We made it!

That's right, we're here in D.C. and loving it!

We got in late last night. The flight was completely full, but instead of the usual grumbling and rude people, it was the exact opposite -- everyone was really happy and friendly. Everyone was wearing Obama shirts and hats, and were all excited to be going to the big party.

We arrived in D.C., and could see the Capitol Building and Washington Monument all lit up from the plane. We found a super helpful cab driver who asked where we were going, and then replied, "I don't know where that is." But he kept driving anyway, and after stopping at a local 7-11 for directions, we made it safely to Jamie and Suzanne's house.

This morning we awoke bright and early (for the West Coast, anyway). We rode the Metro into town. We were the second-to-last station, so we got seats -- which was good, because the train got more crowded than I'd ever seen!

But again, the happy mood prevailed! We passed one of the House office buildings, which had a loooong line wrapped around the building. But instead of being angry, the people in line were smiling, happy. They were thrilled to line up and receive their swearing-in ceremony tickets.

We walked passed the Library of Congress, the Capitol Building and the Supreme Court. I was thrilled to be back in D.C. and see all the amazing sites. I don't think Mark saw much of them, as he was bundled up, with his sweatshirt zipped halfway up his face. He saw the ground, mostly.

We found the Hart Senate building, where Senator Feinstein's office is. Carmen, a mutual friend, and her sister met up with us -- I had an extra ticket for Carmen (I felt bad I didn't have one for her sister, though). After passing through the security line, we headed upstairs to the Senator's office, and received our tickets. They're beautiful, like printed invitations. (I'll scan them in when I get home.)

After meeting our new friends, it was time to meet an old one. Seth was also in town! He came down from New York City yesterday, and we were thrilled to spend the day with him. (I was especially thrilled because I missed him at Christmas this year.) It was so crazy to travel all the way across the country, and meet up with a friend from home.

Here's a shot of Mark, my mom and Seth (just for you, Ann!).

Our little group wandered around the Capitol building, making our way down to the Mall. Along the way, we heard them doing a sound check/rehearsal for tomorrow's ceremony. The announcer introduced Yo-Yo Ma and Itzak Pearlman, and beautiful music wafted through the speakers. I assumed it was a recording, but Seth said, "I think that's live!" He was right! Serendipity...

And when Mark heard the music, he told us very seriously, "I beat Yo-Yo Ma at pizzicato." I had no idea what that meant, but I was so proud of my little man and his musical (and musician) knowledge! (He later explained that pizzacato was plucking the strings on the cello.)

There were a LOT of people out on the Mall today!

And in the museums. We spent our afternoon in the Air and Space Museum, where Mark's favorite exhibit was the trash can with an automatic trash compactor. It had a red light that flashed every time it compacted the trash, and Mark kept racing to feed it more trash and set the light off.

He thought the planes and rockets were pretty cool, too. Unfortunately, I proved myself to be an unworthy tour guide. My dad and brother Scott are awesome guides -- they can tell you the name and history of every plane or rocket there. I, on the other hand, could not.

"See that space suit there?" I asked Mark. "Astronauts wore that when they were working outside on the spaceship...er, rocket ship." He just walked away.

I also pointed out the cockpit of a plane from the '60s. "Look at all the instruments!" I told Mark. (I thought all the stuff was called the instrument panel, which made the blinking lights and stuff...instruments, right?) But I was immediately corrected by the little kid behind me, who said, "That's the control panel."

"How sad is it that 9 year olds know more about planes than I do?" I asked Seth.

We spent a couple hours in the museum. It was really fun to hang out with Seth, and watch Mark run around pushing all the buttons. At first it was nice to get out of the heat, but after a while, it got just plain hot in there, between the thermals and the wool coats we were carting around.

It was cold outside when we left, but not nearly as bad as we thought. I thought we'd freeze, but our layers kept us pretty warm.

Here's a shot of Mom in front of the Washington Monument:


And in front of the MSNBC booth on the Mall:

We were glad about the cold for another reason, too. We'd ordered groceries online, but the store didn't deliver them before we left. They said the groceries would be fine outside until tonight, and they were right. I unpacked the milk, and it was as cold as refrigerated milk usually is! I guess there is some benefit to below 30 degree weather after all.

All in all, it was a pretty awesome day. We did a trial run for the weather (confirming that we need layers for tomorrow), and we got to spend the day in a cool museum with Seth. But best of all, we got a taste of tomorrow's ceremony, and we got to feel the electric vibe coursing through the city. It's just all so exciting.

There's a huge, diverse crowd -- young, old, black, white, individuals, travelling groups, Army guys and civilians. Everyone's got on shirts that say "Hope" and that's exactly what it feels like -- hope.

And now we're off for one last time tonight. Off to my favorite little deli, the Lost Dog Cafe, for dinner. It'll be an early night, because we have an even earlier morning tomorrow, and I know it'll be hard to fall asleep tonight just thinking of it.