The DC Adventure 2010

The opportunity to travel to Washington DC and Virginia recently came about as Brian was asked to stand up for a childhood friend at his wedding. And while the timing wasn't great (it is still fall tax season), we thought it would be a great opportunity to bring the older boys- and Brian- across the country and give them a chance to see some of our country's history first hand.

UP, UP AND AWAY
The adventure started in San Diego, however, since it was the boys' first time on an airplane. Blake was excited, as we expected, but Garrett...not so much. He insists he's afraid of heights (not sure where that comes from), but the good news is that he had plenty of time to get used to flying. It took three separate flights and one plane change to get from San Diego to DC and now he's a traveling pro. And no fighting over the window seat!

(This actually is a picture of our plane that Grandpa took upon our return)

RECALCULATING...
The DC portion of our trip (notice I use the word "trip" and not "vacation" since there is one distinct differentiating factor- kids) started with us picking up our rental car. Brian and the boys were giddy with excitement about driving something "cool". After declining the fully loaded Jeep Commander due to the overpowering stench of smoke mixed with WAY too much pungent air freshener, we settled with a Ford Flex. Something fun and different.

After that slight setback we were on the road. Just not the right road. We had the forethought to bring along a GPS for our trip. It was a great idea, but an even better one would have been to clear all the settings, but it only took us a couple days of getting lost to realize this. We quickly discovered, however, that it was no match for the tangled web of freeways, highways and surface streets that intertwine throughout the DC/Virginia area. Tired and weary from traveling, Brian and I were not exactly humored by the frustration of driving in circles and passing our destination...several times. (One of our first discoveries about DC was that just because you can SEE it doesn't mean it's easy to get to.) The boys, however, were thoroughly entertained by the GPS voice who, very calmly and kindly informed us in her British accent that she was "recalculating" due to a wrong turn...over and over again. It gets old, trust me. From that point on, any moments of being lost or going the wrong way were easily explained by our "recalculating". At least we were creating memories.

PIZZA PARTY
Due to extensive "recalculating", by the time we got to our hotel it was approaching 11pm and we hadn't had dinner. Of course the logical solution- since there was NO way we were getting in the car to drive anywhere- was to order pizza and have an in-room pizza party. It was a perfect way to end a long first day of our DC adventure.

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES
The boys experienced their first taxi ride followed by a train ride on the Metro. It was fun to see the amazement on their faces as we descended into the tunnels and saw the illuminated train tracks. As we boarded the Metro and grabbed a pole, it wasn't long before the boys experienced the learning curve of having to hold on (which doesn't lend itself well to swinging on the poles).

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY...
We knew there was a chance of rain, we even knew there was a low pressure storm. I brought a hooded jacket just in case. We were expecting light showers...not a tropical storm. Needless to say, our first ridiculously expensive souvenir purchases were two (then later a third) overpriced umbrellas. We were armed and ready for our adventure but then....

...as we excitedly made our way to the Smithsonian, we were greeted by a downpour of rain like I've never seen before. DC got the same amount of rain in this particular day that we get ALL SEASON LONG in San Diego. And we were happy to have the umbrellas...but they were no match for the gusts of wind that effortlessly blew them inside out. So we embraced the rain as part of our adventure and made our way to the museum anyway.

SEEING THE SIGHTS
We spent most of our morning at the National Museum of Natural History. We checked out the dinosaur exhibit and spent time a lot of time looking at rocks, minerals, volcanoes and gems. The boys seemed to enjoy it, but I don't think there were able to truly appreciate how spectacular the things they were seeing really were- like the Hope Diamond. I'm pretty sure we spent an equal amount of time shopping in gift stores for souvenirs as we did seeing exhibits (no doubt that Garrett was REALLY hoping ONE of them sold Legos). No such luck.

This one's for Chase, whose favorite dinosaur is a ta-ta-tops (Triceratops).

The volcano simulator was a highlight for my want-to-be geologist.

After making our way through the museum, we headed for the Capitol. Once again in the pouring rain.

Another example of the enormity of the statues.

We had scheduled a tour of the Capitol through our congressman and arrived in plenty of time....at the Capitol (which, after checking our paperwork, we realized was NOT the meeting place for the tour...recalculating). As we made our way across the back of the Capitol I was humored by the line of idling black SUV's and Cadillacs- I thought that was just in the movies!

And it's not everyday that you see men with machine guns standing guard. I've never been through so much security in my life (four times over of emptying kids' pockets, taking off belts and jackets, our new umbrellas, phones, cameras, etc) but it was for our own safety, too. Brian and I found the guided tour of the Capitol pretty interesting...but the boys were quickly growing tired of being told to be quiet, not run and not to touch anything. They hung in there, though, and hopefully came away with a little more knowledge about the beginnings of our different branches of government.

Garrett looking up at the rotunda of the Capitol building...

...and this is what he was looking at. The architecture alone is mind-blowing.

This starburst marks the point from which all of DC is centered. In every imaginable direction.

We braved the rain once again to make our way from the Capitol to the Washington Monument and the Mall. It was during this journey that Garrett pointed out that the top of the monument looks like the face of a gorilla- the two windows being the nostrils and the blinking red lights being the eyes. Once you see it, it's impossible not to; I will never look at it the same again.

One breathtaking moment was standing at the base of the monument and seeing the 360 degree view of some of our country's most historically significant and powerful landmarks: the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument towering above and disappearing in to the sky, and part of the White House. So much history there...

Garrett was most excited to see the Lincoln Memorial (although by this time we walked all day in wet shoes, socks and clothes and the excitement was waning quickly). One of the other things I noticed about DC (in addition to everything being deceptively far away) was that, conversely, everything up close was much larger and more grandiose than I had ever imagined...no coincidence I'm sure due to the powerful historical nature of what you see. It's hard to not be mesmerized by such extraordinary examples of GOOD and POSITIVE. We took a few moments on the stairs to "reflect" on our adventure and what history we could with two tired little boys.

Blake taking it in.

So many kind strangers offered to take family photos of us.

As we exited, we made our way past the Vietnam Wall Memorial. There is something so personal and tangible and so profoundly humbling about seeing the actual names of soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice.

From there, we walked a few extra blocks (unbeknownst to the the boys who were begging to go back to the hotel) to stand at the White House fence and see it with our own eyes.

Unfortunately the boys were too exhausted to appreciate it as evidenced by Garrett's Lego withdrawls and Blake's tired-induced trance where he would wander off and voices calling him back didn't seem to register. The logical solution was to catch a taxi to the Metro but there was one problem...being taxi novices we were hesitant to flag one down because there was NO bike lane, NO emergency lane and NO WHERE for a taxi to pull over to stop- which means we would have to hop in mid-street and mid-traffic...all four of us. I asked the first person we saw- which Brian later informed me was Secret Service- about hailing a cab and it turns out that's how they roll. So we hailed ourselves a taxi back to the Metro and ate dinner at Five Guys (the East coast version of In-N-Out). At dinner I took a few minutes to update my running list of the things we did and saw so that I didn't forget anything and upon seeing my list Garrett remarked, "...you should add 'going to the store to get Lego's' next". Suffice it to say that despite hitting up every gift store we could find, there was not a Lego in sight.

THE DC/VIRGINIA ADVENTURE CONTINUES
On our way out of the city the next morning, we stopped to see Iwo Jima. What struck me most about Iwo Jima is that like most of the statues and monuments in DC, the statue is enormous. You can see that life-size people pale in comparison as the Marines prepare to change out the flag.

It's located in a beautiful park with breathtaking views through the fall trees of the Potomac, the Washington Monument, the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial in the distance.

And as we meandered around the memorial is was impossible not to hear the lone crow cawing over the hum of distant traffic. But it was Garrett who identified it, perched atop the flagpole, and suggested that the bird was saying its Pledge of Allegiance. Leave it to Garrett and his unique perspective of the world to find something so obscure yet so obvious.

THE WONDER OF WASHINGTON
The man, not the city. One of the highlights for me was touring Mt. Vernon- the estate of George Washington.

Garrett gave himself the abbreviated tour in hopes that he could avoid the actual one...

We opted for the National Treasure Tour (based on the movie) which we were hoping would make it a little more relevant to the boys who were becoming less and less interested in sightseeing. Wishful thinking.

Here is the entrance to the basement, which was part of the movie. We did tour the basement, but pictures weren't allowed. Still, it was fascinating to see the architecture from the inside out. Come to find out, however, that there is no "secret tunnel". At least none that we got to tour.

We did, however, see the ice house, which in the movie served as access to the tunnel.

George Washington was a fascinating and brilliant man in his own right and his estate only amplifies that. It's hard to comprehend walking in his footsteps and seeing what he saw. Brian and I walked away with the sense that while life was unquestionably harder in so many ways, it is ironic that in other ways life seemed so simple, free of modern day inundation of technology and information and people were forced to act with intention...and kids depended on their imaginations and home-made toys to occupy their attention. We could learn a lot from history, if not that.

It turns out that George Washington didn't have any kids of his own, but cared for his wife's grandchildren from her first marriage whose own parents succumbed to disease- commonplace in those times.

NEXT STOP: LEESBURGE, VA
After Mt. Vernon, we found our way to and settled in to our next hotel in the suburbs of Virginia as Brian dashed off to attend the rehearsal dinner. The boys and I had dinner in the hotel restaurant...which was an adventure in and of itself. Let's just say fine dining and kids don't go together. Especially tired kids. And a tired mom. It involved a table cloth, water served in goblets and no kids menu. Let's just leave it at that.

B.W. (Before the Wedding)
After recalculating several more times to find a place to eat breakfast the next morning (I was far too exhausted to repeat our fine dining experience), we were off to take care of some groomsman details. Like picking up the tux...in the CORRECT size. Little did we know that this would produce 20 minutes of non-stop, strut-your-best-moves dancing in the 5-way mirrors at Men's Warehouse for the boys. Fortunately, they were nice enough to humor us and the boys had a blast working off two days of constant walking or sitting and being told to settle down. They needed that.

The day got only better for me as Brian and the boys dropped me off for a birthday massage while they shopped the local Wegman's. I've never seen anything like this store..it's a grocery store/food court/coffee shop with a band/farmer's market on steroids- and that was just the first floor! I guess that's what they do in the winter when spending time outside isn't really an option. I have to say, I am quite taken with Virginia...it's just so quaint, with expansive rolling hills and patches of tall, dense trees, surprise springs and streams, and charming architecture. And not one billboard along the highway, not one. You just feel like you can really breathe.

On the way to the wedding, I tried to enjoy the scenic countryside where wineries, farms and fields lined the street...but for the whining and complaining coming from the back seat. After several days of asking nicely, politely reminding and then demanding that they stop, I had to resort to more drastic measures...something that would mean something to them. So I charged a nickel for every complaint and every whine I heard. After surrendering his prized half dollar and new addition to his coin collection, Garrett got the picture. I may have to permanently adopt this new policy (and yes, I did give it back to him the next day).

MAKE THAT TWO- ONE FOR MY FRIEND
The wedding was at a hilltop vineyard at sunset and was absolutely beautiful.

The boys even sat through (most of) it quietly. And despite being disgruntled about having to eat gourmet food, they couldn't wait for the dancing to begin. It didn't take long for them to find the only other little kid at the wedding- a 5yr old girl named Samantha. The three of them vacillated between an intense game of tag and trying to out-dance each other.

Garrett was smitten. Having worked up quite a sweat dancing outside (despite temperatures in the 50's) Garrett asked for some water to quench his thirst. As I went inside to get it he quickly followed me yelling, "make it two- one for my friend!". Then they sat side by side on the step, Garrett offering Samantha a blanket for warmth, and sipped their waters. For about a minute, then back to dancing.

Needless to say, they had a blast. And Garrett claims to have a new girlfriend. I think it might actually be a good thing that they live across the country, since I'm just not ready for that stage yet.

But hopefully one day he'll be as lucky as we are.

ODDS AND ENDS
We had a great time on the trip, despite not finding the time to see everything we had hoped (and spending enough time absorbing and digesting the things we did see). The good news is that we have plenty to see the next time.

And all was not lost on the boys. Garrett came to the conclusion all on his own that George Washington is the only president on two currencies...and that Benjamin Franklin is one of the only people on printed money who never was a president. Pretty perceptive. And Blake recalled a story he learned in school about George Washington and how his love of dogs may have ultimately helped in getting his adversaries to surrender.

AND...BACK TO REALITY
Life didn't skip a beat upon our return home. There was the post-trip unpacking and umpteen loads of laundry, 5am "mama" wake up calls, backpacks to pack for school and the waking up to kid vomit (from a kid who was SO tired that he didn't even wake up when it happened). And consequently more laundry. A HUGE thanks to Renee for being the pseudo-mom to the twins while the rest of us were traveling. It's a big job and she really is the next-best thing to a mom to our kids. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! And, now we've made our own history....since we'll always have DC.

Why Being A Parent Is Like Training For A (half) Marathon

1. Training begins before sunrise.
2. It's 70% mental ("I can do this") and 30% physical.
3. Goals should be realistic and broken down into smaller milestones
4. Having a plan in place is essential
5. Rest is scheduled and necessary for recovery
6. While the flat course is ideal, there will always be hills
7. For every hill there is an up AND a down
8. You are stronger than you think you are
9. Part of training is figuring out what works for you...and what doesn't
10. It may be painful at times, but giving up is not an option
11. Don't forget to enjoy the scenery
12. It's not about winning, it's about doing the best you can do and finishing what you started

A Style All Her Own

When one thinks of having a daughter (especially after having 3 boys), one conjures up images of fairytale and princess dresses, tea parties and cute bows in her hair. Unless that said daughter is Ella...she has her OWN ideas. Dress up? Absolutely. It's her favorite thing to do...but not in fairytale and princess dresses.


Okay, sometimes princess dresses, but with her own flair. "Poo-wee, mama, poo-wee!" (pretty, mama, pretty!).

A moment of pure joy when Ella discovers her bathing suit matches perfectly...with her pajamas. And, yes, she did sleep in it...some battles just aren't worth fighting.

Tea parties? She loves those too. Just not the kind complete with white gloves and feathery boas. In all fairness, her "guests" are not really the glove-and-boa type. And, for the record, I just knew it would only be a matter of time before she was coercing her brothers into her fabulous tea parties. They may never admit it, but I think her brothers enjoy them too...


And if there is anything on Ella's head, it usually doesn't resemble a bow. Maybe a hat. Or a beanie. Maybe a bucket or a box or the hood of a sweatshirt (or anything else she can balance there). But bows are pulled out the second they placed there. And, of course, no outfits are complete without some kind of off-the-wall accessory...

like goggles...

or oversized glamour sunglasses...or hiking boots....or gardening gloves...or all of the above! Like I said, she has her OWN ideas. But, holding true to my promise from my previous post, I will continue to encourage her creativity. Even in public. Just please try not to stare.

Building Dreams and Creating Memories

One of the things I admire most about Brian as a father is his not just tolerance (that would be me), but the encouragement and help he gives our kids to create and build whatever crazy ideas they seem to come up with (within reason, of course). Maybe it's because he remembers what it's like to be a kid and the endless curiosity and adventure that goes along with it. Or maybe it's because as adults we lose most of that to the responsibilities and demands of everyday life. After all, ideas take dreaming and dreaming takes time...and we all know what happens to time as we get older.

So, here are some of the boys' latest "creations". Blake loves the outdoors, so he's often busy building and/or growing things and every time we go to Home Depot he is sure to return with his next project. When we planted flowers on Memorial Day, Blake randomly scattered sunflower seeds in our front yard. I have to admit, I wasn't going to be disappointed if they didn't grow since they weren't part of the real landscaping. But the joy on his face as he saw first the sprouts, then the buds, and now the flowers and studied their progress every day made me realize that the pride he took in this process was more meaningful to him than anything I could have contrived. Even if they didn't match the rest of the landscaping.

And every time I step foot outside our front door I am reminded that just because his goals aren't necessarily my goals, doesn't mean they aren't valuable. Just look at the beautiful sunflowers that now decorate our yard.

And the same goes for the lovely bird buffet he built for the neighborhood birds. (The sign is for the dog, too bad she can't read...). We now have multiple birds outside our windows throughout the day.

Garrett's creativity seems to manifest itself in different ways. He loves to draw and paint. Here's a wood block he found, painted with water colors and "framed" himself with rubber bands and glitter glue. I'm pretty sure I never would have thought of this.

Then there's the fruit dish he created (pretty much a smoothie but stirred instead of blended). He is happy to give you the recipe if you ask. And just so you know..."not all the great chefs eat their own food" according to Garrett.

He "invented" what he calls the Air-O-Nator which is an empty sports water bottle which, when squeezed, gives a puff of air. This comes in handy for blowing up balloons and on a hot day. Garrett is constantly building new and novel "models" from Legos and continues to invent whatever comes to mind. He's even written out his own set of instructions to go with it!

He reminds me that having faith in him and believing in his ideas means more to him than whatever it is he is building.

Leave it to their "silly" ideas to teach me how to be a better parent. Who knows, maybe one day they will invent or create something extraordinary! Until then, I promise to tolerate and encourage their goals, ideas and creativity. Even if they don't think that having a clean bedroom is a goal worth striving for.