No, not her future husband George, Prince of Cambridge.  This George:

Is this my new house, Daddy?

We took Peanut for a visit to Mount Vernon!  Nana, Grandad and Great-Grandma came, too – it was a family outing and so much fun.  Everything was in bloom…

(That’s the greenhouse and the “upper” flower garden.  There’s also a “lower” vegetable garden and a nursery with fruit trees.)  Peanut liked the flowers, but she was obsessed with the animals.  Mount Vernon is home to several heritage livestock breeds, including sheep, some cows, and fowl.

What are these furry things? Can I eat them?

PLEASE NO MORE KIDS.

Get over here, sheep! I want to love you!

It was such a great day!  This was the first time we’d taken Peanut to Mount Vernon, which seems crazy since we live so close.  It was definitely a new experience to walk around with a kid in tow.  For the first time, we had a stroller parked in the “stroller lot” outside the Mansion (you can’t bring them in, so they all line up in a row outside the servants’ quarters, which is hilarious).  Peanut enjoyed the walk through the Mansion – she even touched the historic banister, which was touched by the likes of Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette.  We also spent more time with the animals than we usually do, because she just couldn’t tear herself away.  And I even gave her a bottle picnic-style, sitting on a bench near the lower garden.

Beautiful day.  After our walk through Mount Vernon, we headed to Old Town for dinner at Gadsby’s Tavern, an historic old inn where George Washington used to dine.  The servers still dress in Colonial attire, and the food is of a “traditional” bent – for example, I had “George Washington’s Favorite” – duck with orange sauce, scalloped potatoes and corn pudding.  YUM.  Peanut got a bowl of plain steamed veggies and threw most of them on the floor.

I call this meeting of the Baby Congress to order!

Delegates! You’re not LISTENING TO ME!

This was Peanut’s first “fine dining” experience and I was a little bit worried about how it would go.  She’s a good kid and doesn’t cry or make a fuss generally, but she can be loud.  Most of her noises are “happy baby” noises and people usually don’t mind her at all.  But Gadsby’s Tavern is kind of a nice place, the food is a little bit pricey, and I figured that some people might want to enjoy their meals without a baby orating right next to them.  We normally take Peanut out to our favorite local pizza place, Pizzeria Paradiso, where there’s almost always other kids present and even if we’re the only family there, it’s a pizza joint, so no one gets bent out of shape if our table is loud.  But my grandmother was visiting, she loves Gadsby’s Tavern, and we wanted to make it a special trip for her, so we decided to try.

It went pretty well!  The restaurant was great with our group.  I’m sure they groaned inwardly when they saw us come in, but they didn’t blink an eye.  They put us in a corner, as far away from other diners as they could get us, which was a very smart move because Peanut was in rare form.  Between pounding and head-butting the table, trying to rip the waitress’s dress off, and making a pile of bread droppings under her high chair, she definitely commanded the attention of the room.  But we went early, entertained her with toys and food, and tried to be as unobtrusive as possible.  People definitely noticed Peanut, but I don’t think she ruined anybody’s evening, so I was happy.

Daddy! You didn’t share with me!

All in all, it was a very historic DC kind of day.  Peanut and George Washington are now on very friendly terms!