Hooray for visitors!

A couple weeks ago, my twin sister and her husband Ben came to visit us! Ooh, I had been looking forward to this for months! They arrived Thursday evening and got to stay until Sunday evening, which sounds like a nice, long weekend, but I knew it would go much too quickly. This was Ben's first time to DC, so we had a lot to squeeze into a short time.

Our first stop on Friday was to Georgetown. I have been to Georgetown with just about all of our former visitors, but this time was a completely new experience. Lauren is a budding Interior Designer and so we went into stores like Ann Sacks, Baker Furniture, and Waterworks. It was so much fun to walk through these showrooms, especially with Lauren who knows what she's talking about and can offer lots of insight as to the quality of work, projects on which she has used these vendors, and how we would design our own dream homes. After that we strolled down M street and visited Georgetown Cupcake. (my favorite! something about looking at tons of cupcakes just makes me incredibly happy...and since they are so small, I hardly feel badly about indulging!) The line was out the door but that isn't saying much, as only four people can fit inside at a time. We were later told by people all over town, who saw us carrying the pink box, that it was a 'short' line and how lucky we were to have gone when there was only a ten minute wait. We split a half-dozen and they were all equally delicious!
I took Lauren and Ben to Five Guys for lunch--I felt like it was a must for out-of-towners who enjoy a good burger, especially since east coast people talk about Five Guys the way west coast people talk about In n' Out. I thought I would let Lauren and Ben decide for themselves which they will be loyal to.
Next stop: Natural History Museum. I could not let Lauren come all this way and not take her to see the Hope Diamond. Lauren is fan of all things sparkly...if you've seen Reese sporting her bling binky and sparkly clips, just about every sparkly thing Reese has is thanks to her Aunt Lallycakes! We also went to the Bones, Reptiles and Insect Zoo. Very interesting...but I seriously got the creeps at the Insect Zoo.
On Saturday we went to a preliminary tour of the new Capitol Visitors Center. It is underneath the Capitol and it's pretty incredible. I am a wimp/novice when it comes to parking in DC, and I parked at the opposite end of the Mall from the Capitol. I mean, it doesn't seem that far, right?! Uh, it is, in fact, quite far. I made Lauren and Ben march almost two miles from west of the Washington Monument, by the Tidal Basin, all the way to the Capitol. Sorry, guys. But they did get to see all the monuments on the way...and it only took just over an hour to get from point A to point B! (I am a miserable tour guide. But, I didn't make them walk back--Michael and I walked/metroed back to the car while they went to the Supreme Court and Library of Congress.)
On Sunday, before heading to the airport, we stopped by the Arlington National Cemetery. We power-walked up to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns and then walked into the Memorial Amphitheater. It was pretty chilly, but when the sun peaked through the clouds, it was actually a gorgeous day!

Reese and I were very sad to see Lauren and Ben go. In fact, I think Reese cried all the way home from the airport...poor little lamb. It was so much fun to have them with us for a weekend! Please come again soon!