how many trips to VA and DC?

Really, I don't know the answer to that. I have no idea how many times we've gone to Virginia and DC, even in the last couple of years since we moved to Connecticut. But we just went again!

The reason for this trip was Cousin AK's baptism down in Williamsburg. She and Posy are only a few weeks apart in age (despite the height difference), and they're BFFs. It's very cute.

We didn't know this until now, but there's a beach at the James River so people can go swimming. We've been to a lake and the ocean already this summer, now a river!

Then it was up to DC for just one day - we visited the Natural History and American History Smithsonians (as usual). The girls were very excited to see the Hope Diamond, and we spent more time in the gemstone gallery than we ever have before. We also went through the Origin of Man section for the first time. The girls are starting to slow down to look at things more thoroughly and read some of the posted materials - that was new. We still moved pretty fast but usually they sprint through museums. This time, it was a brisk walk.

Her birthstone, the emerald

By the time we got to the American History Museum, our little kiddos were getting tired from all the walking so we kept it short. We visited the Star-Spangled Banner gallery, which is always beautiful and Sunny always sings the National Anthem quietly. And we saw the First Ladies gallery - Posy has recently decided that her favorite First Lady is Nancy Reagan, so Posy was happy to get a picture with the Inaugural portrait.