carried her at least once on our trip. Dad carried her a lot more and she likes to make faces at us over his shoulder. This is Dad carrying her in the tunnel between Congressman Reed's office and the Capitol.

While we were in D.C. I got to see my cousins Aidan and Deirdre and my Uncle Brendan. We all went out for thai food. It was great to see them because we only get to see them once or twice a year.

The next day we went to the American History Smithsonian.  There were lots of exhibits but my two favorites were the ones about the presidents (of course) and the first ladies. In the presidents exhibit there were presidents memorabilia and lots of facts. In the first lady exhibit there were lots of first lady dresses and tea sets.

This was a collection of street signs named after presidents.

The next day we went to the Washington D.C. zoo.  When I first got there were big letters that spelled zoo so Pallas, Trin, and I got in them and took a picture. There were lots of animals so I'll just name a few. There were elephants, pandas (they were all sleeping though), gorillas, and lions.

Once again Pallas was carried throughout the zoo. We did about a million miles of walking that day, because we had to park very far away.

For breakfast on one of our last days we went to dim sum. I love eating all of the yummy foods. Some of my favorites are chicken feet, shumai, shrimp dumplings, rice noodles, and crab lollipops. This is Trin with her favorite, sticky rice steamed in lotus leaf.

One of the best things about our hotel was the pool. It was really big! My favorite thing about it was it was nice and warm. Pallas liked the toys they kept at the pool. There were floaties that we pretended were surf boards and a dolphin inner tube. I loved being in D.C. and hope to be back real soon.

Peace and love,
Rowan

For my birthday this year my family went to Chicago. We got to ride the overnight train to get there. When we got to the train station we found out we were delayed 3 hours! When the train was ready we hopped on at 4:30am. This is us waiting on the cold windy platform. But the train had comfortable seats and pillows. Right away I fell asleep. In the morning it was my birthday! We got breakfast and I opened my DS to find out my mom and dad bought me the harvest moon game that I wanted. It was awesome. Rowan and I played on that for the rest of the ride.

Pallas and I loved taking in the great views. Finally we got to Chicago and got off the train.

When we got there we were super hungry so we went to a place that is owned by the Cheesecake Factory, Grand Luxe. They had amazing food, but my favorite was desert. My parents secretly ordered the make-your-own cupcakes for us. They brought our cupcakes and a birthday pastry for me that said "have a grand day!" with lots of whipped cream. I enjoyed both of them.

Then we went to The Shedd Aquarium with lots of animals and things to do. First we went to a dolphin show. Then we saw all kinds of fish and sea animals.Then we went to the arctic area and guess what, MORE PROBLEMS! We saw the penguins and then Pallas saw something--a submarine for the kids to play in. She would not leave so we stayed there for ten minutes then left. Pallas was sad so to cheer her up we went to the 'rivers by you' area and there was a camping set that you could play in. You could go canoeing or sit by the fire or even make breakfast! 

This is outside the aquarium. We took some pictures of us to share the memory.

On Saturday our Aunt Kerry came to Chicago and we went shopping, went out to dinner with some new relatives, and watched the golden globes together!

We went to dimsum with our Aunt Kerry too.The food was really good. My sister tried some kind of inside part of a cow and chicken feet. Gross! It took Pallas a long time to fit that dumpling in her mouth. ;D

I loved Chicago! We even got to meet long lost family! I hope I can go again! Maybe you should take a visit too!   


Peace out!
Trinity :D