It had been a few months since we visited Nationals Park and boy did it look different! Nats Park was nearly unrecognizable as it transformed for Enchant, a holiday-themed evening festival with lights, ice skating and – of course – plenty of opportunities to spend money!

We were looking for some wintry holiday fun to make up for no Zoolights this year, and we found it in Georgetown! We braved the ice rink to go skating, and emerged better skaters after a session at Washington Harbour.

It was our 10th trip to visit Santa at the Pentagon City Mall, and we truly enjoyed a relaxed visit – sharing hopes and wishes while catching up over the past year. The boys behaved, so Santa surely kept them on the “nice” list for now!

We may very well plan to make Meadowlark Botanical Gardens’ Walk of Lights a holiday tradition after a second great visit! It was just cool enough to feel like winter, but not too busy so we could take in all the displays and tick all the boxes off in the scavenger hunt!

Compared with last Mother’s Day, we were a lot more active this year, with not one, but two outdoor destinations on the schedule. First up was Il Forno with a mom/grandmother reunion after 15 months, and the second was some fine Italian dining in Arlington.