At Long Last a new post!

It's been a busy time, helping Mom and Dad, traveling to see the kids, the kids coming here. By the way, Alisha and Family will be in Utah sometime in the last half of June.

So we'll start with our trip to Washington D.C. to see Kimberly and Family.



Here's Kimberly and Henry in their backyard.



When Megan saw Grandma's luggage, she decided it was time for her to have a nice rollalong bag too. Grandma came through and found this one. Megan got to use it quicker than planned. I'll explain later.



It's out of order, but here's Mom and Dad at Mimis Restaurant after church.



We stayed at the Mandarin Oriental, Washington D.C. in a Deluxe Water View King. The Mandarin is a 5 Star, located near the Tidal Basin and the Smithsonian. It has an Asian flare and feeling. In addition to the regular amenities the Spa has Relaxation Rooms and an Amethyst Steam Room. We tried both, and were very relaxed.



Since the trip was mainly to see the Grand Kids, we have lots of photos. Lots of Henry, Megan was too fast to catch very often.



Fun on Kimberly's front porch.



Kimberly did a good job of picking places to eat that interested me. This is Martin's Tavern in Georgetown. It's full of political history.



Megan enjoyed the Root Beer entirely too much. Was it really Root Beer?



Ok, so ya'll know I love to eat out and find the coolest places, it's kind of like channeling an upscale Guy Fieri (from Diner's Drive-ins and Dives). And you probably know I like seafood, in this case Crab Cakes. On this trip I had crab cakes three times. Of the 3, this was the Best, at Martin's Tavern. Now I'm sure they aren't the Best in the Country (I'll have to do more travel and research to find that), but they were pretty darn tasty.



I also like to visit places with some history, or a unique story or tale and something to make it memorable. Martin's has lots of history. The booth on the right is where JFK used to sit in when he was a Congressman and Senator. The booth to the left was the Nixon Booth in the 40's and 50's and when he was Vice-President. The Booth 6 is in the shadows on the left near where we sat, is the Harry Truman Booth. He and wife Bess and daughter Margaret had many dinners there when he was a Senator and she was in collage. Now for Booth 3. that's the one the guy is sitting in (he's nobody as far as I know). That's the booth where JFK proposed to Jackie Bouvier. Also, in 1954, 5 Supreme Court Justices sat there deliberating Brown vs Board of Education, a landmark case. Shortly thereafter, Earl Warren read the unanimous opinion they'd agreed on in Booth 3 at Martin's.



We discovered Jimmy's at the Washington Marina. They deep fry their crab cakes.



They make their own deserts. The Pecan Cream Pie was my first, and excellent, not too sweet like most pecan pies are.



We discovered Henry likes to play in the pool just as much as his big sister! He isn't afraid of getting his faces wet either. He can now say his first time swimming was at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Washington D.C.



Mike liked the luxury and the robe at the hotel.



We had a view of the Jefferson Memorial from our window.



Dawn and Wade and Conner came up to Alexandria to have dinner with us at a Mexican place. It was great to see them and lots of fun.



Here's our one and only (until May 27th or there abouts) grandson, Henry.



This trip ended with some sadness. Mike's grandpa Cisney passed away during our trip. We really liked him, he as always so nice to us, my parents and our kids. We'll miss him. Because of this, Megan got to use her new rollalong when the family flew back to Salt Lake with us.



Yesterday was nice an warm, so I took Mom and Dad to Red Butte Gardens in Salt Lake City.



We were about a week late to see the whole garden in bloom. This gives you an idea what it's like.



I think this is Wisteria, not sure, Mom would know.



And that's the way it is.....