Spring Break DC Vacation, Day 3

It has been 20 years since I've been Washington DC.  There for a few years, my sis and I went every year. We had our favorite spots to visit, and I couldn't wait to introduce my kids to this town!

We had a great busy insanely awesome day on Monday.  

And believe it or not, this is the shortened bunch of photos from that day's trip!

We started the day with a ride on the Metro. 

Our apartment is about 2 blocks (1/4 mile) from the Dunn Loring Station on the Orange Metro Line.

So we loaded up and got to the station just in time to board the train headed into town. 

We quickly learned that Christopher likes to face in the direction the train is going.  

The opposite makes him ill... and extra whiny.  

We also learned Jacob was not a fan of underground Metro lines.  

Most of the Metro is underground until you get pretty far out, we're the third stop after it comes above ground.  Jake was less than enthusiastic with this surprise.  He thought the train would stay in the sunshine the whole ride in.  When it didn't, his face darkened... and that's saying something, with the giant welt on his head, it's dark enough.  

We got off at the Federal Triangle. 

It was Breathtaking to come above ground and see this view.  

The kids were so happy to play on this grassy knoll after being in the dark, 

they didn't care where we were. 

We still had a couple blocks to go before we hit our first Smithsonian Museum. 

The road spit us out between Natural History and American History, so we decided to turn right. 

Here we are approaching the entrance to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 

All my Boyz. 

The inside of American History has changed a bit since the last time I was there.  

It used to be that the Star Spangled Banner was hanging in the center of the museum for all to see.  

Now, they have it in a dark room, where no cameras are allowed.   Along the walls, they document the history of the Star Spangled Banner, the battle, the hangings, the holes.   It's really interesting.  

All I kept thinking, was the pictures that my Dad took of us looking at up it, are now part of the Smithsonian History. 

Did you know the Star Spangled Banner had 15 stars and stripes?  

It was more square than the traditional rectangle of our current flag.  

One of the Best pieces! 

I always love the Ruby Slippers!  

But they are looking a little worn, they're trying to do a fundraiser to conserve them. They will be putting together a new exhibit next year to show off some of film history's most popular artifacts. 

We'll just have to come back and see that too!

Bert and Ernie!

All the boys thought that Jim Henson's original Bert and Ernie Muppets were cool!

After American History, we stepped outside for a lunch break on the mall!

The boys thought this Mall was Completely Different from any other mall they'd ever been in. 

A kind family took a picture of all 5 of us in front of the Washington Monument.

All my Sweetboys. <3

Turn around and Blammo - there's the Capitol! 

See how much greenery between there and  where we're standing. 

Sorry Trumpy, there's no way all that was covered in your inauguration! 

OK, Mommy caved at the Gift Shop. 

I wanted some Flag earrings for patriotic holidays as a souvenir. I always try to pick up some sort of jewelry bauble when we're on vacation.  I am now the proud ownder of some Star Spangled Banner earrings, which are more square like, dangly, and fabulous.  I put them on right away! 

This chocolate, well it was a spontaneous purchase made at the counter.  Eric and I nibbled on half of it all day.  This is the first time I've been in DC during Cherry Blossom Time.  And with all the snow, this isn't even supposed to be a good year. But I love how festive the town is, everything advertises it.  

I love Cherry Blossom Time! 

My Boyz at the center of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, the Elephant. 

This African Elephant is the largest one ever displayed.  

The boys wanted to check out the Oceans exhibit first. 

They loved this huge whale hanging from the ceiling. 

Jacob was great, he identified a ton of the animals.  He spotted the oarfish before any of us! 

Thank you Octonauts! 

And then we went on to Mommy's Favorite... minerals and gemstones! 

We started at the beginning of rock formation, and 

Jacob reaches out and touches the world's oldest known rock. 

It is 3.96 Billion years old! 

Christopher found his Birthstone!

Chris checks out the Blue Topaz section of the gemstones.  

Sam finds his favorites too. 

He loves all the Emeralds, but here it was next to the prettiest Aquamarine too!

Both are in the Beryl family.

The Hope Diamond.

The reason for the section. 

They say it's cursed, but it was only for a while.   It's been fine in the Smithsonian since Harry Winston bought it and donated it.  Though I was waiting for someone to say, "talk to me Harry Winston". 

After the Natural History, we went walking towards the Art Museum. 

As soon as we left the Natural History Museum the kids were screaming for food. 

We'd opted to skip a sit down lunch, and I'd just packed two boxes of bars.  We had my new chocolate too, so we stopped at 2 for bars and snacks.  I suspected if we filled Jake's belly, and strapped him down in the stroller he'd be Out.  But first a picnic in the Gardens. 

We found a butterfly garden just off the mall.  Too early for butterflies, obviously, but perfect for some new spring growth.  

The First Tulip I've seen this year! 

After our butterfly garden, we walked through a Sculpture Garden. 

When we arrived at the Art Museum, I was thrilled to find they had a giant Azalea exhibit on display in their rotunda.   They were all in the fullest of bloom!  Gorgeous! 

My favorite shot of the Azaleas! 

Sam was on a Mission. 

Our reason for going to the Art Museum was prompted by a project at school. His class was reading the book 'Chasing Vermeer'.   Apparently, only DC and NYC have actual Vermeer paintings.  Sam was the navigator of the museum map to figure out where in the Art Museum we could find the Vermeers.  It was our own Chasing Vermeer adventure.  One of them was specifically mentioned in Chasing Vermeer.  So we went on a mission to the Art Museum to find it.  Unfortunately, the one Chris was excited to see, Woman with a Balance, was not on display, but there were a couple portraits.  One was one of my favorites, Girl With a Red Hat.  

I find that when exploring Art Galleries, it helps to have the kids find their favorites. 

One suggestion was to make the Gift Shop their first stop instead of the last, have them pick a postcard, and explore the museum looking for it.  We've done that at the Eiteljorg.  But now they are old enough we can walk in a room, and just pick a favorite.  

This trip, I'd done a bit of research on their Collection, so we knew we wanted to see the Self Portrait of Van Gogh.  I'd seen it last year in Chicago.  Sam expressed a desire to see Van Gogh's works.  So we checked out the room with all the Van Gogh's.  It also had some Gaugin (did you know they were buddies?) and Degas.  And a bench.  While we rested a moment (we were getting tired) we all picked a Favorite.  This was Sam's favorite, big surprise, Van Gogh with a lot of green! 

This was Christopher's Favorite! 

Self Portrait with Halo and Snake by Paul Guaguin.

It reminds me of some kind of Joker or Harlequin thing.  Whatever, it's art, and Chris liked it.  

Like I mentioned, last year, I'd seen a Van Gogh and Degas exhibit in Chicago.
While we rested I noticed that two of the big headliners from Chicago were there right in the same room. The Jockey fallen off his Horse on the Left is by Degas, and if you look closely on the right is the self portrait by Van Gogh.  Jacob had fallen asleep, but began to wake in this room.  Sam liked this one because he knew it was painted after he'd lost his ear, so it only shows one ear, but he was feeling good enough to do some painting.

After a moment's rest, we ventured on too.  We found Degas sculptures in the basement and headed out. Turns out the only handicapped entrances in the museum are on the back side usually ground floor.  We began to find it easier to just let Jacob out and let him run down the steps while Eric carried the stroller down the stairs.  

We had decided to head towards the Smithsonian Train Station. As it just so happens, there is a Carousel on the mall (I don't remember that being there before!) just in front of Smithsonian Castle.  

So we promised if the boys were good in the Art Museum, they could have a ride.  They were steller.  Daddy doesn't ride carousels.  But Mommy enjoyed with Chris and Jacob.  Sam was riding a green seahorse further up and not able to get in the same picture with all of us. 

Turns out 3 Museums in one day is a lot!

Clouds had moved in, it had gotten cold.  And my feet were hurting so bad, they were beyond pain.

By the time we rode the subway home, they were numb.  And it occurred to us, that we were Hungry. 

Really Hungry.  

We found a small strip right next to the Metro station, full of what they called Fast Casual. 

I had never heard the phrase until we were going on Spring Break. Eric had gone to a place right before we left, Smash Burger with work fellas, and they called it Fast Casual, it's like an upgrade from Fast Food, where you get to kind of create your own, like Chipotle.  It's all the rage.  

We this strip was full of places like it.   So we stopped at the pizza place, Arosto Pizza.  The kids choice.  They were doing a deal for a pizza and a beer for $10.  Sold.  Since we were walking, we could each enjoy a beer.  Very Nice.  I asked the counter gal what her favorite was, and she told me the Pork BBQ with cole slaw on top.  So I went with that, I was too hungry to narrow it down. 

We'd walked right by a BBQ joint on the way in, so BBQ sounded perfect.  Tasted Perfect too!  

We didn't have much energy.  We went home watched an episode of Star Wars Rebels (did I mention Eric packed the Roku box so we could have all our tv shows, brilliant?!)  and went straight to bed, all of us. 

Spring Break DC Vacation, Day 2

 So this morning started obscenely early for me.  So it was a long day.  

Sam woke me up at 3:45 with his coughing.  So much coughing.  

We'd stopped for cough medicine, and found these mini-melts powder pixie stix stuff for him, it was the only guaifenesin combo that didn't have red 40.  But a. he didn't want to take it, and b. it wasn't as effective as I wished it would be.  It seemed to be better when we loaded up the diffusers and blasted RC. So it was RC for his respiratory congestion support, and Thieves for Daddy and I.  Sweet Lord, I don't want to catch this.  

Meanwhile, he crashed early the night before, but before we left, the kids wanted to go for one more swim. Mommy did the pre-pack up while Daddy took the yahoos to the pool this time.  

Since our apartment doesn't have a pool we promised the boys we'd stop at places with pools overnight on the way there and back again.  

We got back on the road about 11. 

Pennsylvania. 

Long roads with snowy hilltops in the distance.  

For some reason, Google Map directions took us off the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and we found ourselves on the National Road, US 40.  40 runs right through Indy, but I've never taken it all the way East or West. 

As we cross the mountains in Pennsylvania, the Laurel Highlands, is what they were called, we find them covered with snow, and so Beautiful.  

Gorgeous!  

We drove by a beautiful resort on the way near Uniontown, and a National Park Fort Necessity. 

Someday I want to go back.  This is the sort of area that would be gorgeous all year long.  

We passed a pretty lake.  

Someday I want to stay at the Nemocolin Resort, and visit Laurel Caverns. 

We passed these on our drive, and I made note, because dayim, they were Gorgeous!

The snowy knoll.

Just after we crossed into Maryland, we found a place where we could gas up, and eat. 

Obviously, Eric isn't dressed for the Allegheny mountain weather.  

The rest of us dug out our coats.   

We stopped at McDonald's and drove through for lunch.  

We'd given up fast food for Lent, so on Sundays we cave a little bit.  The kids had been really looking forward to McD's on our road trip. 

We made it to our apartment in Vienna, VA near Merrifield, just after 4 pm! 

We're on the second floor, 2 bedrooms, an air mattress for a the extra person (Jacob says it's his Jacob size bed!) 1 1/2 bathrooms with a kitchen, all within walking of the Metro and free parking for our car.  We found this place with the help of Airbnb.  This was our first airbnb adventure.  We had reservations in Alexandria, but our initial renter cancelled on us less than 2 weeks before we were leaving.  I freaked out and asked the airbnb guys for help finding a place within our budget.  Blessedly, Derek at Airbnb really worked to find us a place.   This place met with all our conditions.   

This was an accidental shot, as I was putting my phone away.  

It's our apartment building.  But I kind of like its artsy way. 

We waited a bit for James, the owner of our place.  Then he gave us a grand tour, showing us how to use the keys, where to shop, eat, park our car, we had the option of Indoor or Outdoor parking which was really nice.  He was very kind!  He was prompt too in replying to any of our questions all along the way.  

We got there before the owner, and had to wait a bit.

Jacob got a big kick out of playing in the snowbank. 

They'd had a big snow the week before.  We had gotten only a dusting, that hadn't lasted.  

Even though it was like 50 out, some snow remained.

Once we got inside, the kids were so excited that they started playing with everything. It only took a minute before Christopher accidentally slammed a door into Jacob who was running headlong into it, and he got a huge gash in his head.  I'm glad I had my Helichrysum, but it still looks bad. 

Like they hadn't had enough screen time already. 

As we unpacked and got settled, the boys were perfectly content to just play on their ipads. 

What did we ever do without them before?!   (Chris had his too, but he was using his on his Flush.)

The living room is a little small, this two seater couch is all there is, about 4 feet from the tv.   Not exactly a hang out place for a family of 5, but we can make do with it. 

We got a welcome from the nosy neighbors.

And I think I shall call them Fred and Ethel. 

Spring Break DC Vacation, Day 1

Off we go, into the Wild Blue Yonder!  

We got off to a late start last Saturday morning, because we weren't fully packed.  I wanted to be packed Friday night, so we could roll out after Gymnastics.  Only we weren't quite packed yet.  My body gave out the night before.  Remind me not to go downtown to a parade, and not nap, on a night I want to pack. Then when we woke up, Jacob had a low grade fever.  His cheeks were howdy doody red.  I wasn't sure if it was windburn at first, like I had, but his whole body was hot. And Sam was coughing like a maniac.  So we didn't hit the road until 11.  Then we had to stop at the drug store for cough stuff.  Turns out it's rather hard to find cough stuff for kids, like dextromathorphan that doesn't contain Red 40.  I found an orange flavored powder for Sam that didn't have red, but he said it tasted nasty.  I just couldn't stand the coughing, and we hadn't even left town yet.  

Then we needed to run back home for an extra diffuser (so glad we did this, we ended up really needing two!) and hitting AAA on the way out of town.  

So we finally got on the road about 12:30.  

The kids were asking for snacks and lunch before we were even outside of the loop. 

So I gave them the first round of bars, and we got out of town. 

Steak-n-Shake.  

We stopped for lunch in Greenfield.  The kids wanted cheeseburgers.  

I had wanted one of these Chocolate Covered Strawberry since Valentine's Day, but kids behavior hadn't really warranted it.   Now things are improving.  Shakes were needed.  

After lunch, the kids were great, they let us make it into Ohio before we needed to stop again. 

We made it out of Ohio, and through West Virginia.  

At the foothills of Pennsylvania, we found ice dripping from the rocks on the side of the road. 

It was a little cooler there in the last week, than in Indy.  

We ended up stopping for the night in Washington, PA.  

We found a wonderful hotel in the Springhill Suites by Mariott.  It had 2 fulls and a pullout couch.  

Chris and Sam shared, Daddy and Jake did.  And I had a bed to myself!  Fantastic. 

And they had a nice heated pool!  We really liked this place, and the price was completely reasonable.  We grabbed Panera for supper, and came back to the room just in time to watch the Butler Basketball Game.  Go Dawgs!

The kids, especially Jacob, were having fun with the couch cushions that we piled in front of the tv for their floor picnic.   

Sam put himself to bed before the game was done.  

Jake's fever was gone by noon, and he was feeling much better. 

So we watched the game. 

Butler Won! 

We're headed to the Sweet 16 next weekend, which was Friday night. 

And I took Chris and Jake down to the pool for an evening swim before bed. 

Perfect for the first day! 

Fat Tuesday

Kathleen and I have a tradition of splurging on Mardi Gras. 

We go out the day before Lent begins so we can remember what we're giving up. 

Usually this consists of Starbucks, or McDonald's, or there was that one year we did both! 

Madness. 

This year, we are giving up Starbucks.  And as it just so happened, we'd earned some Freebies to go our with a bang!   I got a giant raspberry white mocha.  It's my favorite warm beverage.  

Then we commenced to get caught up over the next two hours, while the big kids were off to school. 

Only little Alexis entertained.   Good drinks, and good company.  

As I was departing Starbucks, I called Eric.  

He is moving from the gig where he's been for the last 7 years to another 'temporary' gig here shortly.  So we thought we might celebrate one last hurrah on the west side of town with a lunch date. 

We met up for lunch at The Tamale Place. 

I love this place.  My favorite is the chicken with green sauce.  It's not a spicy verde, even the littles used to eat it, but frankly it's too yummy to share.  Little grandmothers are in the back making tamales, and when they run out they run out.   So we never go for dinner, only lunch.  

On occasion they have 'dessert tamales'.  This time I got a chocolate one that tasted like a brownie! 

It was so good. 

With that, Eric and I are giving up Starbucks for Lent.  I'm kicking my FB perusing down a notch, I'm gonna try to limit it to more business related.  And our whole family will be giving up fast food for Lent.  This should make our Spring Break Road Trip extra adventurous.  

But in the mean time, it means less money spent, and more time together.

Cooties from Cuties

My nephews came over to play yesterday.  Earlier this week, I borrowed Cole, because Bryce was in the hospital.  But Bryce is feeling a bazillion times better, and Thursday night I got a phone call.

A Cole Call. 

Cole wanted to call me, because he had so much fun coming over and playing the other day.  He wanted to come do it again.  I told him, that I was going to have to talk to his Mom about that.   So he immediately put her on!  Ha Ha!
After chatting, we decided she could venture out the next day.  Bryce was still feeling puny, but had mostly gotten over his cooties.  And I figured, if we were gonna catch anything, we would've got it.  Although, I was feeling a little itchy eyed Thursday evening.  I didn't think anything of it.
Until Friday morning, I wrote Erica, because I woke up congested.  I didn't want to cancel our date, because I wasn't sure if it was allergies or cooties.  Unfortunately, she told me, the itchy eyes, sneezy, congested, and a light cough (no cough here yet though) were totally signs of the RSV the boys had.

Boo.  

But, then again.  If I had caught whatever they had, then so what. And Jacob's already had RSV, I have vague memories of going to the ER over it, and I think the other two had also, then there was nothing to be lost from having them come over.   So they did.  So I oiled us all up, and they came.  I'm so glad they did too.  The boys had a great time!

Erica and I immediately got to chattering away.  It was awfully quiet for Jacob and Cole.   I went up to check on them.

This was what I found.  These two yahoos curled up watching Baymax.  

Big Hero Six (Three Hero Six) is Jacob's favorite movie.  And he has access to it on our ipad.  

So he was sharing with Cole.  

They were playing so well together. 

Apparently, Bryce learned to roll over like two weeks ago, before he got sick.  She barely got a video snippet of it.  But she put Bryce down on the floor for him to roll over for me.

I know it's blurry, but I couldn't believe how high he could lift that giant melon!  

He was such a wiggly worm.  

He's not a fan of tummy time.  He doesn't outright hate it like Chris did, but he's not happy there.  

He gets those legs up there, and wiggles and moves.  And how cute is he?!

Then he was chillin' on Mama's shoulder. 

He looks at me all cross eyed, when he tries to focus on me.  He catches me a few times, I can see his eyes are getting stronger everyday.  He's 9 weeks old, though only 1 month adjusted. 

This just made me laugh.  

It was hard to get a still shot, because he was such a wiggly worm. 

Then I got my turn. 

Even slightly congested, I got to get my fix.  

We're just sharing cooties after all.  

I miss having a sweetboy nuzzle in. 

This face.  He had just finished his bottle when I got my turn. 

His eyes started rolling back, he was toast.  

I loved it.  

I know a sleepy boy. Yes, I do. 

And he was out.  

Just about this time, Cole started giving us his clues that he was toast too.  

And he cried when he had to leave.  I guess that's a good sign that was a good time was had by all.

Wanna come play?

My sister in law called last night.  My baby nephew Bryce was admitted in the hospital for RSV.  Poor Boo.  They said he wasn't too bad, mostly just being observed overnight.  Since he's a Preemie, they don't mess around.   She wanted to know if I wanted to borrow Cole for the day.

Um, heck yeah!!

Cole arrived right before it was time for Jacob to go to school. 

Do you know that vintage Awesome shirt, used to belong to Eric and his brothers.   We're passing it down to the next generation.  And now it's Cole's favorite.  Doesn't matter that it barely fits him anymore, he doesn't care.  He's a goose. 

I offered him a snack at 10.  But he came up to me at 10:30 with this, and told me, "I need a spoon for my jar!"  Oh yeah, this kid fits into our family!   His cousin, uncle, Grandma, are all peanut butter addicts.  He comes by it honestly.   He was cracking me up.  We played Rescue Bots while watching Rescue Bots.  We watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.   Then we popped over to Trader Joe's where he enchanted everyone who saw him.  

Then it was time to go pick up Jacob from school. 

Jake's class wasn't ready, but Cole found some big kids playing, so he just grabbed a ball and joined right in. 

He thought Jacob's school was the Bee's Knees! 

Then Jacob got out of class, and the two of them took off riding tricycles.  

They had some energy to spend!

They were just the cutest things together in the car!

 I took the kids to Chick Fil-A where we met Eric for lunch after his back MRI.  As we pulled up, I got the biggest kick out of them saying Chick Fil-A.  So I recorded them saying it.  Jacob called it, "Chico Flay" and Cole called it, "Chief Away".  They kept trying to say it right, and practicing.  I hope they never quite get it, or at least, not for years.  This was too cute. 

Over and over and over again, they climbed up the tree tower at Chick Fil-A and came barreling down the slide, only to do it all over again.  They played so hard, and had a great time.  

This was my favorite picture. 

They held hands as we left the school.  But they were too fast for me to grab my phone, so when they did it again as we left Chick Fil-A.  That time I got the picture!   

Then we came home, and blissfully, everyone took a nice nap, Cole even slept longer than Jake and I.

Once they were awake and together, they had more energy to spend.  

They literally bounced all over the place.  

It was adorable, and I can't wait to do it again!