It Felt Good to be Back.

So remember that time when we stopped in DC for a couple days on our way to Connecticut, way back at the beginning of June? Ha well I'm finally here, sharing those photos. Talk about better late than never!

The first day we visited the temple where we got married and surprised our dear friend Jenna who's serving her mission in DC, but our second day was all about DC staples like the National Zoo and the National Gallery of Art. Art and zoo animals---two of my favorite things!

Friends, I love the zoo. Probably as much as I love the aquarium. I'm right up at the front of the fence with all the little field trip kids, going crazy any time the animal does, well, anything. What was so great about this trip was that we went in the morning so all the animals were bright-eyed and bushy tailed (some quite literally) and we got to see so much more of them than when we've gone in the afternoon and half of them are napping. 

That stork. I've got a bone to pick with that stork.

Flamingos are always a favorite.

These guys were being so friendly---their gorgeous tail feathers even brushed my foot! And has anyone else ever noticed that the sounds Kevin makes in Up are actually a peacock's?

Awesome.

Hey look! Its Cameron and Courtney! We were so lucky to meet up with them for a couple meals while were in DC. Its always great to see old college friends!

After the zoo and lunch with the Squires we headed to the (so wonderfully air conditioned) National Gallery.

We kind of have a habit of getting one of these chocolate eclair ice cream bars whenever we walk around DC. 

Maybe its because we miss Remy so so much, but we love sculptures with dogs included. So beautiful!

Joey loves the Degas sculpture collection, particularly the horses.

Ok see that special exhibit? Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes? If its still open and you're in the DC area---GO. It was incredible! One of my favorite exhibits I've seen. The costumes were beautiful and it was interesting to see how closely artists like Picasso and Manet worked with this culturally forward ballet. We wish we could've seen it again!

For dinner we were dying for some great pasta. I mean I literally googled "best penne vodka in Washington DC". We found this place called Acqua al 2 near capitol hill and it turned out to be a great find. And, their penne vodka did turn out to be quite delicious! 

And of course, what's a great pasta dinner without some Pitango gelato for dessert?

While we sat outside eating our gelato I noticed a plume of smoke near us, and since we weren't in an industrial area I knew it couldn't have been steam from a factory or anything like that. A few minutes later we started to smell wood burning and the smoke became darker and thicker. As we walked towards our metro stop we noticed crowds of people, dozens of police and fire department vehicles, news crews, and yellow caution tape everywhere. Trying not to let our minds wander to the worst scenario (you know, the T word), we moved a little closer to one of the news crews to see if we could over hear what happened. It was then that we found out that a hardware store and community icon had caught on fire just moments ago. We never found out much more about the situation and how much damage had been done but the last I heard was that no one was hurt during the incident. So anyways, as we looked towards the location of the fire and blackness filling the air, I turned around and snapped this photo of the capitol with the smoky haze slowly creeping towards it. 

The next day we left for Philadelphia (up next!) on our tour up the east coast. Though we were only in DC for a brief couple days, it was great to revisit old favorites from our time in Virginia!