Getting Our Nerd on in D.C.

Britton has a CSGF (Computational Science Graduate Fellowship) Conference every summer in the fantastically busy metropolis that is D.C. He went alone last year since I was working and 6-7 months pregnant. This year I got to tag along with Will in tow. Plus, this year Britton's sister is living in Arlington so I had family to hang out with, and a friend from Stanford is living there this summer. Perfect!

The real reason we were in D.C.
Britton is presenting his research at the poster session. His poster/presentation made it to the final round! I think there was about 60 students from around the country that have the CSGF fellowship. The hardest part of the presentation for them was making the presentation short enough for the average attention span and simple enough for others to understand. I had to be careful not to look too interested in their posters or they would give me long explanations of their research while I was holding Will.

The Touristy Stuff:

The National Zoo (It's FREE!)


Erin was a great sport and tour guide. She has enough experience with all the people she's had visit her in the last year!
She also took us to Mount Vernon, and made sure we saw the best parts of the area.
Here we are in front of the Potomac. It was a hot day so the Washington's shady back yard hit the spot.
She also took us to the Udvar-Hazy Aerospace Museum with both Sam and Olivia even though they have all been there countless times:) Aerospace museums are always better with Britton.
Britton and Will are posing in front of a giant rocket engine (thingy). Britton's research has to do with simulating the turbulence and shock waves that occur in these bad boys.
I had to post these next two pictures because Olivia took them! They're very cute Olivia!
I also went to the American History Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Gallery of American Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Holocaust Museum. Here's Will enjoying some Monet.

Lessons learned:

Book tickets to the top of the Washington Monument weeks...months in advance
Get tickets online for the Holocaust Museum and get a time earlier in the day. (there's so much to see)
Be prepared for a long line at the National Archives. I really wanted to go here for the constitution and "BIG exhibit" but wasn't up for standing in the line forever with Will.

I guess I have reasons to go back then:)

Finally I was told it was best to see all the monuments at the mall at night. I thought about booking a bike the sights tour, but decided we could bike it on our own! We put Will to bed, and biked into the city from Arlington.
We saw EVERY monument and memorial! And it didn't take too long. The only problem was figuring out what to do with the bikes while we walked up to Lincoln. He was so much bigger that I imagined.
Britton convinced me to lay down, block out my peripheral, and pretend like I was walking up the side of the Washington Monument. It works:)

So that's all our vacation this summer. I have to figure out what to do in Oakland for the rest of August...