Happy President's Day!

Many of you know about the Lundells and their love for all things free, so it should be no surprise that we braved the cold, wind, and crowds and spent President's Day at Mount Vernon, which (you guessed it) is FREE on President's Day! (It is also free a few days from now, on George Washington's REAL birthday, but only if (a) it is your birthday too, or (b) your name is George. Since no one in our family fits that criteria, we went yesterday.)

It was our first visit to Mount Vernon, and we had a great time, despite the fact that we were all under-dressed. And I don't just mean that we looked a little less colonial than some people there. I mean the fact that it was FREEZING and Kate had no hat or gloves. Poor little thing! Yes I carried her much of the time. Here we are looking at a rooster. Pretty exciting stuff!
Actually, I didn't really know there were so many animals at Mt. Vernon. Definitely the highlight for Kate.

For Travis, the highlight was the sit-n-stand stroller.

(I have to say it was lots of work being the lone adult chasing three children...)

We paid our respects to the General...

We didn't really plan our visit very well, but we were lucky that our timing was pretty convenient. We accidentally happened upon the parade, which was lots of fun and, I'll admit, thankfully short! It was led by a drum and fife band that Kate tried to chase when they rounded the bend ("I want to see the drums!") and various people (I don't know who they were supposed to be) dressed in colonial style.

This guy waved to us.

After the parade, we stood on the front lawn of the mansion. Travis wanted a picture of all of us, so I suggested we ask that nice couple over there. The poor unsuspecting guy was not prepared for Travis's high standards. After he made him retake the picture three times, his wife finally stepped up and took one that was acceptable to Travis...Ironically, I think these first two were both better than the final one. (Travis just wanted the top of the house in it.)

So then I was really excited to tour the mansion, so we parked the stroller and started walking towards the end of the line. We walked... and walked... and finally decided (before we even found the end) that maybe we weren't that interested after all. Oh well, maybe another time! Kate was cold and tired and - dare I say - whiny, but in all we had a fun day.

I believe there's a little George Washington in all of us.