To those of you in Salt Lake - Would you drive to Cedar City to go to the Zoo?

Today was filled with highs and lows. As Nick and Alyson (Hill's brother and sister) came to visit us this weekend, we felt that it would be fun to head to the National Zoo in Washington D.C. In theory, D.C. is about 2 hours away from Charlottesville. This may be true, but by the time you factor in traffic, the size of the actual city, traffic, Claire needing to stop and eat, etc., 2 hours is just not the case. We left Charlottesville at about 9 and pulled up to the Zoo at 11:50 - 2 hrs and 50 minutes. That is a long time for a little girl who should be taking a nap at that time. Luckily we found great parking for free. It was a beautiful day in Washington (apart from the fact that we are disappointed (Hill is actually devastated) by Mitt's dropping out of the presidential race).

The Zoo was a ton of fun! Dad was most excited for the opportunities for some great pictures. And I think we found some.


Claire is all tucked in and ready. We had a couple of Zoo workers try to stop us and ask us to put the Lamb back in the pasture. Luckily we were able to convince them that Claire was not a lamb, but was in deed, the cutest little girl in the whole world.


Uh Claire, just so you know, that is not dad sitting behind you. It is a big scary bear!!!! Just stay calm and mom will take care of everything. We hope he will give your lamb hat and binky back.


This next series of photos with the panda bears was alot of fun.


Ling-Ling (the panda bear as named by Alyson) was playing on the tree with his big rubber ball and he was putting on a great show. Just after this photo, he looked up and saw Nick. He was so startled by Nick's haircut that he stumled backwards in awe.


Next thing you know, Ling-Ling went down. Careful Ling-Ling, that's a slippery slope.


Looking closely you can see the look of shock on his face as he begins to tumble down the steep hill.


He rolls (notice the perfect tuck and roll position as he protects his head from the pain).


And rolls (Ling-Ling learned to roll up tight in a ball from his friend the armadillo that we met later).
And rolls.

And rolls. Probably about 50 feet down the hill by the time he finally made it to the bottom. He got up quickly and ran back up - trying to play it cool as if nothing had happened. Sorry Ling-Ling, your tumble was witness by many, and now captured on film. It was seriously so funny. Now that is a great show. Thanks Ling-Ling.

Claire reacts to Ling-Ling's fall. She was very worried about him and was relieved to see his quick recovery. Claire has a new face that she likes to pull and this is it.

Dad: Claire, what is large and gray, has four feet, two big ears and a large trunk and lives in Africa?

Claire: Grandpa Dahle.

Dad: Close. Really Close. Actually, it's an elephant.

Claire has alot to learn.

Claire: Dad, why is that funny ape sticking his finger up like that? He looks like he is deep in thought.

Dad: That is a good question Claire. I was told that this Zoo is a family friendly friendly place (I complained to the zoo keeper). I think he is letting us all know that he is number 1. I am sure that he is thinking about how he wishes his daughter was as cute as you and he is just expressing his displeasure.

Claire had a great time looking at the animals. Such a cute photo of the girls.
We made it all the way through the zoo and forgot to take a family picture. So, in order to document the trip we had to pull up for a last second phot just outside of Five Guys (we had a great burger).

This is when the trip took a turn for the worse. We got back in the car and Claire was already unhappy. Remember the two hour trip back to Charlottesville? We got in the car about 3:30 and pulled in to the apartment complex at 7. Traffic, traffic, and more traffic. Claire cried and screamed the whole time. Dad was going nuts. That's right, six and a half hours of driving for a two hour trip to the zoo. Looking back on the pictures we got, I think it was worth it. I vow no more day trips to D.C. until Claire is a little older. We'll see how it goes.