Monday, December 26, 2011

The day after Christmas...

It's the day after Christmas, and all the hoopla is over.  The dust has settled, and things are getting back to normal.  It's a federal holiday here in the states, so DH and DS were both home, and though the store was open today, I asked for the day off and was graciously given it.  What do you do on the day after Christmas when you live close to Washington, DC?  You pack up the boys and head to the National Mall and the Eclipse and visit the National Christmas tree!

We rode in on the Metro...



But first, you must wait for it to get dark, so we visited our pals at  Madame Tussauds.


 

I had a little chat with George Clooney..*ladylike drool*...


The boys had a game of hockey with Alexander Ovechkin....guess who won?  LOL

  

I had Hoover give DS a little interrogation...LOL
 
 We looked through some windows and saw this Gingerbread house...later when we walked by after dark there were lights in the house...cute eh?
  





Then we decided to have dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe....what fun!  And the food wasn't bad either!  Then it was time to head over to the National Mall.



I was impressed this year to see a Nativity.  It's hard to tell from the picture but it was life size.  I'm glad to see we can still observe all religions freely.

Each year there are 50 + trees decked out for Christmas.  One for each state and for the US territories.  School children from the different states are chosen to make ornaments to decorate their tree.  
 
Then there is one tree larger than all the others that is designated as the "National Tree".  
 
It was a beautiful night, and there were tons of people there...but despite the crowds, it was fun visiting all the trees and seeing their decorations.  I'm thankful to live in such a wonderful place!!





So we saw the trees, the Menorah, and the White House with it's outdoor decorations.  What a beautiful sight!  I love the decorations along the streets in DC as well. 

 
It was a great night out with my boys!  Tomorrow will be back to the old grind, but today was the perfect ending to our little holiday.  I hope you and your families had a wonderful Christmas!

The last thing, but certainly not the least, is a picture of the gift Mouse sent me for Christmas.  What a thoughtful thing to send, Mouse, I love them both!  I feel very spoiled!  I can't wait to take a soak in the tub with the lavender tea bags for the tub.  And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the little pin cushion!  Thank you so much!  I hope your package arrives soon!

6 comments:

Mouse said...

ohhh wow ... passing lace handkerchief over to mop up the drool .lol ... the trees look lovely and what a nice day you had :) and glad you liked the prezzies the tea bags were one of those, I must get you presents .. I saw them as I was tootling past the shop and turned round and went in and got *vbg ... and sooo pleased you love the wee pin cushion :) love mouse xxxxx

Carolyn said...

Enjoy your blogs and loved this one of Wash, DC--being from that area I miss going down there every year! Thanks for the treat!

Veronica said...

What wonderful sights of Washington. You do live in a beautiful city. Thanks for sharing! Hope you have a wonderful new stitchy year.

Hugs,
Veronica.

Nicola said...

Great post, I have really enjoyed reading it and looking at the photos.

Sewsamplers said...

Wow! What a fun day! You really never rest. Don't know how you do it all!

Astrids dragon said...

That's one place we haven't been to yet, Madame Tussauds. I've been to the one in London years ago, but really need to go to this one. As close as we are, you'd think we'd go more often to see the sights!

Going while dark and going at dusk like we did is totally different, I much prefer dark - beautiful pics!

Nice job on the pin cushion, Mouse! And I'm sure you're going to need a long soak after working so hard recently DJ!

Hugs!