Vacation: Day 1

Well we are closing up day 1 of our family vacation to DC. We spent the day yesterday driving down good ole Route 15 and actually had a good trip. The kids were great in the car and we only stopped once at lunchtime for food, gas, and some good leg-stretching. We made great time and our hotel is really nice. We are staying in Alexandria, VA just inside the DC beltway at an all-suite hotel with a kitchette and shuttle service to the Metro station <1 mile away.
Today we went to the National Zoo! Lucas was psyched by the "train" ride that we got to take downtown and probably would have been satisfied just riding it around all day. The zoo is large and required a lot of walking but the kids were so good and Connor even napped for an hour or so in the stroller! We had a nice picnic lunch and got to see tons of animals. The new baby panda wasnt yet on exhibit but could be watched via closed-circuit TV but we had a fun time watching the gorilla family antagonize each other.
Its 'tub time' now and hopefully early to bed for everyone. Tomorrow we hit the National Air & Space Musuem. THIS will be the highlight of Lucas' trip. He's been talking about going to see the airplanes for weeks and Im sure it will be all he talks about for months. We'll keep you posted and have pics to upload when we get home. (posted by Heather via Matt's acct)