4th of July in Washington DC

We were fortunate enough to be invited to Washington, DC for the 4th of July and we jumped at the chance. The DC bell ringers wanted Stephen to participate in a peal attempt on the nation's birthday and even offered us a place to stay! The best part of the offer was that we would be able to watch the firework display (arguably one of the best in the country) from the top of the Washington, DC Cathedral!

We stayed with a DC ringer named Cecily and her family. We have stayed with them once before and thoroughly enjoyed it. They were very hospitable hosts!

The morning of the 4th we attempted to go to Arlington National Cemetery. We weren't able to make it there on our previous trip so I was really looking forward to it! Unfortunately, the park was closed off and we had to go with plan B! We actually ended up at the pentagon trying to find an open entrance to the cemetery....ooops!

Plan B was to spend the day at the National Zoo. It is a fabulous zoo but it was blisteringly hot and that made it hard to enjoy. I don't think I have ever seen a sweatier baby and I was worried about her getting dehydrated the entire day. We packed it in after a few hours and sought refuge at our host's home!





Sweaty baby in her festive 4th of July outfit!


Sweaty baby needed water and Air conditioning!


After an hour or two of rest it was time to head out to the Bell Ringer's BBQ. It was held in one of the courtyards at the cathedral and there was a ton of great food and drink! Esme was the bell of the ball- people couldn't get enough of her!





You can really see how hot it was in this picture! Poor sweaty girl! There is actually a great story behind this ballon. We went to the store to pick up something for the BBQ. While in line, the cashier of the next line started raving about Esme and her smile. Esme beams at pretty much everyone and is a very gregarious baby. The cashier was a small Asian woman and told us that in her culture a baby smiling at you is the best luck you can get. She stopped mid customer, rushed over to the balloons, purchased Ez a $4 balloon and then resumed her work! She said that Esme was her good luck charm! It was really cute.



The stunning cathedral




After the BBQ, we headed up the tower (which conveniently has elevators!) to watch a bit of ringing, followed by the fireworks. The fireworks were AMAZING! Esme loved watching them- we definitely had the best seats in all of DC!







Stephen Ringing (second from right)


Watching Daddy ring